Description
Katsukawa Shunshō portrays Ōtani Hiroemon III with the body bent into a stride and one leg reaching forward. A long gray patterned robe is punctuated by red accents, while a hand near the face concentrates attention on the upper figure. The spare background makes the actor’s movement and expressive costume the portrait’s clearest features.
The Edo-period work was printed in ink and color on paper. Its subject can be approached through the portrait’s secure human connection: Hiroemon’s name links the represented figure to a particular stage career. Shunshō gives that theatrical presence a lasting form, allowing an actor’s appearance to remain available after the performance itself has passed. The image’s interest rests in the meeting of an individual performer and an assumed persona, even though the specific character is not named.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.