Takinoya: Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no Juro, from the series "Portraits of Actors on Stage (Yakusha butai no sugata-e)" 1794

This print of Ichikawa Monnosuke II, made by Utagawa Toyokuni I, shows a Kabuki actor in character. It’s a woodblock print, meaning that the image was carved in relief, likely by specialist artisans. The materiality of woodblock prints allowed for multiples, and were a relatively inexpensive way to produce imagery. The line work on the actor’s garments, the background, and the inscriptions, demonstrate incredible levels of skill by the craftsmen involved in the print’s creation. Look closely, and you can see the registration marks - these are an index to the great skill required in aligning the different color blocks. The subtle gradations of color, achieved through careful inking, emphasize the actor's elegant robe. These prints were not simply artistic creations, but rather, objects circulating within a commercial system. Woodblock prints connected the pleasure of the theater to the marketplace, bringing fame to the actors depicted, and allowing a broader public to engage with theatrical culture. Appreciating the process allows us to recognize the cultural and economic context of this vibrant art form.