The Actor Sakata Hangoro II as the Sumo Wrestler Kujaku Saburo Narihira (?) in the Play Sugata no Hana Yuki no Kuronushi (?), Performed at the Ichimura Theater (?) in the Eleventh Month, 1776 (?)
Katsukawa Shunkо̄
c. 1776
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Dimensions
29.5 × 14.2 cm (11 5/8 × 5 9/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
32410
About the Artist
Katsukawa Shunkо̄ · 1743–1812
Katsukawa Shunkō I (1743–1812), born Denjiro Kiyokawa in Edo (modern Tokyo), emerged as a pivotal figure in ukiyo-e woodblock printing. His early life remains sparsely documented, but by the late 1760s, he had begun illustrating books such as *Talks about Debut Plays* (*Kaomise shibai banashi*, 1766). Shunkō studied under the master Katsukawa Shunshō, founder and leader of the Katsukawa school, an...