The Actor Ichikawa Sadanji as Akechi Samenosuke, from the series "Seven Brilliant Heroes (Komei shichi yosei)"

Series:: Seven Brilliant Heroes (Komei shichi yosei)
Date:: 1876
Medium:: Color woodblock print; oban
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Fine impression of warrior subject: $1,000–$5,000
Good condition warrior print: $400–$1,500
Later impression: $200–$600

Description

"The Actor Ichikawa Sadanji as Akechi Samenosuke" (1876) from the series "Seven Brilliant Heroes" depicts the Meiji-era actor in a role connected to the Akechi clan—the generals who betrayed Oda Nobunaga. Ichikawa Sadanji I was one of the great kabuki actors of the early Meiji period, and his portrayal of warrior roles in the period dramas (jidaimono) was particularly celebrated. Yoshitoshi's theatrical prints of the mid-1870s reflect a renewed commercial engagement with kabuki subject matter after the relatively sparse theatrical output of his newspaper illustration years.

More Prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Shunkan Watching Enviously from Kikai Island as Yasuyori Returns to the Capitol after Being Unexpectedly Pardoned (Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen senbo kito no zu)

Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (Yūho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (Fūzoku sanjūni sō)

Slovenly (Shidaranasaso), from the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Women (Fuzoku sanjuniso)"

1888

Color woodblock print; oban

Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"

n.d.

Color woodblock print

More Heroes & Warriors Prints

Saishin, from the series "Fashionable Women as the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin (Fuzoku onna Suikoden, ippyakuhachinin no uchi)"

c. 1828/30

Color woodblock print; surimono

Oteiroku, from the series "Fashionable Women as the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin (Fuzoku onna Suikoden, ippyakuhachinin no uchi)"

c. 1828/30

Color woodblock print; surimono

Rua Xiaoqi (Katsuenra Genshoshichi), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"

c. 1827/30

Color woodblock print; oban

Yang Zhi (Seimenju Yoshi), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"

c. 1827/30

Color woodblock print; oban

Frequently Asked Questions

The Actor Ichikawa Sadanji as Akechi Samenosuke, from the series "Seven Brilliant Heroes (Komei shichi yosei)" was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) in 1876.

Yes — The Actor Ichikawa Sadanji as Akechi Samenosuke, from the series "Seven Brilliant Heroes (Komei shichi yosei)" is part of the Seven Brilliant Heroes (Komei shichi yosei) series by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.

The Actor Ichikawa Sadanji as Akechi Samenosuke, from the series "Seven Brilliant Heroes (Komei shichi yosei)" depicts heroes & warriors and kabuki.