Natori Shunsen - Morita Kanya XIII As Genta Kagesue in the play Genta Kando

Morita Kanya XIII As Genta Kagesue in the play Genta Kando

Natori SHUNSEN
Date 1928
Technique Woodcut
Price $2,250.00
Exhibitor Thomas French Fine Art LLC
Contact the Exhibitor 330-867-1679
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Color woodcut, 1928

Signed and stamped middle right edge

Natori stamp lower left image edge

Series: Collection of Creative Print Portraits by Shunsen, this being No. 28 in the series

Publisher: Watanabe Shozaboru

Signed: Shunsen (see photo), along with leaf pattern seal in red

Stamped lower left margin in red: Natori

Edition: 150 impressions (no further printings)

Deluxe printing with reverse embossing for sculptural effect on the nose, kimono and flowers

References: Catalogue Raisonne – Ukiyoe Kabuki Gi Han Ga: Shunsen Natori (The Skill of Natori Shunsen in Kabuki Prints), Kushigata Municipal Shunsen Museum, Kushigata, Japan, 1991; Dramatic Impressions: Japanese Theatre Prints from the Gilbert Luber Collection, Chance, Frank L. & Davis, Julie Nelson, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007; Modern Japanese Prints, Dorothy Blair, The Toledo Art Museum, 1997; Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, Merviss, Newland, et. al., Hotei Publishing, 2004

Strong Women, Beautiful Men: Japanese Portrait Prints from the Toledo Museum of Art, Laura J. Mueller, Toledo Museum of Art, 2005, p. 92; Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Carol M. Putney, et. al., Toledo Museum of Art, 2014, p. 197, pl. 161;  Stars of the Tokyo Stage, Lucie Folan, et. al., National Gallery of Australia, 2012, p. 109.

"The result of the [Watanabe-Shunsen] collaboration was a series called Shunsen nigao shū [Collection of Portraits by Shunsen], sometimes translated as Portraits of Actors in Various Roles, produced between 1925 and 1929. Watanabe’s artisans were at this time at the peak of their skills, producing blocks with pristine, clear lines, and inking them in brilliant colors that reflect the evolution of tonalities to a modern vibrancy.  They were issued in a special paper folder, listing the names of the actors and their roles.  The series was extended by 15 more prints between 1929 and 1934."   Courtesy of Lavenberg Collection

Toledo Museum catalog describes the print in the following:
"Actor in red orange kimono, flower and scroll pattern in yellow; crest, two white and yellow arrow-feathers; folded white collar with light gray fretwork design; two under-kimono, one pink, one light blue-green; blue shoulder capes with double arrow crest.  Fan, black, yellow, and blue; headdress, light red and white plum blossoms, yellow centers; black hat tied with purple and white, red-lined cord.  Background mottled gray.
Signed “Shunsen”; also his seal.  Margin: “Natori”, artist’s stamp of approval.  Edition, 150 impressions; issued in 1928.  14 15/16 x 10 1/32."