1964 After Sharaku "Actor Bando Mitsugoro in the Role of Ishii Genzo", Full-Color Print From Japan

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A stunning large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Actor Bando Mitsugoro in the Role of Ishii Genzo" … Read more A stunning large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Actor Bando Mitsugoro in the Role of Ishii Genzo" by Toshusai Sharaku. Comes from a rare Collection of 24 Masterpieces by Sharaku. Produced & published by Shuei-Sha, Tokyo, in September, 1964. Printers: Toppan Printing Co., LTD. Printed on one side. Attached at the top to a board of heavy textured paper, covered with lighter sheet of paper for protection, numbered 2 on the label on the front of the cover. Excellent condition - minor edge wear on the board, minor age wear on the cover, never framed, ready to be framed. Copy of the commentary by Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui and Mr. Sadao Kikuchi (below) in Japanese and English is included.

Overall (folded) 12.50"W x 18.25"H
Overall (unfolded) 25"W x 18.25"H
Image 9.90"W x 14.95"H

Commentary by Ukiyo-e Art consultant & editor Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui and Mr. Sadao Kikuchi:
Signature: signed Toshusai Sharaku
Printers: Tsutaya Juzaburo (with a seal)
In the possession of Tokyo National Museum

This is also from the vendetta play "Hana Ayame-Bunroku Saga" and depicts actor Bando Mitsugoro at work as Isii Genzo avenging the murder of his father on Fujikawa Mizuemon. This is one of the principal roles in the play. His hair streaming in the wind, his lips curled up into a thin line, he fixes his fierce gaze on his enemy Mizuemon. The whiteness of his silk dress, the light blue of his silk collar, and a flash of his drawn sword cutting across the canvas, are all ably calculated for the total feeling of suspense. The brown lining of his coat thrown off on the ground and the purple silk sash intended to brace up his tucked up sleeves on the back suggest the stirring action to come.

Who was the SHARAKU, the man who suddenly walked into the world out of obscure to produce such solid likenesses of actors? And what manner of a man was his printer Tsutaya Juzaburo who serenely undertook so expensive a thing as mica printing as in this picture, which requires infinite care, and spared no gold for reproducing the tiniest detail in the patterns of the garment? See less