Konishi Hirosada (ca 1810 - 1864) Onoe Tamizo II as Torii Matasuke, 1852. Chuban.
These Hirosada actor portraits are in my opinion some of the finest portraits anywhere in the world and certainly some of the best in the whole field of Japanese ukiyo-e art. This phenomenal portrait bears comparison to some of the best Holbein drawings. There is an extended essay on this subject on our eblogger site: The Genius of Hirosada.
Here Hirosada pictures Onoe Tamizo in the role of Torii Matasuke in the play Kagamiyama Gonichi no Iwafuji. This play was a spectacular sequel to the famous play Kagamiyama Kokyô no Nishikie, a drama about palace feuds between samurai women.
Hirosada presses his subject against the picture plane, flattening the kimono into a decorative pattern against the black background. Character, expression and features are rendered with extraordinary brevity.
The print is full size, no condition issues, fine colour, fine impression.
