View of a New Comic Performance at a Theater, no. 8 from the series Eight Famous Places in Edo

View of a New Comic Performance at a Theater, no. 8 from the series Eight Famous Places in Edo

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Utagawa Toyoharu

This print is from an unusual series by Toyoharu that places pictures within pictures, creating a trompe l’oeil effect. This theater scene is drawn as if mounted on a standing, single-panel wood screen with metal fittings. The inclusion of a kabuki theater in this series suggests the relative importance of kabuki to the inhabitants of Edo. The Nakamuraza Theater crest of ginkgo leaves is visible on the curtain in the lower left side of the design. Along with the Moritaza and Ichimuraza theaters, the Nakamaraza was one of only three officially sanctioned theaters by the Tokugawa shogun in Edo.
Artist
Utagawa Toyoharu
(Japanese, 1735 - 1814)
Title
View of a New Comic Performance at a Theater, no. 8 from the series Eight Famous Places in Edo
Date
ca. 1770
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
260 x 386 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.3106
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

By 1925, purchased in Japan by Frank Lloyd Wright; ca. 1926, acquired by The Bank of Wisconsin; 1928, sold to Edward Burr Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 1943, passed through inheritance to Edward’s son, John H. Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 9 January 1980, bequeathed by John H. Van Vleck to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 72, no. 23
  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "The Edward Burr Van Vleck Collection of Japanese Prints." Madison: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 1990. p. 321

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008
  • Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/3/2007–1/6/2008

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