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Torii Kiyonaga

An Ukiyo-e artist in the middle of the Edo period(1603-1867), who swept the world with paintings of beautiful well-proportioned women.

 Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1825) was an ukiyo-e artist in the middle of the Edo period. He was a child of Shirakoya Ichibei, the owner of a bookshop located in Honzaimoku-cho 1 cho-me in Edo (currently Nihonbashi 1 cho-me, Tokyo). His original surname was Seki (another reading suggests Sekiguchi), and his nickname was Shinsuke, and he later changed his nickname to Ichibei. He was a disciple of the third Torii Kiyomitsu of theTorii family, owners of an ukiyo-e school making theatrical signboards, and yakusha-e (actor paintings) as the family business. Kiyonaga assumed Torii Kiyomitsu’s professional name, becoming the fourth Kiyomitsu after his predecessor died.  

   In the early days, he painted yakusha-e of Hosobanbenizurie (narrow-format woodblock prints colored with mainly red and black inks), and book illustrations of trendy novels for adults, called Kibyoushi (yellow covers), following the traditional Torii school methods.  Later, absorbing the painting styles of Suzuki Harunobu and Isoda Koryusai, famous for bijin-ga (beautiful-woman paintings), he established his own painting style characterized by slender, well-proportioned girls. He played an active role as a leading painter of bijin-ga during the Tenmei era (1781-1788), and influenced a lot of artists including Katsukawa Shuncho and Kitagawa Utamaro. After his master Torii Kiyomitsu died, he inherited the fourth generation of theTorii Family school around the seventh year of the Tenmei era(1787). After the Kansei era, he mainly worked on Torii family business such as illustrating signboards and programs.

   His series of three large-format representative works made in the beginning of the Tenmei era-Touseiyuuribijinawase( Beautiful Women of the Pleasure Quarter), Fuzokuazumanonishiki (Customs of Eastern Japan), and Minamijyunikou (12 months of the Pleasure Quarter in the south of Edo) -are called Kiyonaga Sanndai Soroimono ( Series of Kiyonaga’s three greatest works). Utilizing western perspective method, Kiyonaga skillfully arranged a group of tall women in a realistic Edo landscape. His bright and gorgeous works swept the painting world in the Tenmei era. In his Kabuki actor paintings, he established the style of Degatarizu which featured narrators called Tayu, and Shamisen (three stringed musical instrument) players along with actors to depict scenes of plays. 

Related People, Things and Events

Books

Related Works

Beautiful-woman paintings

Actor paintings

Other works

Past Exhibitions

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Institutions and External Links

  • 千葉県千葉市にある美術館。江戸時代の錦絵を多く所蔵し、鳥居清長の作品も多い。収蔵品検索システムからは、千葉市美術館が所蔵している鳥居清長の作品の画像や情報を閲覧できる。

  • 東京都渋谷区の浮世絵専門美術館。浮世絵の歴史を網羅的に辿れる約15,000点のコレクションを所蔵。月ごとにさまざまなテーマの展覧会が開催され、テーマに沿った浮世絵作品を展示している。歌川国貞の作品を所蔵。

References

  1. 日本浮世絵協会原色浮世絵大百科事典編集委員会 編,大修館書店
  2. 平凡社
  3. 日立デジタル平凡社,平凡社