# Katsukawa Shunshō

Japanese, 1726–1792

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._

6 works in the collection.

- [A girl playing battledore and shuttlecock](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/a-girl-playing-battledore-and-shuttlecock-si-fsg-f1904-191), Katsukawa Shunshō, 18th century. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.
- [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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-actor-ichikawa-danjuro-iv-in-a-shibaraku-role-possibly-f-aic-21839), Katsukawa Shunshō, c. 1768. Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.
- [Plants, Porcelain Bowl, and Glass Goblet](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/plants-porcelain-bowl-and-glass-goblet-aic-21843), Katsukawa Shunshō, c. 1789. Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.
- [Actor Nakamura Nakazô I as Osada no Tarô in The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith (Ima o sakari suehiro Genji)](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/actor-nakamura-nakazo-i-as-osada-no-taro-in-the-genji-clan-n-aic-88267), Katsukawa Shunshō, About 1768. Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.
- [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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-actors-otani-hiroji-iii-as-yokambei-right-nakamura-tomij-aic-88331), Katsukawa Shunshō, c. 1776. Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.
- [The Actor Ishikawa Danjuro V Performing a Shibaroku Act with a Drawn Sword in His Hand](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-actor-ishikawa-danjuro-v-performing-a-shibaroku-act-with-met-55239), Katsukawa Shunshō, ca. 1781. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.