The Actor Shinomiya Heihachi I

Shinomiya Heihachi I, an Edo kabuki performer of the early eighteenth century, is portrayed in this hand-colored hosoban tan-e of around 1703. Kiyonobu places the actor against an unmarked ground, allowing the swelling contours of robe and posture to carry the entire pictorial weight of the design. The orange tan and yellow pigments, applied by brush after the monochrome key-block impression dried, identify costume elements that would have been instantly readable to Edo theatregoers as belonging to a particular play and role. By around 1703 Kiyonobu's workshop was producing a steady stream of these single-figure actor prints, sold cheaply outside the theatres and through specialist print shops to fans who collected images of their favorite performers. Held by the Art Institute of Chicago.