Actor picture - Yakushae

A general term for genre paintings depicting kabuki actors, mainly of them on stage, but also of them in their daily lives in dressing rooms, on the street, and at home. Also not to be missed are the death paintings (portraits with the date of death, age at death, and death poems) that were sold when actors died. Examples using specific actors as models can already be seen in the hand-painted paintings from the Kanbun era (1661-1673), known as Kanbun bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women), but after the Genroku era (1688-1704), when ukiyo-e woodblock prints became established, it became an independent and developed as an important field on a par with bijin-ga. The Torii school arose as a school specializing in actor paintings, and continues to be used to this day on kabuki signboards and other art, following a unique style of "gourd-footed and earthworm-painted". From the second half of the 18th century, attempts were made to create realistic depictions, and artists such as Katsukawa Shunsho, Utagawa Toyokuni, Toshusai Sharaku, and Utagawa Kunisada competed with each other in their own unique styles. The Edo ukiyo-e style also spread to Kamigata, and Ryukosai Jokei and others were active in the late Edo period.

[Tadashi Kobayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌舞伎(かぶき)役者を描いた風俗画の総称で、舞台姿を主に、楽屋や街頭、家庭内などにおける日常の姿も扱われた。また、役者が没したときに売り出された死絵(しにえ)（肖像に没年月日、享年、辞世などを添える）も見逃せない。特定の役者をモデルとした例は、すでに寛文(かんぶん)年間（1661～73）のころの肉筆画、いわゆる寛文美人画のなかに認められるが、浮世絵版画が定着する元禄(げんろく)年間（1688～1704）以降、美人画と並ぶ重要な分野として独立、発展をみる。役者絵専門の流派としては鳥居派(とりいは)がおこり、「瓢箪足(ひょうたんあし)・蚯蚓描(みみずがき)」という独特の様式を踏襲して、歌舞伎の絵看板などに現代まで続いている。18世紀後半から写生的な描写が試みられ、勝川春章(かつかわしゅんしょう)、歌川豊国(うたがわとよくに)、東洲斎写楽(とうしゅうさいしゃらく)、歌川国貞(うたがわくにさだ)らが個性的な作風を競った。上方(かみがた)にも江戸の浮世絵風が波及し、幕末に流光斎如圭(りゅうこうさいじょけい)らが活躍した。

［小林　忠］

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