Ukiyo-e painters: The Art of Toshusai Sharaku

Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794–1795) was a Japanese ukiyo-e print artist, known for his portraits of kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers. Little is known of him besides the prints he designed; neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known. His active career as a woodblock artist spanned ten months; his prolific work met disapproval, and his output came to an end as suddenly and mysteriously as it had begun. His work has since been recognized as some of the greatest in the ukiyo-e genre.

Primarily portraits of kabuki actors, Sharaku's compositions emphasize poses of dynamism and energy, and display a realism unusual for prints of the time—conptemporaries such as Utamaro represented their subjects with an idealized beauty, while Sharaku did not shy from showing unflattering details. This was not to the tastes of the public, and the enigmatic artist's production ceased in the first month of 1795. His mastery of the medium with no apparent apprenticeship has drawn much speculation, and researchers have long attempted to discover his true identity—some suggesting he was an obscure poet, others a Noh actor, or even the ukiyo-e master Hokusai.