The artists wrote: Kabuki Play combines the influence of the Japanese woodblock with icons of American pop culture. Walt Disney's Donald Duck - a familiar image from his own youth that seemed to celebrate an idealized American life - appears to be handing the American woman a little pearl while the Japanese kimono-clad woman watches; a Japanese sword prepares to cut a cord held above his head by a more-than-likely famous Japanese Kabuki male 'player' probably 'borrowed' from a painting by another artist; and in the background we see an image of a bomber with the well-known cultural insignia, a red sun, signifying Japan as the Land of the Rising Sun.
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Kabuki Play

Shimomura, Roger Y.

1985

Artwork Information

  • Title:

    Kabuki Play

  • Artist:

    Shimomura, Roger Y.

  • Artist Bio:

    American, born 1939

  • Date:

    1985

  • Medium:

    Color lithograph

  • Dimensions:

    21 x 29 inches

  • Credit Line:

    Wichita Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor

  • Object Number:

    2011.9

  • Display:

    Not Currently on Display