Kabuki Actor Looking to Right with Scroll, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
This early 1920s oban woodblock print depicts a kabuki actor gazing to the right while holding or examining a scroll. Scrolls serve multiple narrative functions on the kabuki stage: they may contain letters, poems, secret messages, maps, or official decrees that drive the plot forward. Toyonari frames the actor in a three-quarter view, with the scroll serving as both a prop and a compositional anchor. The rightward gaze suggests the character is either reading the scroll's contents or reacting to something offstage, creating a sense of narrative beyond the frame. Toyonari's clean woodblock lines define the folds of the costume and the actor's hands with equal care, treating the physical act of holding the document as an integral part of the character's presence.
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Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Kabuki Actor Looking to Right with Scroll, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922 was created by Yamamura Toyonari (山村豊成).
Kabuki Actor Looking to Right with Scroll, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922 was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Kabuki Actor Looking to Right with Scroll, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922 depicts kabuki.