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The Actor Onoe Kikugorō III as a Housewife Kneeling by an Open Window

The Actor Onoe Kikugorō III as a Housewife Kneeling by an Open Window

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

The kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō III was celebrated for his ability to play any role, including, in this case, a housewife. The butterfly in the upper right corner associates this print with feudal lord Mōri Narimoto (also known as the poet Ryuotei Hananari) and his poetry circle. Poets gathered and competed to write clever poems, like this print's poems mentioning the woman’s hair and the moon in the window.
Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
(Japanese, 1798 - 1861)
Title
The Actor Onoe Kikugorō III as a Housewife Kneeling by an Open Window
Date
ca. 1830
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
212 x 185 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.2649
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

Collection of Mrs. J. Harriot Goodell (New Haven, CT); 1916, purchased by 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. 143, no. 123
  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "The Edward Burr Van Vleck Collection of Japanese Prints." Madison: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 1990. p. 260

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