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Actor Onoe Matsunosuke IV as Nozarashi Chobei, from the series Collection of Portraits by Shunsen

Natori Shunsen

Asian Art

The twentieth-century artist Natori Shunsen brought a new degree of realism to the old tradition of Kabuki portraiture. Unlike his predecessors, whose prints advertised the latest productions and targeted theater fans, Shunsen often portrayed actors in past roles and produced and marketed his prints more deliberately as works of art. Shunsen was part of a revival movement, called shin-hanga (“new prints”), which promoted traditional methods of color woodblock printing for representation of more modern subjects and styles. The actor portrayed here was trained in Kabuki but made the transition to film, where he pioneered the ninja movie genre and became Japan’s first movie star.
MEDIUM Woodblock color print
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES 1925
    PERIOD Taisho Period
    DIMENSIONS 15 x 10 1/4 in. (38.1 x 26 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Shunsen ga 春仙画
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 68.35.14
    CREDIT LINE Carll H. de Silver Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Oban woodblock print, vertical format. Close, bust-length portrait of an actor playing the part of an older man. Condition: good Remarks: Proof Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Natori Shunsen (Japanese, 1886-1960). Actor Onoe Matsunosuke IV as Nozarashi Chobei, from the series Collection of Portraits by Shunsen, 1925. Woodblock color print, 15 x 10 1/4 in. (38.1 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 68.35.14. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 68.35.14_IMLS_PS3.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 68.35.14_IMLS_PS3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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    Natori Shunsen (Japanese, 1886-1960). <em>Actor Onoe Matsunosuke IV as Nozarashi Chobei, from the series Collection of Portraits by Shunsen</em>, 1925. Woodblock color print, 15 x 10 1/4 in. (38.1 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 68.35.14. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 68.35.14_IMLS_PS3.jpg)