Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō I

Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō I

Utagawa Kunisada

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ōmezō I (1781–1833) is shown in a formal pose, wearing a persimmon brown ceremonial kimono (kamishimo). Omezō was a leading man (tachiyaku) known for his penetrating eyes and distinctive hooknose. In 1858, probably for a memorial service for Ōmezo’s twenty-seventh death anniversary, an inscription was added by prominent Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII (Ebizō V). In distinctive, dynamic cursive calligraphy, he eulogized his mentor, referring to him by the name Sōdai: From the time of my youth, until I became a serious actor, I knew the joys of the path of acting in the Ichikawa lineage, and never lost enthusiasm for the aragoto style, and the acting methods that should last forever. For a long while, he made it his duty to lend me support from the depths of his heart— Ichikawa Sōdai.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Memorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō IMemorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō IMemorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō IMemorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō IMemorial Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Ōmezō I

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.