Page 58 - September 21 2021 Important Japanese Art Christie's NYC

32 TOSHUSAI SHARAKU (ACT. 1794-95)

The Actors Sawamura Sojuro

III as Nagoya Sanzaemon and

Segawa Kikunojo III as the
Courtesan Katsuragi

Woodblock print with white mica ground,
signed Toshusai Sharaku ga, published by
Tsutaya Juzaburo (Koshodo), 7th month 1794
Vertical oban: 14¡ x 9Ω in. (36.5 x 24.1 cm.)

$50,000-70,000
Because of the success of full-figure actor images designed by
Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825) and published by Nishimuraya
PROVENANCE: Yohachi and Izumiya Ichibei, the rival house Koshodo leapt into
Raymond A. Bidwell (1876-1954), Springfield, the ring in 1794. Its impresario, Tsutaya Juzaburo, teamed with
Massachusetts Sharaku for a total of one hundred forty-five actor prints and ten
sumo prints, including the twenty-eight close-ups represented
by lot 116 [the okubi-e of Sakata Hangoro] in this sale. While
EXHIBITED:
at first glance the double-image might appear conventional
“Ukiyo-e from The Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield,
compared to the full-face likeness, it also has unusual elements
MA”, exh. cat. p. 54, no. 94, exhibited at the following that always distinguish works by Sharaku: here, the intimacy
venues: between the characters by pressing the figures so close together;
Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo, 4 June-3 July, 1994 the tension implied by her agitated hand clasp and loose strands
Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo of hair; the daintier air of her suitor by the slight twist of the
Prefecture, 16 July-21 August, 1994 leg. Kikunojo’s pose with the knee thrust upwards is a theatrical
Yokkaichi Municipal Museum, Mie Prefecture, 1 September-4 standard for courtesan roles. In a Toyokuni print of the same
actor in the same female part, the courtesan, shown standing, is
October, 1994
statuesque but static (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 11.24971).
We do not have to know the scene to imagine what is going on
in the Sharaku treatment.
The kabuki play, Keisei sanbon karakasa (The Courtesan and
the Three Parasols) was performed at Edo’s Miyako Theater
in the seventh lunar month of 1794. The drama concerns the
rivalry between Sanzaemon and Fuwa Banzaemon Shigekatsu
over the courtesan Katsuragi. Because she favors Sanzaemon,
Bunzaemon determines to do him in. In a print in smaller
format (hosoban; approx. 31 x 14 cm), the menacing villain
holds Sanzaemon’s sword that Bunzaemon will use to kill him
(Minneapolis Institute of Art, P.13, 734). With the customary
twists and turns, the gist of the plot is the avenging of
Bunzaemon’s death by his son. Two Sharaku prints of Segawa
Kikunojo III in the same role as a single, standing figure are
in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (11.16494; 11.19273). The
rare print here exists in a handful of institutions, including
the Tokyo National Museum, British Museum, Metropolitan
Museum and The Art Institute of Chicago.