- HOME - JCC - BLC - LIBRARY -GRANT- EVENT - LINKS -

Toshusai Sharaku Dates unknown An ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period. Some identify Saito Jurobei, a noh actor who lived in Hacchobori, Edo and a retainer of the Awa clan, as Sharaku, but no decisive proof supports this theory. In approximately ten months from May 1794 to February 1795, Sharaku produced over 140 works. The majority of these prints were portraits of actors in their kabuki or kyogen roles, and others include images of sumo wrestlers and warriors. Twenty-eight large portraits featuring close-up images of the heads of kabuki actors printed in lavish color and mica were the most highly esteemed of his works. These works were created early in this ten month period. While earlier artists had depicted head-only, or bust portraits, such as the Katsukawa school actor prints or Utamaro's images of women, Sharaku boldly captured each actor's features and the characteristics of his role through a blend of keen observation and impressively realistic expression. Over the short period of his career Sharaku switched from one style to the next, moving from full-length portraits of actors seen in narrow format, to works with clearly depicted background images and series. And yet it cannot be denied that the dynamic depiction whic characteirzed Sharaku's debut works gradually diminished, was subdued in his subsequent production. Contemporaneous literature, such as the Ukiyo-e Ruiko, makes only the following reference to this artist: "Sharaku-Although he did portraits of kabuki actors, he depicted them so realistically that some resulted in undesirable images, which were not appreciated by the public for very long. Hence his popularity ended in a year or two." Sharaku was then rarelly noticed in later literature. But with his 1910 publication of Sharaku, the German scholar Julius Kurth created a "Sharaku Boom" in the west which eventually resulted in a reevaluation of the artist in Japan. Sharaku was then firmly established as an outstanding ukiyo-e artist both in and out of Japan. Conversely, the puzzle regarding Sharaku's identity has only further deepened, as if his face were somehow veiled. Sharaku -suddenly appeared, then just as suddenly, vanished a mere ten months later. Sharaku, whose expressive style went through dramatic shifts over a short period, all resulting in the production of 140 works. The theory of "Sharaku's other identity" thrives in Japan, furthering the concept that Sharaku was some famous artist who simply took the name Sharaku for a limited period of activity. Artists such as Maruyama Okyo, Utamaro and Hokusai have all been proposed for this role, but none of these theories has survived. Such speculations have merely fanned the flames of the "Sharaku legend." Works are scattered throughout the world, including those in The British Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Comparatively few Sharaku works remain in Japan, and 27 actor bust-portraits in The Tokyo National Museum have been designated as Important Cultural Properties. All of Sharaku's works were published by the publisher Tsutaya Juzaburo.

Celebrations on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's Sixth-Cycle (72nd) Birthday Anniversary 5th December 1999 Thailand and Japan 1999 [HOME] [JCC] [BLC] [LIBRARY] [GRANT] [EVENT] [LINKS]