The Actor Ichimura Uzaemon XV as Iriya Naozamurai, Natori Shunsen

Archive Label 2003: From the earliest days of kabuki performances, artists designed actor prints to be used as advertisements by theater managers, or to be sold to playgoers as collectible mementos of a favorite actor or play. In Shunsen’s print, the actor portrays a scoundrel and a masterless samurai, known ironically as Naozamurai (“faithful samurai”) in the play Kochiyama to Naozamurai. Typical of the actor print genre, the stair is pictured in a critical dramatic moment. Pursued by police, Naozamurai attempts to flee Edo (modern day Tokyo) when he is caught in a snowstorm. His face is taut with anxiety as he tries to make a successful escape on a bleak, snowy evening. Exhibition Label: "Tradition and Modernity: Japanese Art of the Early Twentieth Century," Jan-2005, Hillary Pedersen Originally a painter in the traditonal Japanse style of nihonga (see Nakamura Daizaburō’s screen in this exhibition), Natori Shunsen later became a newpaper illustrator. He subsequently became a printmaker and created a series of thirty-six male actors in various roles, to which this print belongs. Pursued by police, the character depicted here, Iriya Naozamurai, attempts to flee Tokyo. His face is taut with anxiety as he tries to make his escape on a bleak, snowy night. The furrowed brow, wide, staring eyes, flaring nostrils, and scarf knotted tightly at the chin capture the scene’s tension, while the bust view of the actor provides a close view of the actor’s intense expression. The three-dimensional form of the actor’s head beneath the scarf, as well as the pale, strategically placed lines on his chin and neck give the figure a sense of volume and substance, while the overlapping patterns in the kimono fabric create the illusion of motion.