Katsukawa Shunshō

Japanese, 1726–1792

The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro IV in a "Shibaraku" Role, Possibly from the Play Ima o Sakari Suehiro Genji (The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith), Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1768, c. 1768

Shunshō founded the Katsukawa school and changed the way kabuki actors were portrayed, giving them recognisable individual features rather than standard types. From the late 1760s his actor designs, often in the narrow hosoban format, dominated the field. He was also a refined painter of beautiful women, and the young Hokusai spent his early years in his studio under the name Shunrō.

Written by Ochre Editions.

In the collection: 6 worksDated 1763–1794
Mostly: Prints, Painting
Movement: Ukiyo-eJapanese woodblock prints of the floating world: actors, courtesans, landscapes and the sea.
Courtesy of: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Met, The National Museum of Asian Art

Walk the Katsukawa Shunshō gallery

The works

The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro IV in a "Shibaraku" Role, Possibly from the Play Ima o Sakari Suehiro Genji (The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith), Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1768

Katsukawa Shunshō, c. 1768

Actor Nakamura Nakazô I as Osada no Tarô in The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith (Ima o sakari suehiro Genji)

Katsukawa Shunshō, About 1768

The Actors Otani Hiroji III as Yokambei (right), Nakamura Tomijuro I as Kuzunoha (center), and Bando Mitsugoro I as Yakambei (left), in the Last Scene from the Play Shinodazuma (The Wife from Shinoda Forest), Performed as a Supplement to the Play Kikyo-zome Onna Urakata (Female Diviner in Deep Violet), at the Morita Theater from the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month, 1776

Katsukawa Shunshō, c. 1776

Katsukawa Shunshō

The works

The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro IV in a "Shibaraku" Role, Possibly from the Play Ima o Sakari Suehiro Genji (The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith), Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1768

Actor Nakamura Nakazô I as Osada no Tarô in The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith (Ima o sakari suehiro Genji)

The Actor Ishikawa Danjuro V Performing a Shibaroku Act with a Drawn Sword in His Hand

Plants, Porcelain Bowl, and Glass Goblet

A girl playing battledore and shuttlecock

The works

The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro IV in a "Shibaraku" Role, Possibly from the Play Ima o Sakari Suehiro Genji (The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith), Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1768

Actor Nakamura Nakazô I as Osada no Tarô in The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith (Ima o sakari suehiro Genji)

The Actor Ishikawa Danjuro V Performing a Shibaroku Act with a Drawn Sword in His Hand

Plants, Porcelain Bowl, and Glass Goblet

A girl playing battledore and shuttlecock

Working at the same time

Suzuki Harunobu

Ishikawa Toyonobu

Katsukawa Shunkо̄

Kitao Shigemasa

Soga Shohaku

Torii Kiyomitsu