The Second Segawa Kikunojō in the Role of Reizei in "Ima-o-sakari Suehiro Genji"
12th month, 1768
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
12 5/8 x 5 7/8 in. (32.1 x 14.9 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
JP562
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About the Artist
Ippitsusai Bunchō · 1730–1820
Ippitsusai Bunchō (active c. 1765–1792) stands as one of the pivotal figures in the development of ukiyo-e actor portraiture, a artist whose innovations fundamentally transformed how kabuki actors were depicted in Japanese woodblock prints. Working during what scholars often call the 'golden age of ukiyo-e,' Bunchō, along with his contemporary Katsukawa Shunshō, revolutionized the yakusha-e (actor...