Sumo Wrestler

Sumo Wrestler is a print by Utagawa Kunisada, the dominant Edo ukiyo-e designer of the nineteenth century, working in the sumo-e tradition that ran alongside his much larger output of yakusha-e. Sumo prints celebrated the great rikishi (wrestlers) of Edo and Osaka in the same way that actor prints celebrated kabuki stars, with named portraits, lists of opponents and victories, and ranking-style listings that mirrored kabuki playbills. Here Kunisada presents a single wrestler at full or half length, his huge frame and topknot rendered with the strong contour line and richly modulated flesh tones the Utagawa school used to convey physical mass and dignity. The mawashi (loincloth) is patterned with the kind of bold decorative motif that doubled as identification for fans, and his stance evokes the readiness of the ring. Sumo and kabuki together formed Edo's twin commercial spectacles, and Kunisada's participation in both helps explain his publishers' market reach. The impression is indexed at ukiyo-e.org through the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria collection, joining the broader visual record of nineteenth-century sumo culture documented through ukiyo-e prints. Source: ukiyo-e.org / Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (https://ukiyo-e.org/image/aggv/i02437).