Actor Iwai Tojaku I as Shirai Gonpachi by Utagawa Kunisada

Actor Iwai Tojaku I as Shirai Gonpachi c. 1833

print, ink, color-on-paper

childish illustration

cartoon like

cartoon based

print

caricature

japan

flat colour

ink

color-on-paper

watercolour illustration

cartoon style

cartoon carciture

cartoon theme

clip art

This ukiyo-e woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada, also known as Toyokuni III, depicts the renowned kabuki actor Iwai Tojaku I as Shirai Gonpachi. The print, created around 1833, showcases a close-up portrait of the actor in costume, holding a fan. It is an example of a “yakusha-e” (actor print), a popular genre in Japanese art that depicted famous kabuki performers. The use of bold colors and dramatic lighting create a sense of intensity and theatricality, drawing the viewer’s attention to the actor’s compelling performance.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Related to the play "Mitsu ichō gozonji no Edo-zome" 三銀杏御存地染, performed at the Nakamura Theater, 1833, fifth month. Utagawa Kunisada’s bust portraits from the 1820s and 1830s typically show actors against a plain background accompanied by poems composed by the portrayed actors. Here, the portrait is fan shaped, allowing the image to be cut out and affixed to an actual fan. This series is also an early example of product placement, as a packet of Bien Senjokō face powder appears at the bottom of each print. It seems that the prints were delivered together with the powder or that the producer of the powder paid for some of the production costs of the print.