The Actor Onoe Fujaku III as Kobayakawa Takakage
Seiyōsai Shunshi 青陽斎春子 Japanese
Not on view
This dramatic bust portrait of Onoe Fujaku III (1793–1831) captures the Osaka-based actor as a samurai garbed in a brilliant purple surcoat with paulownia crests, covering armor that has a breastplate in the form of a demon mask with piercing eyes. Fujaku is shown in a role based on the real-life daimyo Kobayakawa Takakage (1533–1597), who became an ally of the great warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Theater fans enjoyed the clever and playful ways in which Kabuki playwrights rewrote history.
The little known artist Seiyōsai Shunshi was said to have studied under Shunkōsai Hokushū, and all of his known works are actor portraits. We can assume that, like many Osaka print artists, he was a wealthy Kabuki fan who created print designs as an avocation, not profession.
On view June 5, 2021–August 8, 2021
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
