Kabuki folding screen

…The emergence of shibai-e began at the same time as the popularity of Okuni Kabuki in Kyoto during the Keicho era (1596-1615). In other words, hand-painted genre paintings from the Momoyama period to the beginning of the Edo period first depicted the Kabuki theatres in front of Kitano Shrine and Shijo-gawara in part of folding screen paintings such as "Rakuchu Rakugaizu" and "Kyoto Meisho Zu," and then "Kabuki Byobu" (folding screens) were created, depicting the customs and events taking place in and around the Kabuki theatres. In this way, theater pictures came to play an important role in the genre paintings of the early modern period. If we look at the many remaining examples, such as Okuni Kabuki Soushi (Yamato Bunkakan), Okuni Kabuki Screen (Yamamoto family), Uneme Kabuki Scroll (Tokugawa Reimei-kai), Young Kabuki Screen (Otsuka family), and Kabuki Screen (Inside and Outside the Nakamura-za Theater) attributed to Hishikawa Moronobu (Tokyo National Museum), we can see at a glance the changes in the form of early Kabuki, from Okuni Kabuki to courtesan, young men, and then man Kabuki.

*Some of the terminology used to refer to "Kabuki folding screens" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…芝居絵の発生は，慶長年間(1596‐1615)の京都におけるお国歌舞伎の流行と同時に始まる。すなわち桃山時代から江戸時代初頭にかけての肉筆風俗画では，はじめ〈洛中洛外図〉や〈京名所図〉などの屛風画の一部に，北野神社社頭や四条河原の歌舞伎小屋が描き込まれ，ついで歌舞伎小屋とその周辺にくりひろげられる風俗事象を活写した〈歌舞伎屛風〉が成立する。こうして芝居絵は，いわゆる近世初期風俗画の重要な部分をになうことになるが，残された多くの作例の中から今かりに《阿国歌舞伎草紙》(大和文華館)，《阿国歌舞伎図屛風》(山本家)，《采女（うねめ）歌舞伎図巻》(徳川黎明会)，《若衆歌舞伎図屛風》(大津賀家)，そして伝菱川師宣筆《歌舞伎図(中村座内外図)屛風》(東京国立博物館)という各時期の代表的な作例をたどってみると，お国歌舞伎から遊女，若衆，そして野郎歌舞伎へと展開した初期歌舞伎の様態の変遷を，一目して了解することができる。…

※「歌舞伎屛風」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報