Actor Ichimura Uzaemon AS A WRESTLER before 1788

Curator: This woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunsho depicts the actor Ichimura Uzaemon as a wrestler. It's currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's a real theatrical quality to this print. He looks caught between roles. Curator: Precisely! It reflects the Edo period's fascination with kabuki actors and their on and off stage personas, blurring the lines between performance and reality. The prints were a form of celebrity culture. Editor: The tension in his face, coupled with the elaborate costume, hints at themes of identity and the construction of self. I see a commentary on the pressures of performance, perhaps. Curator: And how the commercial art world, like that of these prints, reinforced those pressures, shaping and reflecting social values. Editor: It gives me pause to consider celebrity then versus now. Curator: Indeed, art provides a unique lens to dissect these evolving social dynamics.