Description
In this portrait of Ōtani Hiroemon III as an outlaw, Katsukawa Shunshō sets an emphatic bent stance beneath hanging willow branches. The dark upper garment contrasts with pale trousers, separating the actor’s torso from the forceful spread of his legs. The tree’s downward lines make the body’s energetic angle even more conspicuous.
Dated to the third month of 1777, the print was made in ink and color on paper. Its subject reminds us that a stage image can preserve both a role and the person who made it convincing. Shunshō does not simply illustrate an anonymous outlaw: the actor’s identity remains part of how the work is understood. The tree and standing figure provide a compact setting for that meeting of performer and persona.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.
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