Description
Ichikawa Danjūrō IV appears as Yahei-byoe Munekiyo in Katsukawa Shunshō’s actor print. An emphatically raised arm gives the samurai a strong direction before warm architectural forms and green branches. Intricate patterned robes add density to the figure, allowing costume and setting to intensify a gesture already charged with theatrical energy.
Dated to the twelfth month of 1768, the nishiki-e print uses ink and color on paper. Shunshō gives this particular role a durable representation, allowing its association with Danjūrō to be considered closely. The subject is not detached from the circumstances of acting: its character is made present through an interpreter. That relationship gives the print a personal quality, preserving one actor’s embodiment of a part rather than merely illustrating a name from a story.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.
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