1964 After Sharaku "Actor Matsumoto Koshiro in the Role of Fishmonger of Sanya", Full-Color Print

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An excellent large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Actor Matsumoto-Koshiro in the Role of Fishmonger of Sanya, … Read more An excellent large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Actor Matsumoto-Koshiro in the Role of Fishmonger of Sanya, Gorobee" 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 8 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 10"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
In the possession of Tokyo National Museum

This is actor Koshiro IV in the play "Vendetta Ferry Boat", as Fishmonger Gorobee whose gallantry makes it possible for the two sisters to get their avenging of their father's murder successfully executed on the enemy Shiga Daishichi. Koshiro IV was an ambitious and self-assertive man who never got along with the matinee idols of his time like Ichikawa Danjuro V and Onoe Kikugoro. SHARAKU's portrait celebrates the masculine characteristics of this man. The checkered garment he liked to wear - which set the fashion of the day as "Korai-ya Check" - is set off by the black satin collar. His expressive hands suggest the characteristic self-assurance of this actor who was endowed, it is said, with good looks, resonant voice and well controlled speech and an excellent stage personality.

What serves as softening effect on this otherwise razor-sharp grasp of a brilliant character is SHARAKU's color sensibility. He use for example gray instead of black for the drawing lined and his imaginative use of thin or thick lines for face or clothes also helps. See less