Noh Actor
- Date:
- 1958
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
Noh Actor — a woodblock print from 1958 — depicts the masked performer of Japan's most ancient theatrical art form. Noh actors wear carved wooden masks (noh-men) that transform their face into the fixed expression of a character type, and these masks are considered among the finest objects of Japanese craft. Yamaguchi's treatment of the Noh actor likely focuses on the mask's distinctive visual qualities: the asymmetrical smile that reads as expression differently from different angles, the gold or silver foil accents, and the relationship of the mask to the elaborate costume surrounding it.
More Prints by Gen Yamaguchi
More Kabuki Prints
Kabuki Theater
歌舞伎
Woodblock print
Onoe Shoroku II as the tattooed villain Danshichi
1955
Woodblock print
View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"
1928
Color lithograph
Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"
1930
Color lithograph
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Noh Actor was created by Gen Yamaguchi (山口源) in 1958.
Noh Actor depicts kabuki.