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Katsukawa Shunsho

The Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô II (1689-1758)

1788 (inscription 1829)
Hanging scroll; Ink and colors on silk
81.5 × 31 cm (32.1 × 12.2 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This work depicts the Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō II (1689–1758) performing in a revenge play as Soga Gorō, the younger of two brothers. Here, he sharpens an arrow as he plots the death of the man who caused his father to commit ritual suicide (seppuku). Decades after the painting was completed, one of the actor’s descendants, Ichikawa Danjūrō VII, added an inscription of appreciation.

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