Art Institute of Chicago

Actor on Kite

Sato Hodai

Date

1865

Medium

Color woodblock print; surimono

Culture

Japan

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This print is a rare collaborative surimono created by two woodblock print masters who specialized in different areas of work. Utagawa Yoshitaki was by far the most prolific Osaka Kabuki print artist of the time, while Sato Hodai produced the most Osaka surimono designs of the 1860s. Here the two artists created a New Year design; Hodai created a kite and a branch of plum blossoms, and Yoshitaki made the Kabuki actor’s portrait. Both the plum blossoms and the kite indicate the New Year. In addition, the portrait refers to the kaomise , the first appearance of Kabuki actors in the new season. The collaboration on this print between the Kabuki actor, haikai poets, and print makers suggests the cordial ties of the Osaka cultural salons, as does Yoshitaki’s signature, which commences with the word oju , or “in compliance with a request.”

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