Shini-e explained

, also called "death pictures" or "death portraits", are Japanese woodblock prints,^[1] particularly those done in the ukiyo-e style popular through the Edo period (1603–1867) and into the beginnings of the 20th century.

When a kabuki actor died, memorial portraits were conventionally published with his farewell poem and posthumous name.^[2]

Memorial portraits were created by ukiyo-e artists to honor a colleague or former teacher who had died.

See also

• List of ukiyo-e terms

Bibliography

• Keyes, Roger S. and Keiko Mizushima. (1973). The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints: a Collection of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Japanese woodblock Prints in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art. OCLC 186356770
• Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam : Hotei. ; OCLC 61666175

External links

• Viewing shini-e
• "Shini-e: the Performance of Death in Japanese Kabuki Actor Prints"
• Kuniyoshi project: Shini-e

Notes and References

1. [Melinda Takeuchi|Takeuchi, Melinda]
2. Keyes, Roger et al. (1973). The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints, p. 320; Chin, Connie and Melinda Takeuchi. "Actors' Death Prints: Discovery of a New Genre." Horizons (Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University) Fall 2005, p. 7.