The Actor Third Sawamura Sojuro as a Man of High Position

Katsukawa Shunei's portrait of the actor Sawamura Sojuro III as a Man of High Position, dated to around 1781, records one of the most admired performers of late eighteenth-century Edo kabuki in a role that demanded gravity and elevated bearing. Sawamura Sojuro III was a leading tachiyaku of his generation, known for romantic and dignified roles, and he frequently appeared in parts requiring the carriage of a daimyo or other elevated figure. Shunei's portrait uses the conventions of Katsukawa school yakusha-e to give the actor's facial features specific weight while allowing the elaborate patterned costume to convey his social rank within the play. The composition concentrates on the upper body, where collar and face align to give viewers the close encounter with the actor's stage presence that audiences would have sought from front-row vantage. Working in the years when Shunei was consolidating his reputation as one of the senior yakusha-e specialists of the Katsukawa school, the print exemplifies the school's continuing emphasis on individual likeness and restrained colour. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the sheet and documents it at https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36775, where it sits within a substantial holding of Katsukawa school portraits of leading Edo performers.