Sharaku: The Mysterious Ukiyo-e Artist ——— In the short span of only 10 months, the Japanese woodblock artist Tōshūsai Sharaku 東洲斎写楽 (active 1794–95) produced more than 145 artworks before his name vanished, never to be seen again. Among these, his early works — large upper-torso portraits of kabuki actors (ōkubi yakusha-e 大首役者絵) — have become famous for the emotion and realism they capture. Disregarded by contemporaries and looked down upon by many art critics at first, Sharaku gained popularity in the West when the German pastor and art collector Julius Kurth published the monograph “Sharaku” in 1910. This is also when the hunt for the artist’s true identity began, since the name “Sharaku” is simply an alias. Although the likelihood is high that Sharaku was a noh actor by the name of Saitō Jūrōbei 斎藤十郎兵衛 (1763–1820), countless theories emerged over the years and the circumstances behind both his sudden appearance and abrupt vanishing still remain a mystery. Most of Sharaku’s kabuki portraits can be viewed via the Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (ColBase), Japan. ——— Further reading: All upper torso actor portraits of Sharaku can be found on the Japanese public database “e-museum (e国宝)” alongside their titles and short explanations in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English: e-Museum – National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan. e国宝・国立文化財機構所蔵国宝・重要文化財. ‘Portraits of Actors at Three Theaters in Edo 江戸三座役者似顔絵’. Narazaki, Muneshige 楢崎宗重. 1983. Sharaku: The Enigmatic Ukiyo-e Master. Translated by Bonnie F. Abiko. Kōdansha 講談社. Herwig, Henk J. 2016. ‘The Development of Facial Likeness in Kabuki Actor Prints’. Ukiyo-e Art: Kokusai Ukiyo-e Gakkai kaishi 浮世絵芸術 : 国際浮世絵学会会誌 172: 84–102. Uchida, Chizuko 内田千鶴子. 1993. Sharaku-kō 写楽・考. San’ichi Shobō 三一書房. #ukiyoe #japaneseculture #japaneseart #woodblockprint #arthistory - @nyumon