Two Dancers
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Description
"Two Dancers" depicts two figures in dance — whether kabuki onnagata performers in theatrical dance, geisha in social dance performance, or classical court dance practitioners — in a composition that captures the specific quality of paired movement. Shunsen's dual-figure compositions always attend to the relationship between the two subjects: the way their movements respond to or mirror each other, the visual rhythm created by their shared spatial dynamic, the individual character of each figure within the shared activity. Dance as a subject allowed him to capture the body in expressive motion rather than the static portrait poses of his actor prints.
More Prints by Natori Shunsen
Actors Ichikawa Shōchō II as Umegawa and Kataoka Gadō XII as Chūbei
1927
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
The Actor Sawada Shojiro as the Swordsman Hayashi Buhei, from the series “Collection of Portraits by Shunsen (Shunsen nigao shu)"
The Actor Ichimura Uzaemon XV as Naozamurai, from the series “Collection of Portraits by Shunsen (Shunsen nigao shu)"
The Actor Onoe Baiko VI as Sayuri, from the series “Collection of Portraits by Shunsen (Shunsen nigao shu)"
More Music Prints
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Two Dancers was created by Natori Shunsen (名取春仙).
Two Dancers was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Two Dancers depicts music, figures, and kabuki.