Fox Tadanobu

Catalog note / 解説

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Kunichika focused almost exclusively on portraits of Kabuki actors in his later work. This print is no exception. The vibrant red on the drum and subject's lips and the flash of deep purple in the robe lining are hallmarks of his careful but exquisite use of color. In the celebrated Kabuki play Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, first staged in 1748, deception and loyalty run hand-in-hand in the role of the fox spirit Genkurö, pictured here. Using the magic of his kind, Genkurö disguises himself as Minamoto no Yoshitsune's loyal retainer Satö Tadanobu. Soon the ruse is exposed and the fox spirit's motivations come to light: the mystical drum called…