Nakamura Rikö I as Tanba-ya Otsuma and Ichikawa Yaozö III as Furute-ya Hachiröbei

Catalog note / 解説

Torii Kiyonaga was one of the most famous ukiyo-e artists of his generation and contributed significantly to the art of the full-color print, which used multiple blocks bearing separate ink colors to achieve a lively array of hues quite different from the "red painted" technique previously seen. Although Kiyonaga was primarily known for his prints of beautiful women, he inherited the task of being the premier Kabuki artist when he was named as the fourth-generation Torii representative after studying under Torii Kiyomitsu (1735-1785). This print features the characters Otsuma and Hachiröbei from Sakurada Shisuke's play Evening at Sakamachi Crossroads, performed in Edo in 1785 at the Nakamur…