勝川春章画 三代目瀬川菊之丞|Kabuki Actor Segawa Kikunojō III
ca. 1777
Medium
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
12 11/32 x 5 17/32 in. (31.4 x 14.1 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
JP376
Tags
Art Historical Context
This woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunshō captures the renowned kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojō III, celebrated for his performances as an onnagata, or female impersonator. Created around 1777 during Japan’s Edo period, the work exemplifies the ukiyo-e tradition of actor portraits, or yakusha-e, which brought the vibrant world of the theater to a broad audience through affordable prints. Shunshō, a leading figure in the Katsukawa school, helped elevate these portraits by emphasizing individualized facial features and expressive poses rather than generic types. The medium of nishiki-e, or “brocad...
About the Artist
Katsukawa Shunshō · 1726–1792
Katsukawa Shunshō (1726–1793) revolutionized ukiyo-e printmaking by introducing realistic portraiture to kabuki actor prints, founding the Katsukawa school that would dominate theatrical imagery in late 18th-century Japan. Born in 1726, Shunshō transformed the conventional approach to yakusha-e (actor prints) by depicting performers with individual facial features and genuine likenesses rather tha...