Artist: Katsukawa Shun'ei
Date: 1790
Museum: Hill-Stead Museum (Farmington, United States)
Technique: Print
This woodblock by artist Katsukawa Shun-ei is a kabuki print, illustrating an actor during a critical moment of his performance. Kabuki was a spectacle featuring intricate costumes, sets, and sound effects. The theater district featured shops, restaurants, and souvenir stalls near the performance space. Performances sometimes lasted all day, and attractions within the theater provided audiences with a complete social and cultural experience. Shun’ei’s Kabuki prints frequently captured the actor while in a specific dramatic technique called mie, which was a melodramatic pose with a specific facial expression at the climax of a scene of particular emotional tension. This facial expression is very difficult to convey on print. In this print, Shun’ei depicts a male actor decorated with a sword and red kimono. The exaggerated posture, emphasized eye shadows, and dramatic lines of the forlorn face align with the aspects of Kabuki style. The blank background allows the viewer to fully confront and appreciate both the actor and artist.
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