Actor Ichikawa DanjÅ«rō 7th as Watanabe no Tsuna, with poem by Fukujuen Teruhito c. 1818 - 1830

Curator: This is Utagawa Kunisada's print portraying the actor Ichikawa Danjūrō the 7th as Watanabe no Tsuna. It's part of the collection at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: My first thought? Raw, powerful drama! The black background against that bold kabuki makeup—it's like a jolt of energy. Curator: Precisely! Kunisada masterfully captures the dynamism of kabuki theatre. The lines, the colors, they all contribute to the sense of movement and heightened emotion. Editor: And the poem inscribed adds another layer, doesn’t it? A literary echo to the visual intensity. I wonder what the poem says. Curator: It enhances the drama, interweaving poetic storytelling with the performance captured. Editor: The exaggerated facial expression, the tense posture… it's almost grotesque, but undeniably captivating. Curator: The artist aims to freeze a fleeting moment, intensifying it through form and composition. I think that it is brilliantly successful in that goal. Editor: I’m left with a sense of the ephemeral—a vanished performance preserved in striking permanence, aren’t you?