Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Japanese (1798 - 1861) Primary

Actors Bandô Mitsugorô IV as the Empress Jingûkôgô (神功皇后) and Nakamura Shikan II as Takeuchi-no-Sukune (武内宿祢) in the dance Yayoi no Hana Asakusa Matsuri performed at the Nakamuraza the 3rd month of 1832

Edo
1832

Sheet
14 5/8 x 10 in. (37.148 x 25.4 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• actors - Persons who use movement, gesture, facial expressions, speaking, and intonation to create a fictional character for the stage, motion pictures, or television.
• arrows - Projectiles generally consisting of a straight, slender shaft with a sharp point or carrying a sharp edged or pointed head of stone or metal, shot from a bow. More developed versions also have flights near the butt to stabilize their trajectory.
• bows - Stringed projectile weapons designed to propel arrows, generally consisting of a long stave of wood, metal, fiberglass, or other flexible material, with a length of strong string fastened to the tips of the stave which is bent in a curve, either permanently or from the tension of the string. The string is drawn back, holding the arrow by means of a notch in its rear tip, and propels the arrow upon release.
• Edo - Refers to the period and style that developed from the unification of Japan in 1600 until the end of the shogunal dynasty in 1868. During this period, economic expansion encouraged the rise of an educated merchant class who created their own forms of literature and theater as well as new schools of painting and woodblock printing. A wide diversity of pictorial subjects and styles developed during this period and many 19th century Western artists were influenced by them.
• empresses - Refers to female sovereigns of empires, which are political units that comprise a number of territories or nations and are ruled by a single supreme authority. The term may also refer to the wives and widows of emperors.
• fans - Hand-held implements used to produce a current of air or that serve as purely decorative accessories; may be rigid or collapsible.
• Kabuki
• plays - Dramatic or theatrical performances staged by actors before an audience; acted representations of an action or story.
• Ukiyo-e - Distinctive genre in painting and other media, but most prominently in woodblock printing. It arose in the Edo period (1600-1868) and built up a broad popular market among the middle classes. Subject matter typically focused on brothel districts and kabuki theatres, with formats ranging from single sheet prints to book illustrations. Generally, the style is characterized by a mixture of the realistic narrative of the Kamakura period and the mature decorative style of the Momoyama and Edo periods. Distinctive styles and specialties in subject matter were developed by different schools throughout the period.
• Utagawa, Kuniyoshi, 1798-1861 - Sources:
  - Robinson, B. W.: Kuniyoshi, 1961
  - Suzuki, J. Kuniyoshi, 1985:
  - Forrer, M. Drawings by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the collection of the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, 1988:
  - Info. from 678 field, converted 2012-10-25
  - LC database, June 12, 2020
• woodcuts - Prints made using the process of woodcut, which is a relief process in which the design is cut into and printed from the plank side of a wood block; distinct from "wood engraving (process)," which is a relief process using the grain end of a wood block.