Actors as Samurai
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Description
Depicting kabuki actors in the roles of samurai, this print bridges Kuniyoshi's celebrated warrior-print tradition with his yakusha-e output. The martial bearing and elaborate armour recall his Suikoden heroes, while the portraits remain recognizable likenesses of specific performers. The composition speaks to the deep entanglement of warrior legend and kabuki theatre in late Edo popular culture, where fictional heroes from history and fiction were constantly refracted through stage interpretation.
More Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe
c. 1830
Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper
Yan Qing (Roshi Ensei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
Poem by Abe no Nakamaro, from an untitled series of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets
Hu Sanniang (Ko Sanjo Ichijosei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
More Warriors Prints
Benkei Bridge
Woodblock print
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
Herakles, Shôwa period, dated 1965?
Woodblock print
Chüshingura in Twelve Months
Woodblock print
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Actors as Samurai was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳).
Actors as Samurai depicts warriors.