Natori Shunsen (名取春仙) (artist 1886 – 1960)
Ichikawa Sumizō VI (市川寿美蔵) as Shirai Gonpachi (白井権八) from the series Portriats of Male Actors in Various Roles (Sōsaku hanga Shunsen nigao-e shū - 創作版画 春仙似顔集)
1926
10.75 in x 15.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Shunsen (春仙)
Seal: Shunsen
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo - in black and white
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Honolulu Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Centre Céramique de Maastricht
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
National Diet Library
Toledo Museum of Art
Waseda University Shirai Gonpachi is a character from the play The Floating World's Pattern and Matching Lighting Bolts (Ukiyozuka hiyoku no inazuma - 浮世柄比翼稲妻). This is based on an early 19th century novel.
In this part of the play "The action begins at night at Suzugamori [鈴ヶ森], and eerie location where executions take place on the main highway to Tokyo. Thieves are discussing potential targets when a messenger arrives on the scene. They rob the man and read out the bounty notice he is carrying, it offers a reward for the young samurai Shirai Gonpachi, wanted for the murder of his uncle Honjō Suketayū. While they are talking, Gonpachi steps out of his palanquin, expecting to be at Tokyo's busy Kannon Temple. He immediately realises that his palanquin bearers have cheated him. The thieves attack, Gonpachi triumphs by blinding some of his attackers and impaling, beheading or dismembering others. Innovative stage tricks produce a particularly gory and famous acrobatic struggle. (A man's face appears to have been sliced off for instance, when a special hinged mask drops to reveal a featureless red mask beneath.)"
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The curatorial files for the Minneapolis Institute of Art say: "Tenth design of a set of 36. Based on the actor Ichikawa Sumizō VI (1886-1971) as Shirai Gonpachi In the "Suzugamori" 鈴ヶ森 scene of the play "The Floating World's Pattern and Matching Lightning Bolts" (Ukiyozuka hiyoku no inazuma 浮世柄比翼稲妻), performed at the Asakusa Shōchiku Theater in January of 1925. Gonpachi is a handsome villain who fell in blind love with a prostitute."
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About this print:
"Shunsen's portrait of the handsome young actor Ichikawa Sumizō VI as Gonpachi emphasises the character's noble birth, signified by his white face makeup, and his youth, manifest by the actor's forelock wig (maegami katsura). In samurai culture, a boy's forelock is not cut off until he reaches manhood."
Quoted from: Stars of the Tokyo Stage by Lucie Folan, et al., p. 126. There is a full-color reproduction on page 127.
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This print is from an edition of 150.
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Scholten Japanese Art says of this print: "The actor Ichikawa Sumizo VI (1886-1971) in the role of the handsome young ronin, Shirai Gonpachi from the popular play Ukiyozuka Hiyoku no Inazuma (The Floating World's Patter and Matching Lightening Bolts) by Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1755-1829) which premiered in 1823 at the Ichimura Theater. The white face makeup emphasizes Shirai Gonpachi's nobel birth, while his youthfulness is signified by the actor's maegami katsura (forelock wig), which would be cut off when a samurai reaches manhood.
After Ichikawa Sumizo VI's kabuki debute, he was adopted by the actor Ichikawa Sumizo V (1845-1906). Sumizo VI had a youthful face, making him suited for young male roles which he continued to perform well-into his older age. Sumizo VI played a significant role in fashioning modern kabuki, taking the name of Ichikawa Jukai III at the Osaka Kabuki Theater in 1949."
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Illustrated:
1) in color in 名取春仙 (Natori Shunsen), Kushigata City, 1991, #22, p. 36.
2) in a full-page color reproduction in Stars of the Tokyo Stage by Lucie Folan, et al., National Gallery of Australia, 2012, p. 127.
Watanabe Mokuhan Bujitsu Gahō (渡邊木版美術画舗) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
modern prints (shin hanga - 新版画) (genre)
Ichikawa Sumizō VI (六代目市川寿美蔵) (actor)
Shirai Gonpachi (白井権八) (role)