Entry by Catherine Reith: Scene from Kabuki plays : Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari

This Artwork is a scene from Kabuki play called Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari it is a style of japanese art called Woodblocking which artist Kunisada is popular for creating these types of arts in the image you see three people one leaning against a tree the other covering her head from the third person who appears to be sitting on a frog. The person sitting on a frog is wearing traditional makeup used in a kabuki theater called Aragoto. I liked this image because it was realistic. The garments they are wearing are dramatically similar to the ones used in Kabuki and the Bright red colors. This artists main paintings were of Kabuki and there are many more art pieces he created similar to this one showing that the artist was passionate about Kabuki theater or atleast about Drawing it. This relates to our class because I remember watching a video explaining how the different colors in the Kabuki theater have different meanings. For example, Dark blue means sadness or depression and in the image you can see that the man on the right is also in blue and his head is bowed as if he was sad. Red represents anger or passion and the person on the left is wearing more red and you can see the contrast in their emotions and the dynamic that the artist is trying to portray in this painting I like the way the artist took the rules of Kabuki and also related them to his art work in order to further emphasize the scene he is drawing.

Author: Catherine Reith