Nakamura Utaemon V as Owasa, 1921 - Incredible large head kabuki portrait of Nakamura Utaemon V as Owasa in the play "Gosho Zakura Horikawa no Youchi." Her daughter, Shinobu, has been asked to give up her life in place of Yoshitsune's wife, but Owasa refuses to accept this, saying that her daughter does not even know who her father is. All Owasa has left is the bit of red kimono sleeve from the one night she shared with her lover, which she holds in her hand. She stares ahead with a tight-lipped sneer, her eyes narrowed with simmering resentment. The sleeve features a design of a book and a large brush dipped in ink, the bristles embossed. But Owasa's pleas fall on deaf ears, and Yoshitsune's retainer Benkei stabs Shinobu from behind a screen, killing her. He then reaches into his kimono and pulls out a matching sleeve, for he was Shinobu's father. Upon close inspection, the black of the hair is rendered with swirling baren marks, creating a subtle pattern. The background features beautiful shimmering silver mica. A fantastic expressive figure, beautifully printed with soft violet shading around the eyes, and pale red at the edge of the earlobe and fingertips, with additional embossing in the white hair ribbon. The blocks for all of Toyonari's actor prints were destroyed in the 1923 Kanto earthquake, and he moved onto other subject matter after that, so kabuki prints by him are extremely rare. A fantastic choice for a shin-hanga collector, from a limited edition of 150 prints.

Publisher - Watanabe
Signed - Toyonari ga
Sealed - "Toyonari" in red seal at bottom left margin
Dated - 1921 (Taisho 10) in circle

Artist - Yamamura Toyonari (1885 - 1942)

Image Size - 15 5/8" x 10 7/8" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Light horizontal crease. Please see photos for details. Nice overall.