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Teachings on the Living Images of Actors (Yakusha sangai kyō 俳優三階興) : [volume 1]

Utagawa, Toyokuni, 1769-1825 · 1801 · Edo : Nishinomiya Shinroku, 西宮新六, Shunshōken, 春松軒 · 9 pictures

A Japanese woodblock picture book printed in Edo in 1801 by the publisher Nishinomiya Shinroku, with illustrations attributed to Utagawa Toyokuni, probably for a general readership interested in kabuki actors. Its double-page scenes show everyday street, interior and garden life with figures in layered kimono, with flat colour washes, crisp black outlines and generous blank paper, offering a designer examples of compositional framing through sliding screens, staircases and blossom branches.

Actors -- Portraits

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library