The Actors Ichikawa Monnosuke I and Tamazawa Rinya

Dated to circa 1715, this o-[oban](/glossary/oban) tan-e depicts the kabuki actors Ichikawa Monnosuke I and Tamazawa Rinya in performance together. The double-actor format gave Kiyomasu I an opportunity to compose the two figures in relation to one another, with their poses, gazes, and costumes calibrated to the dynamics of their stage roles. Hand-applied tan pigment fills the broad areas of the figures' robes, while the Torii school's heavy outlines articulate the contours of their costumes and the muscularity of their limbs. Prints depicting paired actors were among the most commercially popular formats of the period, since fans could see their favorite stage partners reunited on a single sheet. The print is held by the Art Institute of Chicago as part of its collection of early eighteenth-century theatrical prints from the Torii workshop.