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Actor as the Ghost of Monk Seigen, illustrating a verse by Ariwara no Narihira, from the series Analogues of the Thirty-six Poets

Actor as the Ghost of Monk Seigen, illustrating a verse by Ariwara no Narihira, from the series Analogues of the Thirty-six Poets

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Utagawa Kunisada

This color woodcut illustrates a verse (inscribed in the square yellow cartouche in the upper right) by the ninth-century poet Ariwara no Narihira. The poem mourns the passing of cherry blossoms and alludes to the ghost of Monk Seigen, who haunted his forbidden love Sakurahime (Princess Cherry Blossom). Kunisada highlighted this reference with a kabuki-style portrayal of the phantom, theatrically posed against a backdrop of windblown cherry trees. Though the actor is not identified in the print’s inscriptions, he appears to be Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII, who played Monk Seigen at the Kawarazaki theatre in 1852.
Artist
Utagawa Kunisada
(Japanese, 1786 - 1864)
Title
Actor as the Ghost of Monk Seigen, illustrating a verse by Ariwara no Narihira, from the series Analogues of the Thirty-six Poets
Date
7/1852
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
360 x 252 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.2635
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. 152, no. 136

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/2/2009–11/26/2009
  • Kabuki: The Drama of Japanese Prints: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 4/19/2003–6/22/2003
  • From Primitive to Decadent: Subject and Style in Japanese Prints, 1680-1880: Milwaukee Art Museum, 1/18/1991–3/3/1991

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