Ota Masamitsu
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese print-maker. He was one of the masters of the shin hanga
movement. His work consisted mostly of kabuki
actor prints that emphasized the individual personality of the actors, showcased through rich colors and exquisite patterns of complex design.
Ota had a life-long involvement with kabuki theater, illustrating volumes on major kabuki plays and famous kabuki costumes. His two most important set of actor prints, Showa
Butai Sugata (1950) and Gendai Butai Geika (1955) were published by the Banchoro studio. These sets, of twelve prints each, exhibit a very high level of realism, achieved through the use of western techniques of perspective and through beautiful shading (bokashi
) and attention to detail.
Shin hanga
was an art movement in early 20th-century Japan, during the Taishō and Shōwa periods, that revitalized traditional ukiyo-e art rooted in the Edo and Meiji periods...
movement. His work consisted mostly of kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
actor prints that emphasized the individual personality of the actors, showcased through rich colors and exquisite patterns of complex design.
Ota had a life-long involvement with kabuki theater, illustrating volumes on major kabuki plays and famous kabuki costumes. His two most important set of actor prints, Showa
Showa
Shōwa is the name of several places, times, people and things in Japan.* Hirohito , the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa...
Butai Sugata (1950) and Gendai Butai Geika (1955) were published by the Banchoro studio. These sets, of twelve prints each, exhibit a very high level of realism, achieved through the use of western techniques of perspective and through beautiful shading (bokashi
Bokashi (printing)
Bokashi is a technique used in Japanese woodblock printmaking. It achieves a variation in lightness and darkness of a single color by hand applying a gradation of ink to a moistened wooden printing block, rather than inking the block uniformly...
) and attention to detail.