The Actor Yamashina Shirojuro as Nagoya Sanzaemon (Yamashina Shirojuro no Nagoya Sanzaemon)
1794 (Kansei 6)
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban, nishiki-e
Dimensions
31.7 × 15 cm (12 1/2 × 5 15/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
87275
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century Japanese kab theater with Tōshūsai Sharaku's *The Actor Yamashina Shirojuro as Nagoya Sanzaemon* (1794). This woodblock print captures the onnagata (female role specialist) Yamashina Shirojuro in the fierce role of Nagoya Sanzaemon from the play *Soga no Taimen*. Produced during the Kansei era of the Edo period, it exemplifies ukiyo-e, the "pictures of the floating world" that celebrated fleeting pleasures like theater and celebrity. Sharaku, a enigmatic artist active for just 18 months, revolutionized actor portraits with his bold, unflinching styl...
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...