Portrait of sumo wrestler Nuregami Chôgorô 1864 - 1869

Editor: This is “Portrait of sumo wrestler Nuregami Chōgorō" by Toyohara Kunichika, made sometime between 1864 and 1869. It’s a woodblock print at the Rijksmuseum. It has a real sense of humour about it. The sumo wrestler’s face is almost exaggerated, pushed into the front of the frame, set against a playfully patterned background. How do you interpret this piece, from your perspective? Curator: I find myself drawn to the means of production of this ukiyo-e print. Look at the layering of color, the clear impression of the woodblock. Each line speaks to the hand of the artisan who carved it, and to the material itself – the wood, the paper, the inks. Editor: Yes, you can really see that labor. I suppose, I usually think of prints as being less directly linked to labour than paintings. Curator: That's interesting. I think it challenges our understanding of labor and materiality within traditional art boundaries. How does the mass production aspect of ukiyo-e affect its value, compared to, say, a single painting of the same subject? This print could be seen as more democratic as such, reaching a far wider audience than other artistic endeavours. Editor: That makes perfect sense. Seeing it as part of a larger system of production and consumption changes how I value the individual piece. Considering its circulation as a popular form makes the caricature aspect even more striking. Curator: Precisely! We aren’t simply viewing a static image; we are encountering the traces of material practice, embedded within a broader social and economic context. Editor: I'll definitely look at ukiyo-e with a fresh awareness of labor and production now! Curator: Wonderful. And remember, it's always a negotiation between the artist's vision and the constraints and opportunities presented by the available materials.