1964 After Sharaku "Actor Morita Kanya as Yura Hyogonosuke", Full-Color Print From Japan

Description

Unique flamboyant narrow full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after rare original woodblock print "Actor Morita Kanya as Yura Hyogonosuke" by Toshusai … more Unique flamboyant narrow full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after rare original woodblock print "Actor Morita Kanya as Yura Hyogonosuke" 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 18 on the label on the front of the cover. Excellent condition - minor edge wear on the board, 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 5.55"W x 12.10"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 Mr. Mikio Mizuta, Tokyo

This picture represents one of the dramatic personale in the play "The Ferry of Yaguchi under Divine Protection". This is another rare piece, and the only one in existance in Japan. Kanya plays the play's hero who saves the life of his former master's young son by substituting his own child for him. The anguish of the warrior bound to such moral code and such a sacrifice is communicated by Kanya. The narrow sheet pictures of SHARAKU in his 2nd production period are conspicuous in their emphases on sheer compositional and external beauty.

The deeply ransasked emotion of Hyogonosuke, the protagonist, is conveyed by his sleeves folded deep, one over the other on his chest. The shoulders of his ceremonial suiting hang limp in dejection. A typical example of HARAKU's physical expressiveness. less