The Actors Segawa Kikunojo II as Itsuki and Bando Hikosaburo II as Oyamada Taro in the play "Taiheiki Shizunome Furisode," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the eleventh month, 1767
1767
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e
Dimensions
31.2 × 43.2 cm (12 1/4 × 17 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
88944
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century Japanese theater with Kitao Shigemasa's *The Actors Segawa Kikuno II as Itsuki andando Hikosaburo as Oyamada Taro*. Created in 1767, this color woodblock print captures two celebrated Kabuki performers from the play *Taiheiki Shizunome Furisode* Edo's Nakamura Theater. Segawa Kikunojo II, a master onnagata (actor specializing in female roles), embodies the graceful Itsuki, while Bando Hikosaburo II brings intensity to the warrior Oyamada Taro. Shigemasa, a leading ukiyo-e artist and pupil of Suzuki Harunobu, excels in yakusha-e (actor prints), immort...
About the Artist
Kitao Shigemasa · 1739–1820
Kitao Shigemasa (1739–1820), born in the bustling Nihonbashi district of Edo (modern Tokyo), emerged as a pivotal figure in ukiyo-e woodblock printing during Japan's Edo period. The eldest son of the bookseller Suharaya Mohei—from a lineage of publishers—Shigemasa, originally named Kitabatake Tarōkichi, was immersed in the world of printing from youth. Largely self-taught, he later studied under t...