An Actor of Woman's Roles
- Date:
- 1791
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; hosoban
- Format:
- Hosoban
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
A performer specializing in female roles (onnagata) appears in full kabuki costume in this hosoban-format print from 1791, the narrow vertical format traditional for actor portraits of the period. Though Hokusai is primarily remembered for his landscapes, his early career under Katsukawa Shunshō centered on actor prints, and this work shows his facility with the genre's demand for expressive pose and costume detail.
More Prints by Katsushika Hokusai
Hokusai manga (Hokusai Sketchbooks)
19th century
Woodblock-printed book; ink and light color on paper
Fukuroi
1804
Japanese woodblock print
The Fishermen of Katase Hauling in Their Nets: The Purple Shell (Murasakigai)
1821
Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban
Burdock Root (Kurama gobo), from the series "A Selection of Horses (Uma-zukushi)"
1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
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
Frequently Asked Questions
An Actor of Woman's Roles was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) in 1791.
An Actor of Woman's Roles depicts kabuki.