Kataoka Nizaemon VII and Ichikawa Yaozo III in a Confrontation Beside a Waterfall
- Date:
- c. 1797
- Medium:
- color woodblock print
- Source:
- Cleveland Museum of Art
This dramatic Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) [diptych](/glossary/diptych) or vertical composition by Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825) shows the kabuki actors Kataoka Nizaemon VII and Ichikawa Yaozō III in a tense confrontation set beside a waterfall. As [yakusha-e](/glossary/yakusha-e) of the highest order, the print exploits kabuki's love of staged opposition: two charismatic male performers, identifiable by crests and costume, locked in a moment of dramatic tension whose narrative the original Edo audience would have understood from the current playhouse program. Waterfall settings carried weighty associations in kabuki, evoking purification, tests of endurance, and the wild margins of civilized life; placing the figures beside one assured an atmosphere of moral as well as physical struggle. Kataoka Nizaemon VII (1755-1837) was a major Kamigata (Kyoto-Osaka) actor who occasionally performed in Edo, and Ichikawa Yaozō III (1747-1818) was a leading Edo male-role specialist; their pairing on a single print suggests a specific touring or guest engagement that print buyers would have followed closely. Toyokuni's 1792 production date, recorded by the Cleveland Museum of Art, places the work just before his career-defining Yakusha butai no sugata-e series and shows him already commanding the full body, full theatrical setting approach that would define his mature manner. The Cleveland Museum of Art holds one of the most important Japanese print collections in North America, and this impression contributes to the museum's strong Utagawa-school holdings documenting the high point of Edo theatrical printmaking.
early 1830s
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
1796
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
1769–1825
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Kataoka Nizaemon VII and Ichikawa Yaozo III in a Confrontation Beside a Waterfall was created by Utagawa Toyokuni I (歌川豊国) in c. 1797.
Kataoka Nizaemon VII and Ichikawa Yaozo III in a Confrontation Beside a Waterfall depicts waterfalls and autumn foliage.
