Background
Artist Biography: Utagawa Yoshiiku (歌川芳幾, 1833-1904), also known as Ochiai Yoshiiku (落芳幾), was the son of the teahouse proprietor Asakusa Tamichi. He became a student of the leading ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川國芳 1798-1861) in Edo toward the end of the 1840s. His earliest known work dates to 1852 when he provided the backgrounds for some actor prints by his master. He also studied with Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年 1839-92). Yoshiiku's earliest works were portraits of actors, beauties, and warriors. He later followed Kuniyoshi in designing satirical and humorous pieces, and became the leading name in the field after Kuniyosh's death in 1861. Yoshiiku illustrated the "Tokyo Daily News" (Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun 東京日日新聞) from 1874 to 1876, and then co-founded the "Tokyo Illustrated News" (Tokyo eiri shinbun 東京繪入新聞). The latter folded in 1889, and Yoshiiku returned to printmaking. He struggled during his final years, and his last known print appeared in 1903. His three known students, Ikumura, Ikuei, and Ikumasa, failed to achieve recognition.
Design
This vibrant view of backstage activities highlights actors and their assistants on the second floor of a kabuki theater. The leading acting lineages are represented here, including Bandô (坂東), Ichikawa (市川), Kataoka (片岡), and Nakamura (中村). Nearly all of the actors are shown in street clothes. However, on the right sheet the focal point is a fully costumed actor in the Shibaraku (暫) role, easily identifiable by the voluminous dark-red robes emblazoned with the Ichikawa acting crest of three concentric squares (three rice measures, mimasu 三舛). On the center sheet, also in full costume, is Ichikawa Ichizô III (市川市蔵) at the top left on the stairs, while below we see a attendant carrying a large wardrobe case, and at the bottom of the sheet, Bandô Mitsugorô VI (坂東三津五郎) is also fully dressed, here ready to perform as an onnagata (male actor in a female role), with a floral headdress suggesting a princess or a young woman of noble birth (hime 姫). On the left sheet, another onnagata is preparing for his performance, applying makeup with the aid of a mirror (partly visible). All told, twenty-one actors are named.
The print master Utagawa Kunisada designed a similar hexptych in 2/1856, so it is likely that Yoshiiku knew of that design and modeled his work after Kunisada's backstage view.
It is difficult to compose a scene crowded with figures and not have the design fall into a confused mass of shapes and colors. Yoshiiku demonstrates his skill in drawing a busy scene where the placement and rhythm of forms and colors are balanced and clear. Thus, we have here a view full of motion and counterpoint among the thirty figures situated across the three sheets.
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utagawa_Yoshiiku
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