Natori Shunsen - Priest Narukami

Natori Shunsen (1886-1960)

Date: 1926
Publishers: Watanabe Shōzaburō
Genre: Sōsaku hanga
Medium: Woodblock Print, 10.7 × 15.7in

A wonderful okubi-e (“large head”, bust portrait) of Actor Ichikawa Sadanji II as Priest Narukami. This print is from the series A collection of Shunsen's creative print likeness portraits (Sōsaku hanga Shunsen nigao-e shū).

Natori Shunsen was a Japanese painter and print artist best known for his striking portraits of Kabuki actors. Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1886, he studied traditional Japanese painting (nihonga) and began his career as an illustrator, producing images for newspapers and magazines. His close association with the theater eventually led him to specialize in yakusha-e – portraits of Kabuki performers.

Shunsen became an important artist of the Shin-hanga movement, working closely with publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe. Beginning in the 1910s and continuing through the postwar period, he created highly refined woodblock portraits of many of the leading Kabuki actors of his day. His best-known project, Thirty-Six Portraits of Actors in Various Roles (Shinpan Butai no Sugata-e), was published by Watanabe between 1925 and 1929.

Shunsen's portraits combine the long tradition of Edo-period actor prints with a distinctly modern approach. Unlike the exaggerated theatrical portraits of artists such as Sharaku or Kunisada, Shunsen often emphasized the individuality and psychological presence of the performer. Dramatic facial expressions, strong compositions, rich pigments and exceptionally fine carving and printing give his works an almost three-dimensional quality while retaining the elegance of traditional Japanese woodblock printing.

Today, Shunsen is regarded as one of the foremost Shin-hanga artists specializing in Kabuki subjects. His prints provide both compelling works of portraiture and an important visual record of some of Japan's most celebrated early twentieth-century actors.

Condition: Very good color and condition. Not backed. Embossing.