Actors Nakamura Nakazô I and Ichikawa Komazô I in “The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith” (“Ima o sakari suehiro Genji”)

Issued in 1763 by Katsukawa Shunsho, this double-figure print portrays Nakamura Nakazo I and Ichikawa Komazo I in the kabuki play Ima o sakari suehiro Genji, a production drawing on the long tradition of theatrical adaptations of the Tale of Genji. Shunsho stages the two actors in a paired confrontation, their bodies set on diverging diagonals to generate the kinetic tension characteristic of the most accomplished [yakusha-e](/glossary/yakusha-e) of the period. The figures wear richly patterned robes built up from layered geometric motifs and floral roundels, and their stylized facial features render the distinct physiognomies that made each performer recognizable to an Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) audience. Nakazo I, one of the great character actors of the late eighteenth century, is captured here relatively early in his career, his expressive face already showing the dramatic intensity that would secure his reputation. As founder of the Katsukawa school, Shunsho rejected the formulaic features of earlier Torii school actor prints, pioneering individualized likenesses that allowed viewers to identify each performer at a glance. This shift defined the trajectory of late eighteenth-century kabuki portraiture and influenced subsequent artists including Shunsho's own pupils Shunko and Shunei. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this impression, which retains the comparatively restrained palette of mid-1760s benizuri-e and early color printing. The sheet illustrates the formative years of the Katsukawa house, when Shunsho was establishing the visual conventions that would dominate Edo theatrical printmaking for the next two decades.