Backstage Celebrations of a Full-house Hit at the Nakamura Theater

Description

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞
Japan, 1786–1865
Backstage Celebrations of a Full-House Hit at the Nakamura Theater
Edo period (1615–1868)
1811–14
Triptych, color woodblock print on paper
Museum purchase for the Paul Leroy Grigaut Memorial Collection,
1969/2.143-5

During the eighteenth century, artists harnessed the medium of
woodblock printing to produce popular prints depicting a range of
subjects. While early woodblock prints were mainly black and white,
polychrome prints were later produced using a separate carved wood
block for each color. In an effort to avoid overlapping the colors,
two notches were carved into each block to help the printer align
them during multiple rounds of printing. Some of the more detailed
sections of these prints, such as the robes of the figures arranged
around a circle in the center of the composition, reveal the areas
where the sometimes-misaligned blocks nonetheless overlapped,
resulting in blurred boundaries between the different colors used.
Such instances of overlap, as well as traces of the wood grain in
the print, give us insight into the laborious production process of
these ambitious prints and allow us to more fully appreciate the
workmanship that went into their production.

Displayed as one of three panels.
(Japanese Gallery Rotation, Summer 2025)