An Unidentified Actor
ca. 1790
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
12 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. (32.4 x 14.0 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1918
Accession Number
JP281
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunkō captures the dynamic presence of an unidentified kabuki actor from Japan’s Edo period. Created around 1790, the work belongs to the vibrant tradition of yakusha-e, or actor portraits, which celebrated the stars of the kabuki stage. Shunkō, a leading pupil of the influential Katsukawa Shunshō, helped shape this genre with his keen attention to expressive poses, elaborate costumes, and dramatic facial expressions that conveyed an actor’s signature role. As a woodblock print in ink and color on paper, the piece exemplifies ukiyo-e, the “pictures ...
About the Artist
Katsukawa Shunkō
Katsukawa Shunkō I (1743–1812) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who pioneered the ōkubi-e (large-head) portrait format in kabuki actor prints and served as possibly the first student of Katsukawa Shunshō, the founder of the influential Katsukawa school. Born in 1743, Shunkō spent his entire life in Edo (modern Tokyo), working as both a painter and ukiyo-e printmaker specializing in yakusha-e (actor p...