COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
AIC_.1939.596
amicoid
AIC_.1939.596
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Prints
oty
Prints
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Katsukawa, Shunsho
crn
Katsukawa, Shunsho
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
crc
Asian; Far East Asian; Japanese
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Dates/Places:
Japanese; 1726-1792 Asia,East Asia,Japan
cdt
Japanese; 1726-1792 Asia,East Asia,Japan
Creator Dates/Places
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Katsukawa Shunsho
crt
Katsukawa Shunsho
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
The actors Ichikawa Danjuro V as Watanabe Kiou Takiguchi (bottom), and Nakamura Nakazo I as Taira no Kiyomori (top), in the 'Shibaraku' scene from the play Nue no Mori Ichiyo no Mato (Forest of the Nue Monster: Target of the Eleventh Month)
otn
The actors Ichikawa Danjuro V as Watanabe Kiou Takiguchi (bottom), and Nakamura Nakazo I as Taira no Kiyomori (top), in the 'Shibaraku' scene from the play Nue no Mori Ichiyo no Mato (Forest of the Nue Monster: Target of the Eleventh Month)
Title
false
Title Type:
preferred
ott
preferred
Title Type
false
View:
full view
rid
full view
View
false
Creation Date:
Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the first day of the eleventh month, 1770
oct
Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the first day of the eleventh month, 1770
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1770
ocs
1770
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1770
oce
1770
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
Woodblock print.
omd
Woodblock print.
Materials and Techniques
false
Classification Term:
Woodblock
clt
Woodblock
Classification Term
false
Creation Place:
Asia,East Asia,Japan
ocp
Asia,East Asia,Japan
Creation Place
false
Dimensions:
Hosoban; 32.2 x 14.3 cm
met
Hosoban; 32.2 x 14.3 cm
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Art Institute of Chicago
oon
The Art Institute of Chicago
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Chicago, Illinois, USA
oop
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1939.596
ooa
1939.596
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
Frederick W. Gookin Collection
ooc
Frederick W. Gookin Collection
Credit Line
false
Inscriptions:
SIGNATURE: Shunsho gaARTIST'S SEAL: Hayashi in jar-shaped outline
oin
SIGNATURE: Shunsho gaARTIST'S SEAL: Hayashi in jar-shaped outline
Inscriptions
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html"target="_new">http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html</a>
Rights
false
Context:
An evil courtier is about to order the execution of some hapless victim onstage when cries of 'Shibaraku!'(Stop right there!) are heard from the back of the theater, and a hero dressed in a distinctive persimmon-colored costume with fantastically large square sleeves enters down the hanamichi walkway to save the day. The 'Shibaraku' scene is the ultimate confrontation between good and evil in Kabuki, and the most perfect display of the bombastic, stylized aragoto (rough stuff) acting style associated with the Ichikawa Danjuro line of actors. First performed by Danjuro I in 1697, it became obligatory from the early eighteenth century to include the scene in the opening-of-the-season (kaomise) productions held at every theater in the eleventh month of each year. The excitement attending the performance at the Nakamura Theater in the eleventh month of 1770 must have been particularly intense, for it was on this occasion that twenty-nine-year-old Matsumoto Koshiro III, acting the 'Shibaraku' role for the first time, had to prove himself a worthy successor to his father as the new Danjuro V.In Shunsho's print we see Danjuro V half-kneeling in his voluminous 'Shibaraku' costume decorated with the large white 'triple square' (mimasu) crest of the Ichikawa family, towered over by Nakamura Nakazo I in the 'receiving' (uke) role of the evil courtier Taira no Kiyomori. For more complete depictions of the scene we can turn to a page in the illustrated play program (ehon banzuke; see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 44.1, p.138) as well as to an illustration from the book Yakusha Kuni no Hana (Prominent Actors of Japan; see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 44.2, p.138). Yorimasa, played by Ichikawa Komazo II, has been commanded by Kiyomori to commit suicide for losing the sword of the Lion King (Shishi O); Nakamura Denkuro II as Seno'o Taro stands behind Yorimasa, sword at the ready, to ensure compliance. Standing on the steps leading up to the palace, dressed in white court robes and kammuri headdress, NakazoI as Kiyomori dominates the scene, but Danjuro V as the hero Kiou Takiguchi has just entered to the left. Kabuki Nempyo describes Danjuro V pulling out a brocade banner from a protective tube, the moment shown in the illustration from Yakusha Kuni no Hana .Though the more detailed book illustrations give us a much better idea of the complete stage tableau, they also demonstrate (by comparison) the purer compositional power of the hosoban print, from which all extraneous elements have been eliminated to present the two protagonists in a confrontation fraught with physical and psychological tension.
cxd
An evil courtier is about to order the execution of some hapless victim onstage when cries of 'Shibaraku!'(Stop right there!) are heard from the back of the theater, and a hero dressed in a distinctive persimmon-colored costume with fantastically large square sleeves enters down the hanamichi walkway to save the day. The 'Shibaraku' scene is the ultimate confrontation between good and evil in Kabuki, and the most perfect display of the bombastic, stylized aragoto (rough stuff) acting style associated with the Ichikawa Danjuro line of actors. First performed by Danjuro I in 1697, it became obligatory from the early eighteenth century to include the scene in the opening-of-the-season (kaomise) productions held at every theater in the eleventh month of each year. The excitement attending the performance at the Nakamura Theater in the eleventh month of 1770 must have been particularly intense, for it was on this occasion that twenty-nine-year-old Matsumoto Koshiro III, acting the 'Shibaraku' role for the first time, had to prove himself a worthy successor to his father as the new Danjuro V.In Shunsho's print we see Danjuro V half-kneeling in his voluminous 'Shibaraku' costume decorated with the large white 'triple square' (mimasu) crest of the Ichikawa family, towered over by Nakamura Nakazo I in the 'receiving' (uke) role of the evil courtier Taira no Kiyomori. For more complete depictions of the scene we can turn to a page in the illustrated play program (ehon banzuke; see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 44.1, p.138) as well as to an illustration from the book Yakusha Kuni no Hana (Prominent Actors of Japan; see 'The Actor's Image' catalogue, fig. 44.2, p.138). Yorimasa, played by Ichikawa Komazo II, has been commanded by Kiyomori to commit suicide for losing the sword of the Lion King (Shishi O); Nakamura Denkuro II as Seno'o Taro stands behind Yorimasa, sword at the ready, to ensure compliance. Standing on the steps leading up to the palace, dressed in white court robes and kammuri headdress, NakazoI as Kiyomori dominates the scene, but Danjuro V as the hero Kiou Takiguchi has just entered to the left. Kabuki Nempyo describes Danjuro V pulling out a brocade banner from a protective tube, the moment shown in the illustration from Yakusha Kuni no Hana .Though the more detailed book illustrations give us a much better idea of the complete stage tableau, they also demonstrate (by comparison) the purer compositional power of the hosoban print, from which all extraneous elements have been eliminated to present the two protagonists in a confrontation fraught with physical and psychological tension.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
AIC_.E19669.TIF
ril
AIC_.E19669.TIF
Related Image Identifier Link
false