About This Print
This print is one twelve small format prints created by Toyonari for the short-lived 1915 magazine Shin Nigao whose purpose was to advertise the Kabuki theater and renew interest in actor prints. Depicting the actor Matsumoto Kōshirō VII in the role of Mitsuhide in the play Taikōki onna bunko? 太功記婦女文庫 at the Imperial Theater (Teikoku Gekijō), this print appeared in the fourth issue of the magazine, published in October 1915.Matsumoto Kōshirō VII 松本幸四郎 (1870-1949), one of the leading tachiyaku Kabuki actors of Japan's Meiji period (1868–1912) through the late 1940s.
An image of this collection's print was provided to the National Gallery of Australia and appears in the catalog to their 2012-2013 exhibition Stars of the Tokyo Stage.1
An image of this collection's print was provided to the National Gallery of Australia and appears in the catalog to their 2012-2013 exhibition Stars of the Tokyo Stage.1
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.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #244 |
| Title | [Matsumoto] Kōshirō [VII] [in the role of] Mitsuhide 幸四郎 光秀 (as printed on page print was originally tipped to)  |
| Series | Magazine: Shin Nigao (New Portraits) volume unknown 新似顔 第一年四編 |
| Artist | Yamamura Toyonari (1885-1942) |
| Signature |  山村豊成 畫 Yamamura Toyonari ga (as printed on page print was originally to)  |
| Seal | none |
| 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 | good - wrinkling to bottom left side of print |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Genre | shin hanga (new prints); nigao-e |
| Format | koban |
| H x W Paper | 7 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. (18.6 x 11.4 cm) |
| Collections This Print | The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 201-0475; 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 | Stars of the Tokyo Stage, Lucie Folan, et. al., National Gallery of Australia, 2012, p. 30. |
7/31/2020
11/19/2018
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