Shibaie - Play picture

A general term for paintings related to Kabuki, also known as Kabuki-e or Gekiga. Genre paintings depicting the stage and audience were created as early as the Keicho period (1596-1615), when Kabuki first began, but they were most commonly produced in the Ukiyo-e genre from the Genroku period (1688-1704) until the first half of the Meiji period. Many Ukiyo-e artists competed in both hand-painted and woodblock prints to depict scenes from the theater, including dressing rooms and teahouses, the postures of actors performing on stage, and even scenes from the actors' daily lives. The Torii school, accustomed to the customs of the Kabuki world, monopolized theater-related work such as picture signs and play rankings from beginning to end, but from the An'ei era (1772-81) onwards, the Katsukawa and Utagawa schools took the lead in the field of woodblock prints, and for a period from 1794 (Kansei 6) to the following year, Toshusai Sharaku breathed fresh air into actor portraits. At the end of the Edo period, the Edo ukiyo-e style spread to the provinces, giving birth to distinctive theatrical art all over the country, including the Kamigata actor pictures of Kyoto and Osaka, the Nebuta and kite pictures of the Tohoku region, and the daichochin-e pedestal paintings of Ekin of Tosa.

[Tadashi Kobayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌舞伎(かぶき)関係の絵画の総称で、歌舞伎絵あるいは劇画(げきが)ともいう。歌舞伎の発生した慶長(けいちょう)年間（1596～1615）から早くもその舞台や客席のようすを伝える風俗画が描かれているが、元禄(げんろく)年間（1688～1704）以降、明治前半ころまでの浮世絵において、もっとも盛んに制作された。楽屋や茶屋までを含めた劇場図から、舞台上の役者の演技の態、さらには役者の日常生活のようすなどを、多くの浮世絵師が肉筆画と版画の両分野で競作している。歌舞伎界の慣習に慣れた鳥居(とりい)派が絵看板や芝居番付(ばんづけ)など劇場関係の仕事を終始独占したが、安永(あんえい)年間（1772～81）以降は勝川派や歌川派が版画の分野で主導権を握り、1794年（寛政6）から翌年にかけての一時期、東洲斎写楽(とうしゅうさいしゃらく)が役者似顔絵(にがおえ)に新風を吹き込んだ。幕末期には江戸の浮世絵風が地方にも及び、京・大坂の上方(かみがた)役者絵をはじめ、東北のねぶたや凧絵(たこえ)、土佐の絵金(えきん)の台提灯絵(だいちょうちんえ)など、特色のある芝居絵を各地に誕生させている。

［小林　忠］

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