The Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII as Soga Gorō

1940

Not on view

Recognized as the greatest actor of the nineteenth century, Danjūrō VII is depicted as Soga Gorō, one of the most popular roles of the Kabuki stage, who carries out revenge with his brother for the murder of his father. This design was created in the modern era, at a time when Japan was at war, and neither ukiyo-e prints nor Kabuki were as popular as they had been in previous eras. Tadamasa, who had studied under Torii Kiyotada (1875–1941), one of the last of the traditional actor-print artists, drew on the history of Kabuki’s heyday during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

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鳥居忠雅画　七代目市川団十郎の曽我五郎
Title: The Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII as Soga Gorō
Artist: Torii Tadamasa (Japanese, 1904–1970)
Period: Shōwa period (1929–89), 1940
Date: 1940
Culture: Japan
Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; vertical ōban
Dimensions: 15 x 9 3/4 in. (38.1 x 24.8 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of H. J. Isaacson, 1948
Object Number: MJP45
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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