The Actor Nakamura Nakazo I as Aso no Matsuwaka (?) in the Play Iro Moyo Aoyagi Soga (?), Performed at the Nakamura Theater (?) in the Second Month, 1775 (?) c. 1775

Editor: Here we have a woodblock print from around 1775 by Katsukawa Shunko. It's titled "The Actor Nakamura Nakazo I as Aso no Matsuwaka (?) in the Play Iro Moyo Aoyagi Soga (?), Performed at the Nakamura Theater (?) in the Second Month, 1775 (?)." Quite a mouthful! He looks so dejected; his shoulders slumped, almost like he is defeated, perhaps at the end of a performance? What strikes you about this work? Curator: Dejected is one way to read it, yes! I'm tickled by the almost brutal honesty in the portrayal. It's not flattering, is it? It's as if Shunko has captured a fleeting moment of vulnerability backstage. Think about it: The elaborate wig, the dramatic costume... all that artifice stripped away, leaving us with just… a person, weary and perhaps a little melancholic. What does that reveal to us, I wonder, about the artist's view of the actor's world? Editor: That's fascinating, the contrast between the stage persona and reality. It's kind of poignant when you put it that way. The exaggerated features, are those typical of this type of art? Curator: Precisely. Exaggeration walks a fine line, doesn’t it? Ukiyo-e prints, particularly those depicting actors, often employed caricature to heighten the drama, to amplify the character’s essence. Yet here, the exaggeration seems to serve a different purpose – it humanizes the actor, makes him almost… sympathetic. It's a balancing act between the performative and the personal, and it's really quite masterful. Editor: I never really thought about the human aspect, beyond just the caricature itself. The actor looks… exhausted, and suddenly that tells a different story than I initially imagined. Thanks, that perspective really reframes it. Curator: It reframes it for me, too, actually! Now, I am noticing a kind of weary elegance, there! I hadn't clocked that the first few times I had viewed it, if that makes sense?