The Floating World
Segawa Tomisaburō II as Yadorigi
二代目瀬川富三郎の大岸蔵人妻やどり木 · Nidaime Segawa Tomisaburō no Ōgishi Kurando tsuma Yadorigi
Tōshūsai Sharaku · 1794 (Kansei 6, 5th month)
What it is
An onnagata — a male actor in a woman’s role — as the lady Yadorigi, wife of Ōgishi Kurando, in the play Hana ayame Bunroku Soga: powdered, composed, and not quite the illusion.
Why it matters
The one early account we have says Sharaku failed because he drew people “as they really were” — this sheet is the evidence, and the reason he is now ranked among the great portraitists of any tradition.
What to notice
The jaw is a touch too strong, the eye too knowing: the man visible inside the role. Edo found it rude. We find it astonishing.
Two performances at once: the woman, and the man performing her.
The record
- Artist
- Tōshūsai Sharaku 東洲斎写楽 (active 1794–1795)
- Date
- 1794 (Kansei 6, 5th month)
- Publisher
- Tsutaya Jūzaburō
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- The Art Institute of Chicago · 1928.1056
- kirazuri
Impression note. The dark mica ground varies in tone from silvery to near-black across surviving sheets; fine impressions keep its luster and the pale, even printing of the powdered face. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
More Tōshūsai Sharaku
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