Held by the Art Institute of Chicago, this Katsukawa Shunsho yakusha-e diptych pairs Matsumoto Koshiro IV as Choemon and Segawa Kikunojo III as Ohan in the celebrated elopement dance Michiyuki Segawa no Adanami, a michiyuki interlude from part two of the play Kabuki no Hana Bandai Soga staged at the Ichimura Theater from the twenty-fifth day of the fourth month, 1781. The michiyuki scene, in which doomed lovers travel together toward a fated end, was a defining theatrical convention of late-eighteenth-century kabuki, derived from puppet-theater precedent and adapted into the stage repertory with elaborate dance choreography. Shunsho composes Koshiro IV and Kikunojo III in mirrored opposition, the male figure on the right and the female on the left, the costume patterns serving as identifying markers of the roles while the facial features establish the actors' identities. As founder of the Katsukawa school of Edo ukiyo-e, Shunsho specialized in yakusha-e that recorded performances as historical events, and this elopement scene exemplifies the school's commitment to documenting both the stagecraft and the casting of major productions. Koshiro IV and Kikunojo III were among the most prominent performers of their generation, and prints of their partnership in this michiyuki would have sold widely to theatergoers commemorating their visit. The Art Institute's sheet preserves the image as a primary document of Edo kabuki and as a mature example of the Katsukawa school's working method.
The Actors Matsumoto Koshiro IV and Segawa Kikunojo III as the Lovers Choemon (right) and Ohan (left), in the Elopement Scene "Michiyuki Segawa no Adanami" (An Elopement: Treacherous Waves in the Shallow River), a Dance Interlude from Part Two of the Play Kabuki no Hana Bandai Soga (Flower of Kabuki: The Eternal Soga), Performed at the Ichimura Theater from the Twenty-fifth Day of the Fourth Month, 1781 was created by Katsukawa Shunshō (勝川春章) in c. 1781.
The Actors Matsumoto Koshiro IV and Segawa Kikunojo III as the Lovers Choemon (right) and Ohan (left), in the Elopement Scene "Michiyuki Segawa no Adanami" (An Elopement: Treacherous Waves in the Shallow River), a Dance Interlude from Part Two of the Play Kabuki no Hana Bandai Soga (Flower of Kabuki: The Eternal Soga), Performed at the Ichimura Theater from the Twenty-fifth Day of the Fourth Month, 1781 depicts birds & flowers and sumo.
