Detail: Strike a Pose features more than 20 color woodblock prints by two Japanese masters of the art: Utagawa Kunisada I (later Utagawa Tokokuni III) and Toyohara Kunichika. All are promised gifts from Oberlin College alumnus Dominique H. Vasseur ’73. The prints were made in part as advertisements for kabuki plays, capturing moments of high drama and the often exaggerated poses known as mie 見ㄸ. Kabuki arose from the vibrant popular culture of the Edo period (1603–1868) and performances combined the spectacle of a grand opera with the excitement of a Hollywood blockbuster, entertaining audiences in Japan from the 1600s to today.
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