Title : Yamato-ya Iwai Hanshiro IV as Kikusui

Artist : Utagawa Toyokuni I

Date : 1794

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : Utagawa Toyokuni followed Torii Kiyonaga as the most prominent Kabuki artist in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and the Utagawa style came to dominate the theatrical print world from his time onward. The character featured here is Kikusui, the wife of the renowned warrior Kusunoki Masashige. When her husband dies at the hands of enemy forces, she physically stops her despairing son from killing himself by blocking his attempts with a halberd, telling him that they both must live on in grief rather than commit suicide. Her black mourning veil, somber attire, and grave expression suggest that she is doing just that in this image. This print comes from the series Images of Actors Onstage, as indicated by the writing in the upper right corner. Kikusui is shown as played by the esteemed onnagata Iwai Hanshirö IV (1747-1800). Although this line of actors had had a strong presence in Kabuki since the time of Iwai Hanshirö I, it was Hanshirö IV who began its tradition of specializing as onnagata. He rivaled Segawa Kikunojö III as the most popular onnagata of the age and was well known for playing lower-class women, another onnagata archetype that came to the fore around the turn of the 19th century. This print shows the development of realism in ukiyo-e; Hanshiro IV was described as having a round, full-cheeked face, features which are adequately represented in this print.

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