Shibaraku, Shôwa period, dated 1965

Shibaraku, Showa period, dated 1965, is the third of Mori's documented Shibaraku prints — each a distinct compositional approach to kabuki's most iconic theatrical moment. The 1965 dating places this version in the mid-career period when his stencil technique had achieved its full maturity and his ability to render the complexity of the role's costume and makeup with graphic efficiency was at its most assured. The Shibaraku hero's fixed pose — the mie, the frozen moment of theatrical intensity — was perfectly suited to the printmaker's art, which by its nature captured a single frozen instant.