Ukie ganso Edo kabuki ōshibai no zu (The Grand Performance of Kabuki in the Eastern Capital by the Pioneer of Perspective Pictures)
Katsushika Hokusai, Ukie ganso Edo kabuki ōshibai no zu (The Grand Performance of Kabuki in the Eastern Capital by the Pioneer of Perspective Pictures), ca. 1787, color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, public domain, 32.395
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Ukie ganso Edo kabuki ōshibai no zu (The Grand Performance of Kabuki in the Eastern Capital by the Pioneer of Perspective Pictures)
- Related Titles
catalog entry: Ukie ganso Edo kabuki ôshibai no zu (The Grand Performance of Kabuki in the Eastern Capital, by the Pioneer of Perspective Pictures)
original language: 浮絵元祖東都歌舞伎大芝居の図
translated: The Grand Performance of Kabuki in the Eastern Capital by the Pioneer of Perspective Pictures
transliterated: Ukie ganso Edo kabuki ōshibai no zu
- Artist
- Related People
publisher: Nishimura Yohachi (Japanese, active mid-19th century)
- Date
ca. 1787
- Period
Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)
- Medium
color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
image: 9 1/16 in x 14 11/16 in; sheet: 10 1/4 in x 15 3/16 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
publisher's mark: 永壽堂西村屋再版 / 永壽堂 [enclosed in a square seal], printed in black, lower right Transliteration (Translation): Eijudō Nishimuraya saihan / Eijudō (reprinted by Nishimuraya of the Eijudō studio [followed by the seal of publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi 西村屋与八]) Language: Japanese Description: Edo publisher, firm Eijudō 永寿堂 active c.1751-1860.
publisher's mark: , printed in black, lower right Translation: [seal of publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi 西村屋与八] Language: Japanese Description: Edo publisher, firm Eijudō 永寿堂 active c.1751-1860.
signature: 勝春朗画, printed, center right Transliteration (Translation): Katsu Shunrō ga (picture [by] Katsu[kawa] Shunrō) Language: Japanese Description: Hokusai used the name Katsukawa Shunrō, given to him by his teacher Katsukawa Shunshō, at the beginning of his career as a young ukiyo-e artist.
title: 浮絵元祖東都歌舞伎大芝居之圖, printed, upper right Transliteration (Translation): Ukie ganso Edo kabuki ōshibai no zu (picture of the grand performance of kabuki in Edo [from the] pioneer of perspective pictures) Language: Japanese Description: The characters 東都 (Eastern Capital, normally read Tōto) are glossed in furigana, giving the reading as "Edo."
- Collection Area
Asian Art; Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
Japanese Traditional Prints
- Object Type
relief print
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection
- Accession Number
32.395
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
From Objects of Contact: Encounters between Japan and the West
The linear perspective deployed in Japanese uki-e or "perspective pictures" was picked up from imported European engravings. The architecture of kabuki playhouses lent themselves easily to this pictorial device, making them a popular subject. This rare print was designed by Hokusai early in his career, when he was still using the art name Katsukawa Shunrō.
- Exhibitions
2005 Crowd Appeal: Impressions of Edo Japan Portland Art Museum
2011 The Artist's Touch, The Craftsman's Hand: Three Centuries of Japanese Prints from the Portland Art Museum Portland Art Museum
2020 Objects of Contact: Encounters between Japan and the West Portland Art Museum