De acteur Sawada Shojiro als Hayashi Buhei 1927

Curator: Here we have Natori Shunsen’s “The Actor Sawada Shojiro as Hayashi Buhei," a striking portrait dating back to 1927 and now residing here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: There's a tangible intensity radiating from this print, the kind that only comes from really controlled carving. The lines are bold but deliberate, especially defining the facial expression and those swords. Curator: Indeed. Shunsen was part of the shin-hanga movement, which revitalized traditional ukiyo-e techniques while also incorporating Western elements. His works captured the essence of Kabuki actors, not just their likeness, but their very stage presence. Sawada Shojiro, of course, was a leading figure in the Shinpa theatre movement. Editor: Knowing that it depicts an actor in costume changes how I view the materials too. It highlights the artistry of both the stage production and printmaking tradition. Look at the rendering of that brocade, then the simplified flatness elsewhere—a real dance between illusion and tangible process. Curator: The portrayal also gives insights into early 20th-century Japanese society’s fascination with theater and celebrity culture. Prints like this allowed a wider audience to engage with Kabuki beyond the theater walls, impacting fashion and social trends. It served as a way of cementing Shojiro's image within the Japanese artistic conscious. Editor: And beyond the image, there’s the labour – the hands that carved each line into the woodblock. Someone carefully layered the pigments, making this multiple registration colour print; someone else had to cut it! These elements are vital to interpreting works like this as reflections of skill but also work. Curator: That production context is crucial, shaping not only what's depicted but how it was disseminated and received within a broader public. Consider the influence on modern theatrical art to come later... Editor: Absolutely! Thinking about materiality highlights the process involved and provides valuable socio-political nuance too. I’m walking away from this noticing far more in those flat planes of color!