Customer Reviews

The Actor's Image

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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.

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

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.

This work is the long awaited third installment in the series on the Japanese prints in the Art Institute of Chicago, the first 2 of which were limited to 500 and 1000 copies each and are now quite rare. This, more available, volume is a masterpiece and much worth the price--both cheaper and more informed than the earlier volumes. The Actor's Image was literally years in the making, and represents a vast amount of research and a lifetime of study by Timothy Clark, a true expert on Japanese prints. Don't let the price stop you--this work is worth a dozen of the common books on ukiyo-e.