Actor Nakamura Utaemon V as Yodogimi 1926

Editor: This arresting image, "Actor Nakamura Utaemon V as Yodogimi," created by Natori Shunsen in 1926, is a woodblock print currently housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The intricate details and the choice of medium fascinate me. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Well, look at the material reality here: a mass-reproducible print, yet depicting a famous actor in a specific role. Shunsen’s prints like this one blurred the line between popular culture and what was then considered ‘fine’ art. Ukiyo-e prints, of which this is a later iteration, originally served as a kind of advertising. Do you notice anything about how that relationship plays out here? Editor: I see what you mean about the print’s commercial nature; it immortalizes an actor's performance. Were these prints widely accessible, affecting public perceptions? Curator: Precisely. These woodblock prints made art accessible, democratizing portraiture in a way. And the intense labor involved is often overlooked - carving the blocks, applying the colours layer by layer, each print an act of reproduction. Consider how this mass production influenced artistic value perceptions. Is this 'high art' or a form of skilled, commercial craft? The materiality pushes us to question the categories themselves. Editor: So the social context and method challenge these distinctions. That gives me a whole new way to think about prints! Curator: Exactly. By focusing on the process, we expose hierarchies. Thinking about art as labour, production, and social circulation changes the way we value it, doesn’t it? Editor: Definitely. I will remember to consider these questions when examining prints from now on. Thank you!