Actor Nakamura Utaemon 4th (One of Three Kabuki Actors)

Actor Nakamura Utaemon 4th, one of three kabuki actors in a Harvard Art Museums grouping, is an Edo ukiyo-e portrait by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) dated 1847. Nakamura Utaemon IV (1796-1852) was one of the most accomplished kabuki actors of the early to mid-nineteenth century, particularly celebrated in Osaka and Edo for his interpretations of male leads and onnagata roles, and he was a frequent subject of actor prints. Kuniyoshi's portrait participates in the long Utagawa-school tradition of yakusha-e that had been shaped by his teacher Utagawa Toyokuni I and by Kuniyoshi's contemporary Kunisada; he himself was an important contributor to the genre even as he became internationally known principally for his warrior prints. The 1847 date places the sheet in the years immediately after the Tenpō reforms, when actor prints were once again issued with a degree of identification that allowed audiences to attach the image firmly to a named performer. Kuniyoshi's actor prints often differ in feel from those of Kunisada: he favored a slightly more grounded physical presence and a sharper, more individualized facial structure, qualities well suited to a powerful actor such as Utaemon IV. The Harvard Art Museums record the work as part of a set of three kabuki actor portraits and document the actor's name, the date and Kuniyoshi's authorship. The description here adheres to that record, presenting the print as a representative Edo ukiyo-e actor portrait by Kuniyoshi, complementary in genre to his celebrated warrior prints.