Utagawa Kunihiro (歌川国広) (artist )

Memorial Portrait of Arashi Kitsusaburō I (嵐橘三郎) I as Nagai Genzaburō (永井源三郎) from the play Katakiuchi Chikai no Shigarami [敵討義恋柵]

Print

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Date:ca 09/1821
Dimensions:10.5 in x 15.5 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Kunihiro ga (国廣画)
Publisher: Tenmaya Kihei (Tenki)
(Marks 536 - seal 21-436)
Links Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Philadelphia Museum of Art Description:The deceased actor Arashi Kitsusaburō I dressed as a komusō or travelling mendicant priest, 'a common disguise for an avenger in search of his foe.' Roger Keyes translated the poem above the actor's head as: 'The fame of the moon remains at Komagaike Pond, after the moon has gone.' this is an allusion to the actor's passing.

Memorial portraits of actors of the Osaka school are rare, bust portraits particularly so. See Keyes The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints #20, pages 80/81.

This print was produced in the 9th Month, 1821, 27th day.

According to Keyes this image "is based on a small unsigned drawing by Ashikuni..."

It would appear that there is a 1918 silent film from Japan entitled Nagai Genzaburō. The roles were all performed by Kabuki actors..

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Illustrated in:

1) color in Ikeda Bunko, Kamigata yakusha-e shūsei (Collected Kamigata Actor Prints), vol. 2, Osaka, 1998, no 18.

2) black and white in The Legacy of Japanese Printmaking/Le Rayonnement de l'estampe Japonaise by Barry Till, the Art Gallery of Victoria, 1986, pl. #38.

3) color in Schätze der Kamigata: Japanische Farbholzschnitte aus Osaka 1780-1880, MNHA (Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg), p. 41, #60. The catalog entry reads:

"Kunihiro erinnert in diesem Shini-e an dem an 26. Tag des 9. Monats 1821 verstorbenen beliebten Schauspieler Kitsusaburo I., der die Rolle Nagai Genzaburo - eines Wandermönchs, mit hohem Binsenhut links und Bambusflöte rechts; auf der Brust einen Kasten mit Amuletten - im Kado Theater 9/1812 mit grossern Erfolg spielte."

The Google translation is: "In this shini-e, Kunihiro recalls the popular actor Kitsusaburo I, who died on the 26th day of the 9th month, 1821, who played the role of Nagai Genzaburo - a wandering monk, with a tall rush hat on the left and a bamboo flute on the right; a box with amulets on his chest - played with great success in the Kado Theater 9/1812."

4) color in Osaka Prints by Dean Schwaab, Rizzoli, 1989, page 78, no. 35. Part of Schwaab's text reads: "Of the many prints issued memorializing Kitsusaburō's death, we show three bust portraits, this by Kunihiro and the two Hokushū memorials.... Many of the bust portraits issued during the golden interval 1820-3 recalled prior Kitsusaburō roles."

5) a large black and white reproduction in The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints by Roger Keyes, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973, pages 80-81, #20.

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The text reads: おもかけや月の名残の駒か池

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John Fiorillo wrote about this print in his website, 'Viewing Japanese Prints': "Following the death of the superstar actor Arashi Kitsusaburô I (Rikan I) in 9/1821, the leading artists in Osaka issued memorial prints (shini-e and tsuizen-e) commemorating his career and death. Kunihiro retrieved an acclaimed performance from 9/1812 to depict Kitsusaburô as the samurai Nagai Genzaburô disguised as a mendicant monk (komusô), one of the actor’s signature roles, in the play Katakiuchi chikai no shiragarami (Justice and love by the weir, 敵討義戀柵), Kado Theater, Osaka, written expressly for Kitsusaburô I by the playwright Nagawa Harusuke I. In the imge shown above, we see the design serving as a tsuizen-e (memorial portrait, 追善絵) c. 9/1821. The unsigned farewell poem has been attributed to Rikan I. Two translations are offered here: Omokage ya / tsuki no nagori no / Koma-ga-ike ("The fame of the moon remains at Komagaike Pond, after the moon has gone") by Keyes and Mizushima, and "His visage lingers / farewell to the moon / above Koma Pond (おもかけや月の名残の駒か池) by Gerstle..."
Related entities actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Arashi Kitsusaburō I (初代嵐橘三郎: from 1/1821 to 9/26/1821) (actor)
Tenmaya Kihei (天満屋喜兵衛) (publisher)
ōkubi-e (大首絵) (genre)
shini-e (死絵) (genre)

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