About This Print
One of seven prints by the artist that appeared in the magazine Shin Nigao, whose purpose was to advertise the Kabuki theater and renew interest in actor prints. This print appeared in volume 4 of the magazine, published in October 1915 and pictures the actor Nakamura Fukusuke IV in the role of Yohei in the play Uzuki no momiji 卯月の紅葉 (Red Leaves in April) staged at the Naniwa-za in Dotonbori, Osaka in August 1915. The figure in the foreground is likely the character Okame who dies in a suicide pact with Yohei, who survives and becomes a monk.
For more information on this short-lived magazine whose purpose was to advertise the Kabuki theater and renew interest in actor prints, see the article Shin Nigao Magazine.
The Actor in this Print
Source: Kabuki 21 website http://www.kabuki21.com/fukusuke.php and http://www.kabuki21.com/baigyoku3.phpNakamura Fukusuke IV (Takasagoya)* - Nakamura Baigyoku III (1875-1948) took the stage name Nakamura Fukusuke IV in 1907 in Ôsaka at the Kadoza theater. He was an outstanding Kamigata onnagata and nimaime.
*There are nine generations of Nakamura Fukusuke. From the third to the fifth generations, the line was divided into two parallel branches, one related to the Narikomaya guild (the Nakamura Utaemon line of actors) and the other to the Takasagoya guild (Nakamura Baigyoku line of actors).
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #262 and 262A (second impression) |
| Title | Fukusuke in the role of Yohei 福助 與兵衛 |
| Series | Magazine: Shin Nigao (New Portraits) volume four 新似顔 第一年四編 |
| Artist | Ogawa Hyōe (active c. 1915) |
| Signature | No signature on print; 小川兵衛 畫 printed on page print was originally tipped to. |
| Seal |  |
| Date | October 1915 |
| Edition | First and only edition printed in magazine Shin Nigao |
| Publisher | Nigaodō 似顔洞 |
| Carver and Printer | Igami Bonkotsu (1875-1933) |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | #262 good - some ink offsetting on forehead #262A excellent |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Genre | shin hanga (new prints); nigao-e |
| Format | koban |
| H x W Paper | #262 7 1/8 x 4 1/2 (18.1 x 11.4 cm) #262A 7 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. (18.4 x 11.4 cm) |
| Collections This Print | The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 201-0456 (artist listed as unknown); National Gallery of Australia NGA 2015.601; The British Museum 1991,1112,0.193.4 (entire magazine, only front cover shown); Art Research Center Ritsumeikan University BM-SJ193-04 (British Museum's copy of entire magazine with all pages shown) |
| Reference Literature |
7/30/2020
10/17/2019
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