Ryūsai Shigeharu (柳斎重春) (artist 1802 – 1852)
Nakamura Utaemon III (中村歌右衛門) in a possible kabuki Suikoden role
1829
9.5 in x 14 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ryūsai Shigeharu ga
柳斎重春画
Publisher: Horie Ichiba Wataki Han (掘江市場綿喜坂), i.e. Wataya Kihei
Partial (faint) red seal at bottom right:
possibly by carver Kasuke
National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg - the image only
Lyon Collection - a companion piece This may well represent a performance at the Horie Ichinogawa theater and may be the right hand companion to another print in the Lyon Collection, #1295, even though the shape of the cartouches are somewhat different.
The publisher is Wataya Kihei (綿喜版).
****
Illustrated in color in Schätze der Kamigata: Japanische Farbholzschnitte aus Osaka 1780-1880, MNHA (Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg), 2012, p. 240, #516. The text in this catalogue describing this print and its mate suggests that Shigeharu was influenced by Kuniyoshi's Suikoden prints which began appearing two years earlier in 1827.
"Wie Kuniyoshi... zeigt Shigeharu einen Helden in bildausfüllender Figur in prächtigen Gewändernund in voller Rüstung in einer Kampfsituation. Während Kuniyoshi den Helden in einer Textartusche beschreibt, teilt Shigeharu in einer ähnlichen Textartusche ebenfalls informationen über "seinen Helden" mit, z.B. über sein Yago, Haigo oder seinen früheren Bühnennamen. Auch in der Signatur und Verlagskartusche folgt Shigeharu seinem Vorbild. Während der Held, den Utaemon III. verkörpert, ebenso wie sein bezwungener Gegner noch unbekannt ist, so Rikan II. den Begründer des Fujiwara-Clans und Staatsminister Kamatari Danjin darstellen."
The Google translation is:
"Like Kuniyoshi..., Shigeharu shows a hero with a full-figure figure in magnificent robes and full armor in a combat situation. While Kuniyoshi describes the hero in a text cartridge, Shigeharu also shares information about "his hero" in a similar text cartridge, e.g. about his Yago, Haigo or his former stage name. Shigeharu also follows his example in the signature and publishing cartouche. While the hero, Utaemon III. embodied, just as his defeated opponent is still unknown, so Rikan II represents the founder of the Fujiwara clan and state minister Kamatari Danjin."
Wataya Kihei (綿屋喜兵衛) (publisher)
Nakamura Utaemon III (三代目中村歌右衛門) (actor)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)