Kataoka Gado
Description
This oban woodblock print portrays the kabuki actor Kataoka Gado, a leading performer in the Kamigata theatrical tradition based in Osaka and Kyoto. Yoshikawa captures Gado with the focused intensity that actor portraiture requires, rendering the performer's features and expression with enough specificity to identify both the individual and the emotional register of the moment depicted. Kabuki actors in the Kamigata tradition were celebrated for their subtlety and psychological depth, qualities that present a particular challenge for the printmaker who must distill a fluid performance into a single frozen image. Yoshikawa's proximity to the Kyoto theatrical world gave him the access and familiarity needed to produce portraits that go beyond surface likeness to suggest the actor's interpretive intelligence.
More Prints by Kanpo Yoshikawa
The Actor Kataoka Gado IV as Miyuki in the play Shoutsushi Asagao Nikki (The Diary of the Morning Glory)
c. 1924
Color woodblock print; oban
Five, Hinazō
early summer 1922
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with mica
The Actor Nakamura Enjaku II as the Snarling Gonta
Woodblock print
Cherry Blossoms at Night, Maruyama
Woodblock print
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
Kataoka Gado was created by Kanpo Yoshikawa (吉川観方).
Kataoka Gado depicts kabuki and portraits.