Onnagata Looking to Lower Right, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
Produced in the early 1920s, this oban woodblock print shows an onnagata performer looking toward the lower right. The onnagata tradition, in which male actors portray female characters, was one of kabuki's defining conventions, and Toyonari treated these performers with the same serious attention he gave to male-role actors. The rightward-downward gaze suggests a modest or deferential posture, appropriate to many female character types in the kabuki repertoire. Toyonari's composition is spare, with the figure set against an unadorned background that focuses all attention on the performer's face and upper body. The hairstyle and costume, rendered through the woodblock medium's layered color printing, provide the visual cues by which viewers could identify the character type, even without a named role.
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After Yamamura, Toyonari
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Dancing at the New Carlton Café in Shanghai
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Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Onnagata Looking to Lower Right, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922 was created by Yamamura Toyonari (山村豊成).
Onnagata Looking to Lower Right, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922 was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Onnagata Looking to Lower Right, Taishô period, circa 1920-1922 depicts kabuki and portraits.