Describe the characteristics of the Genre in this artwork's Print details.
This print is an example of the yakusha-e [役者絵] genre, that is "a type of ukiyo-e print which shows one or several actors in a stage pose or costume," which appeared in the late seventeenth century. Their rise in popularity kept pace with general interest in kabuki, and attempted to appeal to the public's curiosity about individual actors. These actor portraits were so marketable that most artists active in the late Edo period worked in the genre.
This portrait also belongs to a yakusha-e subgenre known as ōkubi-e [大首絵]. Literally "large head pictures", these images depict their subjects'—typically beauties or kabuki actors—heads or heads and torsos. The lone figures are set against plain backgrounds, and often captured in a dramatic mie [見得] pose. As JAANUS notes, "the close-up range of ookubi-e allowed the designer to emphasize particular facial features, expression, make-up or poses of favorite actors in popular roles." Utagawa Kunimasu (Sadamasu I) is credited with advancing the mature Osaka style of ōkubi-e in the chūban format, after creating his first around 1837.
Sadamasu Edo ōkubi-e ukiyo-e kabuki beauties Osaka mie Utagawa Kunimasu