Toshusai Sharaku

Toshusai Sharaku (active 1794 to 1795) was a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer known for his portraits of kabuki actors. Neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known: his active career as a woodblock artist spanned only about ten months, and his prolific output ended as suddenly and mysteriously as it had begun. His compositions emphasized dynamic poses and a realism unusual for prints of the time, since contemporaries such as Utamaro idealized their subjects while Sharaku did not shy from unflattering detail, a style not to the public taste of the day. His work is now considered some of the greatest in the ukiyo-e genre, and his true identity has long drawn speculation among researchers.