The Actor Iwai Hanshiro IV in the Hanagasa Dance in the Play Iromi-gusa Shiki no Somewake, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Ninth Month, 1781 c. 1781

This woodblock print was created by Katsukawa Shunshō in 1781, depicting the actor Iwai Hanshiro IV in performance. The process of making a woodblock print, or ukiyo-e, involves carving a series of blocks, one for each color, and then printing them in layers. Note how the material directly influences the print’s aesthetic. Wood is a fibrous substance, and this property shows up in the final print. The textures within the image are not those of brushstrokes but of the grain of the wood itself. Look closely, and you'll see the faint parallel lines on the blue background. These are the marks of the tool used to carve away the negative space. Ukiyo-e prints are intimately tied to the social and economic life of their time. Produced for a burgeoning urban audience, they speak to the rise of a consumer culture and the commodification of leisure. While they are often referred to as prints, with connotations of easy mechanical reproduction, the making of each print was labor-intensive and highly skilled. In this sense, the print represents an intersection of craft, commerce, and artistic expression.