The Actor Anegawa Chiyosaburo from Kyoto

Art Historical Context

This striking hand-colored woodblock print by Nishimura Shigenobu captures the kabuki actor Anegawa Chiyosaburo in a dynamic-length pose. Created in 1734 during Japan’s Edo period, the work belongs to the early flourishing of ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world,” which celebrated the vibrant theater districts and popular entertainers of the time. Shigenobu, active in the 1720s and 1730s, specialized in actor portraits that brought the excitement of the stage to a wider audience through affordable prints. The print’s narrow hosoban format and urushi-e technique highlight its technical sophistication. Artisans applied black sumi ink mixed with glue to create glossy, lacquer-like effects, then added delicate hand-coloring to enhance the actor’s costume and expression. Measuring just over thirteen inches tall, the elongated shape perfectly suited dramatic full-body depictions of performers, allowing viewers to appreciate the graceful gestures and elaborate robes central to kabuki performance. As one of the earliest surviving actor prints, this work offers a vivid glimpse into eighteenth-century Japanese popular culture, where theater and visual art intertwined to shape public taste. Today it resides in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection of Asian art, preserving both the charisma of a long-ago performer and the innovative spirit of early ukiyo-e printmaking.