The Kabuki Actor Nakamura Utaemon as Yukihime (Nakamura Utaemon Yukihime)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- 1951
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
by Kawase Hasui
Snow scenes represent Hasui's most valuable and technically innovative subject category — he developed specialized carving techniques specifically for depicting falling snow. These subjects carry a consistent 30–50% premium over comparable non-snow designs. Evening Snow at Kambara (a landmark design) achieved $7,200 at Tokyo auction (2024) for a Taisho-era impression. Pine Trees After Snow (first/limited edition) sold for $4,300 at Artelino (2021). Winter Moon over Toyama Moor, combining snow and night effects, reached $3,600 (2022). Postwar lifetime editions (1946–1957) bearing the small 6mm J-seal represent authentic lifetime impressions but from the artist's final decade.
The kabuki actor Nakamura Utaemon VI as Yukihime — the Snow Princess — is rendered in the bijinga (beautiful person) tradition that Hasui rarely practiced. This 1951 print shows the actor in full stage makeup and costume for the role of the princess, the white snow-themed costume and elaborate wig creating a highly formalized image quite unlike Hasui's landscape work. The print likely commemorates a specific performance, reflecting the [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) publishers' occasional production of actor portraits alongside landscape series.
歌舞伎
Woodblock print
1955
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Kabuki Actor Nakamura Utaemon as Yukihime (Nakamura Utaemon Yukihime) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1951.
The Kabuki Actor Nakamura Utaemon as Yukihime (Nakamura Utaemon Yukihime) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1951).
The Kabuki Actor Nakamura Utaemon as Yukihime (Nakamura Utaemon Yukihime) depicts kabuki.
