<b>NAKAMURA JAKUEMON</b> / Paul Binnie1997<b>SOLD</b></em>

$10.00
Sold

ARTIST: Paul Binnie (b.1967)

TITLE: Nakamura Jakuemon

EDITION: 19/100

MEDIUM: Woodblock print

DATE: 1997

DIMENSIONS: 17 1/4 x 12 inches

CONDITION: Excellent—no problems to note

NOTE: Silver and gold metallic pigments

SOLD


Get in touch to purchase

Add To Cart

ARTIST: Paul Binnie (b.1967)

TITLE: Nakamura Jakuemon

EDITION: 19/100

MEDIUM: Woodblock print

DATE: 1997

DIMENSIONS: 17 1/4 x 12 inches

CONDITION: Excellent—no problems to note

NOTE: Silver and gold metallic pigments

SOLD


Get in touch to purchase

ARTIST: Paul Binnie (b.1967)

TITLE: Nakamura Jakuemon

EDITION: 19/100

MEDIUM: Woodblock print

DATE: 1997

DIMENSIONS: 17 1/4 x 12 inches

CONDITION: Excellent—no problems to note

NOTE: Silver and gold metallic pigments

SOLD


Get in touch to purchase

 

 
 
 
 

Details

Paul Binnie (born 1967) is a Scottish artist who studied at Edinburgh University and College of Art from 1985 to 1990. Afterward, he lived in Paris until 1993, when he traveled to Tokyo and met the contemporary woodblock printmaker Kenji Seki, from whom he learned much about the techniques of printmaking. Binnie uses 20 or more blocks for some designs, cherry for the keyblock and magnolia for the color blocks. His pigments also are those used for Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) except for bero-ai (Berlin blue or Prussian blue). He prefers torinoko kôzo and nishinouchi washi for his papers. He typically begins printing an edition with about 30 to 40 prints and then finishes the edition on demand. Upon finishing, he destroys the blocks.

Binnie, who has an interest in Ukiyo-e and Shin Hanga, has designed Japanese prints in several genres, blending traditional methods with an individual modern-day style. 

This print is a portrait of Nakamura Jakuemon IV (1920–2012), one of Japan's officially designated "Living National Treasures" (ningen kokuhô). He received this honor in 1991 after decades of performing as an onnagata, a male actor of women's roles. Here he stars in the dance Fuji Musume (The Wisteria Maiden), first performed in 9/1826 at the Nakamura-za, Edo. The dance with nagauta (long song) narrative musical accompaniment is a section of a hengemono (transformation piece), a dance play requiring changes in character and costume for a series of brief dances. Fuji Musume does not actually have a plot, but rather presents a musume (maiden) as the spirit of Fuji (wisteria).

Binnie's print is a design from a series titled Kabuki Ôkubi-e (Great Portraits from Kabuki). A large green circular seal at the top right sounds out the artist's name "Binnie" with the characters for bin (clever) and ni (two). A square date seal printed in green at the lower right reads Heisei hachinen (Eighth year of Heisei, or 1996). Jakuemon is captured in a mie (display) as Fuji Musume raises over her shoulder a golden fan patterned with the golden rays of Japan's rising sun. The colors and intricate feminine fabric motifs belie the duality of the onnagata—the male presence beneath the female likeness (onnarashisha). Jakuemon, performing well into his seventies here, still possessed the notable skill to portray convincingly a young maiden on the kabuki stage. Yet if we focus on the face or the folds of the neck, we can discern the male actor and marvel at Jakuemon's startling transformation in the role of Fuji Musume.

 Written by John Fiorillo, ViewingJapanesePrints.net

Connoisseur's Note

This design was very well received both commercially and through critical acclaim. This design is in many notable collections worldwide, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This print is in excellent condition with no problems to note.