The Actor Sawamura Sojuro III as Nagoya Sanza Motoharu (Sandai-me Sawamura Sojuro no Nagoya Sanza Motoharu)
1794 (Kansei 6)
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban, nishiki-e
Dimensions
30.5 × 14.4 cm (12 1/16 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
18836
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Actor Sawamura Soj III as Nagoya Sanzaoharu*, a striking 1794 woodblock by the enigmatic Tōshūsai Sharaku. This hosoban-format portrait captures the kabuki actor in the role of the fierce ronin Nagoya Sanzaoharu, a character from a popular Edo-period drama. Sharaku, active only from 1794 to 1795, produced around 150 such yakusha-e (actor prints), revolutionizing the genre with his bold, unflinching depictions that pierced beyond stage glamour to reveal raw human emotion. Sharaku's style stands out in ukiyo-e, the "pictures of the floating world" celebrating Japan's urban pleasures...
About the Artist
Tōshūsai Sharaku · 1794–1795
Tōshūsai Sharaku stands as one of the most enigmatic figures in Japanese art history, a ukiyo-e printmaker whose brilliant career blazed for just ten months from the summer of 1794 to early spring 1795. Active exclusively in Edo (modern Tokyo), he produced approximately 150 woodblock prints and sketches, primarily yakusha-e—intimate portraits of kabuki actors captured mid-performance. Published by...