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The Actor Sawamura Yodogorō II as the Lord Ōe no Onitsura in the Play Zensei Azuma Garan, Kawarazaki Theater

Artist/Maker (Japanese, 1769–1825)
Date1795
MediumColor woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical ōban; overall: 14 7/16 × 9 5/8 in. (36.6 × 24.5 cm)
Credit LineMary A. Ainsworth Bequest
PortfolioActors on a Stage (Yakusha butai sugatae)
Object number1950.393
Status
Not on view
More Information
Look carefully at the shimmering color surrounding the figure in this print. Glue and colorant were mixed and printed on the background, onto which was sprinkled finely ground mica in a technique called kirazuri 雲母摺 (mica printing). It gave the impression of an actor illuminated by stage lights. The technique was later banned by the authorities as “too luxurious.”
Exhibition History
Forty-eight Japanese Prints from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN ( 1954-02 - 1954-02 )
  • University of the South, Sewannee, TN ( 1954-03 - 1954-03 )
Japanese Prints from the Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 18, 1979 - October 21, 1979 )
Masterpieces of Japanese Prints from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (December 11, 1984 - January 27, 1985 )
Japanese Prints from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 20, 1986 - July 20, 1986 )
Highlights from the Ainsworth Collection of Japanese Woodblock Prints
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (April 15, 1988 - June 12, 1988 )
Chinese and Japanese Art from Antiquity to the Present
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 17, 2002 - June 9, 2003 )
Visions of Turmoil and Tranquility: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 17, 2005 - December 23, 2005 )
A Life in Prints: Mary A. Ainsworth and the Floating World
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 3, 2015 - June 7, 2015 )
Ukiyo-e Prints from the Mary Ainsworth Collection
  • Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan (April 13, 2019 - May 25, 2019 )
  • Shizuoka City Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan (June 8, 2019 - July 28, 2019 )
  • Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan (August 10, 2019 - September 29, 2019 )
Collections
  • Asian
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.