Kabuki Actor Looking to Right with Scroll, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
$2,000–$15,000. Kabuki actor portraits are highly collectible. Good actor or bijin-ga prints: $5,000–$10,000. Key value factors: Yamamura's Art Deco-influenced designs are particularly sought after. Kabuki actor prints and bold modern compositions command the highest prices.
This early 1920s [oban](/glossary/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.
1919
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Woodblock print
1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with mica
1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with nikawa and embossing
歌舞伎
Woodblock print
1955
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
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.