- Provenance
- Provenance research underway.
- Description
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Scroll contained in modern wooden box with lid. Proper right jiku damaged. From the catalog card for this object, kept by Robert Muller: "On the mount are pasted donation envelopes, customarily given to actors in appreciation of outstanding performances."
- Label
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In the seventeenth century, actors in the Japanese kabuki theater became popular heroes, and their portraits were widely produced in woodblock prints. Like many of these actor portraits, this painting of Jitsukawa Enjaku ii conveys a dual identity: the actor as idol and as a character he created in performance. Decorated donation envelopes-customarily given by fans to their favorite actors-are pasted around the mounting, an unusual feature that underscores Jitsukawa's fame. The portrait follows the successful formula of a head-and-shoulder bust depicting an actor in full makeup and costume, a popular motif in Japanese art from the 1790s onward. Artist Natori Shunsen specialized in the distinctive, bold style that he used in this painting.
- Collection Area(s)
- Japanese Art
- Web Resources
- Whistler's Neighborhood
- Google Cultural Institute
- SI Usage Statement
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Usage Conditions Apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Usage Conditions Apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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International Image Interoperability Framework
FS-6949_04