Bunraku (A), Shôwa period, dated 1959
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
Bunraku—the classical puppet theater that emerged in seventeenth-century Osaka—was among the most demanding of Japan's traditional performing arts, requiring three manipulators per puppet and years of training to achieve the illusion of life. Saito's (A) version from 1959 focuses on the puppet's head with the same intense concentration he brought to Buddhist sculpture, treating the carved and painted face as a mask of pure theatrical emotion, the grain of the woodblock reinforcing the grain of the puppet's lacquered features.
More Prints by Saito Kiyoshi
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
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bunraku (A), Shôwa period, dated 1959 was created by Saito Kiyoshi (斎藤清).
Bunraku (A), Shôwa period, dated 1959 depicts kabuki.