Act Two: The House of Kakogawa Honzo from the play Chushingura (Treasury of Loyal Retainers)
<p>This scene introduces the classic theme of a young betrothed couple torn between their mutual love for each other and the family loyalties that divide them. The samurai is Rikiya, one of Lord Asano’s retainers and the son of Kuranosuke, Chamberlain and leader of the forty-seven samurai retainers. His betrothed is Konami, daughter of Honzo, a chief retainer to the shogun. As Rikiya delivers the message to Honzo‘s wife that the provincial Lords Asano and Wakasa must appear at the shogun’s court the next day, he (Rikiya) has the opportunity to see his beloved. The couple is too shy to make contact, however, and Rikiya leaves without speaking to Konami.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1774
- Dimensions
- 26.6 × 19.5 cm (10 1/2 × 7 11/16 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Katsukawa Shunshō
Artist
Painting
Shunshō Katsukawa was a Japanese painter and printmaker in the ukiyo-e style, and the leading artist of the Katsukawa school. Shunshō studied under Miyagawa Shunsui, son and student of Miyagawa Chōshun, both equally famous and talented ukiyo-e artists. Shunshō is best known for introducing a new form of yakusha-e, prints depicting Kabuki actors. However, his bijin-ga paintings, while less famous, are said by some scholars to be "the best in the second half of the [18th] century".
Full artist profile →More
More by Katsukawa Shunshō
"Mu," page from "Picture Book of the Music of Pines Trees (Ehon matsu no shirabe)"
1795 · Color woodblock print; koban; page from illustrated book
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1790 · Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk
Dancer with a Maple Branch
1789 · Hanging scroll; Ink, color, and gold on paper
The Actor Iwai Hanshiro IV in an Unidentified Role
1787 · Color woodblock print; hosoban
The Actor Ichikawa Ebizo as Kudo Suketsune Disguised as a Komuso in the Play Waka Murasaki Edokko Soga, Performed at the Ichimura Theater in the First Month, 1792
1787 · Color woodblock print; hosoban; center sheet of triptych
The Actors Segawa Kikunojo III as Karigane Obun, Nakayama Tomisaburo I as An no Oyasu, Iwai Kiyotaro II as Kaminari no Osha, Nakayama Tatezo I as Gokuin no Osen, and Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Hotei no Oichi (right to left), in "Gonin Onna," Scene One of the Play Waka Murasaki Edokko Soga, Performed at the Ichimura Theater in the Second Month, 1792
1787 · Color woodblock print; hosoban; pentaptych
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Katsukawa Shunshō
- Year
- 1774
- Dimensions
- 26.6 × 19.5 cm (10 1/2 × 7 11/16 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1774-061038
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified