The Actor's Image [Hardcover]

Timothy Clark (Author), Donald Jenkins (Author), Osamu Ueda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 1994

The "floating world"--the closely related pleasure and entertainment districts of Tokyo in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries--embodied and idealized fashion, chic, and urbanity for its habitu

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The extensive Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints at the Art Institute of Chicago is the source for this catalog of 880 18th-century ukiyo-e prints emphasizing Kabuki theater scenes and portraits of actors. Introductory essays explain the historical, political, and artistic context of the prints along with the basic structure of Kabuki performance. The major limitation of the catalog is the restricted color range of the reproductions. Even when prints are described in the text as containing blue areas, no blue can be seen, and prints described as vividly colored do not necessar-ily appear different from those described as faded. Still, enough specific information is given about each print to make the book useful to art and theater scholars, though the level of treatment is suitable for nonspecialist readers as well.
Kathryn W. Finkelstein, M.Ln., Cincinnati
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The Actor's Image is a candidate for most elegant art book of the year, and is one of the most informative.... [It] will be especially attractive to anyone who has enjoyed a Kabuki performance, but it offers every reader a wonderful introduction to the popular arts of 18th century Japan.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 504 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (May 2, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691036276
• ISBN-13: 978-0691036274
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.8 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,558,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite printing of rare Kabuki prints., December 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Actor's Image (Hardcover)

Few books can match the quality of this production. The paper is first rate, and the color reproduction is as close to perfect as possible. There are no muddy images or inaccurate colors in this book.

The commentary is scholarly, as you would expect in a book from the Art Institute of Chicago. Other books, such as "100 Views of Edo" have more engaging and accessible descriptions. However, the lack of immediate appeal is more than made up for by the clarity, consistency and scholarship inherent in this entire book.

The prints reproduced in the book are especially rare, and the book is even more attractive because it contains so many of these rare prints. The Katsukawa School of print makers worked during a relatively early stage of the wood block era, and many of the prints shown in the book exist nowhere else. To top it all off, most of the prints are in excellent condition.

This is a book to be savored slowly. Page by page, line by line, each image adding to the impact of the last and the next.

It's worth the money.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VISUALLY ARRESTING AND ENCHANTING, July 30, 2006

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Actor's Image (Hardcover)

Kabuki, the dance drama created by the Japanese in the 1600s has long fascinated the western world. Taking many movements and gestures from an earlier dramatic form patronized primarily by the nobility, the No plays, Kabuki is livelier, easier to understand, and marked by stylistically performed singing and dancing.

Today, Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating or passing world) paintings and prints, which are perceptive depictions of life in the entertainment and pleasure quarters of Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries are highly prized.

Also to be highly prized is The Actor's Image, a stunningly beautiful volume presenting a collection of woodblock prints of Kabuki actor portraits and theater scenes culled from the Art Institute of Chicago's excellent Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints.

The full-color prints are visually arresting and enchanting, capturing richly costumed Kabuki actors often carefully posed to reveal the majestic materials they are wearing. The strong textile patterns and black outlines of the figures typify the style frequently used by these print makers.

As if the magnificent illustrations were not feast enough, Donald Jenkins' cogent essay defines printmaking and offers biographical notes re the lives of the Katsukawa school of print makers. The essay by Timothy Clark brings Kabuki theater to vivid life.

These lavish prints are emotional as well as decorative. The Actor's Image is a splendid volume in every way.

- Gail Cooke

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The art book of 2002!, August 29, 2008

By 

Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Actor's Image (Hardcover)

This art book explores with zealous detail, the insights related with the legendary Kabuki. The wonderful and careful presentation presents herewith a marvellous introduction to the popular arts of 18th century in Japan.