Torii Kiyonaga
1752–1815 · Ukiyo-e · 12 works
Torii Kiyonaga gave fashionable Edo figures room to inhabit a world. His tall women and groups of companions occupy settings that feel spacious, with architecture, rivers, and streets extending their activities beyond a single pose. Trained in the Torii school, he eventually became its fourth head, continuing its connection to the theater while developing his own approach to figure prints. His work is especially rewarding when viewed as a whole arrangement: the distance between people, the direction of a glance, and a stretch of background all contribute to its balance.
12 works · 1767–1789
In An Actors’ Boating Party on the Sumida River, compare the spaces between the figures with the open stretches of river.
1767–1777 · 4 works
Walk these 4
The Actor Segawa Kikunojo II as Shizuka Gozen (?)c. 1767
First Meeting (Miai), from the series "Twelve Stages of Matrimony (Konrei juni shiki)"c. 1775
Nakamura Tomijuro I as a Female Fox in the Scene from the Play, Chigo Torii Tobiiri Gitsune (Nakamura Tomijuro no Hyuga no kuni Ubagatake no megitsune)1777
Night Rain of the Tea Stand, from the series "Eight Scenes of the Parlor (Zashiki hakkei)"c. 1777
1778–1779 · 4 works
Walk these 4
Bando Mitsugoro II as Tennen no Mansaku-kitsune and Ichikawa Monnosuke III as Nikaido Shinanonosuke and Iwai Hanshiro IV as Okura no Kojoro-kitsune in the scene from the drama Moto Mishi Yuki Sakae Hachi-no-ki (Nidaime Bando Mitsugoro no Tennen no mansaku-kitsune, nidaime Ichikawa Monnosuke no Nikaido Shinanonosuke, yondaime Iwai Hanshiro no Okura no kojyoro-kitsune)1778
The Artisan (Ko) from the series "Beauties Illustrating the Four Social Classes (Adesugata shi no ko sho)"c. 1779
The Farmer (No) from the series Beauties Illustrating the Four Social Classes (Adesugata shi no ko sho)c. 1779
The Merchant (Sho) from the series Beauties Illustrating the Four Social Classes (Adesugata shi no ko sho)c. 1779
1783–1789 · 4 works
Walk these 4In the decades after full-color printing arrived in 1765, Katsukawa Shunshō dominated prints of kabuki actors and founded the influential Katsukawa school. Isoda Koryūsai, a pupil of Harunobu, and Torii Kiyonaga, whose manner came to set the tone for ukiyo-e, were best known for pictures of beautiful women. Shunshō and Koryūsai also painted, as their silk scrolls here show.
In the museum: Ukiyo-e room · 2 works
Chōbunsai Eishi
Nanamachi of the Yotsumeya with Attendants Sumano and Akashi, c. 1787
Hishikawa Moronobu
Behind the Screen, c. 1673/81
Ichieisai Yoshitsuya
King of Italy (Itaria kokuo), from the series "People of Barbarian Nations (Bankoku jinbutsu zue)", 1861
