The actor Ichikawa Dajuro VII and a woman watching boy write first calligraphy of the New Year
- Date:
- 1831
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
The actor Ichikawa Dajuro VII and a woman watching boy write first calligraphy of the New Year, recorded by the Art Institute of Chicago with a date of 1831, blends Utagawa Toyokuni's [yakusha-e](/glossary/yakusha-e) expertise with the seasonal ritual of kakizome, the first calligraphy of the New Year. The kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro VII, one of the leading stage figures of his day, appears in the company of a woman and a young boy who is brushing the auspicious first characters of the year. As Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e), the print combines several powerful currents: the celebrity culture surrounding leading actors, the carefully observed costume and pose of [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), and the seasonal calendar that organized so much of urban life. Kakizome was a domestic ritual practiced by households across the city, and pairing it with a star actor gave the design a playful note of celebrity endorsement. The seated figures, brush and paper, and a sense of indoor warmth produce a composition that is at once intimate and broadly recognizable. The Art Institute of Chicago catalogues the work as a Toyokuni I-school print, preserving it as a record of the way actors like Danjuro VII were embedded in the visual rituals of New Year in nineteenth-century Edo. The combination of yakusha-e and domestic scene shows that Utagawa Toyokuni's name continued to carry weight in designs that crossed the boundaries between theatre, household ritual, and seasonal print culture.
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
The actor Ichikawa Dajuro VII and a woman watching boy write first calligraphy of the New Year was created by Utagawa Toyokuni I (歌川豊国) in 1831.
The actor Ichikawa Dajuro VII and a woman watching boy write first calligraphy of the New Year depicts children.
