Description
Katsukawa Shunshō’s portrait of Ichikawa Danjūrō V in a Shibaraku role is dominated by an immense costume patterned in red and white geometric forms. The clothing makes the performer’s presence expansive, turning dress into an emphatic part of the stage identity. The sharply organized pattern gives the image force even before the viewer considers the actor’s face or the dramatic situation.
Dated to the eleventh month of 1779, this ink-and-color woodblock print records Danjūrō through his role rather than as a private individual. Shunshō’s image preserves the connection between named performer and theatrical action without requiring a complete account of the surrounding play. Its interest lies in that concentrated double presence: a known actor becomes the figure through whom the drama makes its emphatic interruption.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.
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