Ichikawa Komazō III as Ōdate Sabanosuke Terukado 1795

Editor: This woodblock print by Tōshūsai Sharaku, created around 1795, depicts Ichikawa Komazō III as Ōdate Sabanosuke Terukado. There’s a striking, almost exaggerated quality to the figure's features. How would you interpret the significance of this portrayal? Curator: This exaggeration is key. Sharaku was renowned for his *yakusha-e*, actor prints that served almost as theatrical critiques. Notice the emphasis on specific features - the elongated nose, the tense grip of his hands. It’s a distortion, but a knowing one. Do you see any particular symbols at play? Editor: Besides the actor's crest in the upper right, not specifically. I guess it reflects how these roles are perceived. Is the focus here mostly cultural or personal? Curator: Both are intertwined. Think about what it means to publicly perform a role, and then to have that performance re-performed, in essence, by Sharaku's critical eye. It engages with deeply entrenched social hierarchies, but through a deliberately unsettling representation of individuals navigating that system. The distortion serves to heighten, to intensify the role the person is enacting, bringing a hidden truth. Editor: So it's more than just a picture of a performer? Curator: Absolutely. This isn’t mere documentation, it’s a commentary. Sharaku seized on visual cues that resonate on social and psychological levels and, at times, it's disturbing. The almost uncomfortable realism hints to a story just beneath the surface. A story we get a mere, symbolic glimpse of. Editor: That really transforms my perspective of the print. Seeing it as a lens for both social observation and artistic intent is so much richer. Thanks for pointing that out. Curator: The past whispers through its visual language, and now, hopefully, more clearly for you. It has given me more to consider about the role and actor as one being and persona.