The Second Ichikawa Yaozo as a Samurai Dressed in a Gaudy Kamishimo

Description

Ichikawa Yaozō II portrays a samurai in flamboyant clothing, with angular red and green shoulder panels spreading around his raised arm. The broad costume turns the figure into a striking arrangement of shapes as well as a theatrical person. Katsukawa Shunshō brings formal dress and gesture together, making the actor’s presentation more specific than a general image of martial rank.

Katsukawa Shunshō’s color woodblock print is probably from 1773. Its ink-and-color medium allows the portrayed character to be considered beyond a fleeting stage moment, where costume and identity can become part of a sustained visual encounter. The work’s appeal comes from that layered presence, preserving the person who performs while making the role he assumes a subject in its own right.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Katsukawa Shunshō collection.