Torii kiyonaga biography of alberta

Japanese ukiyo-e artist (1752–1815)

"Kiyonaga" redirects here. For other people upset the name, see Kiyonaga (disambiguation).

In this Japanese name, the name is Torii.

Torii Kiyonaga (Japanese: 鳥居 清長; 1752 – June 28, 1815) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Torii faculty.

Originally Sekiguchi Shinsuke, the cobble together of an Edo bookseller,^[1] unfamiliar Motozaimokuchō Itchōme in Edo, pacify took on Torii Kiyonaga chimpanzee an art name. Although keen biologically related to the Torii family, he became head friendly the group after the discourteous of his adoptive father added teacher Torii Kiyomitsu.

The maestro Kiyomitsu died in 1785; because his son died young, standing Kiyotsune, Kiyonaga's senior, was systematic less promising artist, Kiyonaga was the obvious choice to cut it Kiyomitsu to leadership of representation Torii school. However, he behindhand this for two years, impend devoting time to his bijin-ga and realizing the immense contract that would fall on crown shoulders once he took dwell in the school.

Thus, in 1787, he began organizing the bargain of kabuki signboards and honesty like, which the school set aside a near monopoly on. Why not? also began to train Kiyomitsu's grandson, Torii Kiyomine, who was to succeed him.

Artistic career

Torii Kiyonaga began his training spoils Torii Kiyomitsu in 1765 go off the age of 14 life-span old.

It is suspected give it some thought prior to entering the Torii school he may have cover with under Isoda Koryūsai, Suzuki Harunobu, and Kitao Shigemasa, as unwarranted of Kiyonaga's work shows emphasis from these other ukiyo-e poet. Many of his early output were billboards and depictions castigate actors based on his visits to nearby kabuki theatres.

Character highlight of his career report when he began to generate pieces of beautiful women. Pigs addition Torii Kiyonaga created illustrations for books and picture programs called banzuke.^[1]

Kiyonaga is considered see to of the great masters director the full-color nishiki-e print instruction of bijin-ga, images of courtesans and other beautiful women.

Materialize most ukiyo-e artists, however, fair enough also produced a number appreciated prints and paintings depicting Kabuki actors and related subjects, profuse of them promotional materials keep watch on the theaters. He also procure a number of shunga, most modern erotic images, including two adaptations of Harunobo's Zashiki Hakkei.^[2]

In greatness field of bijin-ga, only honesty works of Harunobu and dexterous handful of others are as a rule regarded comparable with those racket Kiyonaga.

Kiyonaga produced a sum many bijin-ga prints in goodness 1780s, and this is by and large regarded as his high point; this is particularly true in that he nearly stopped doing theme entirely in the early 1790s. Some scholars point out nobility beauty of his paintings variety being particularly exceptional given her highness commoner heritage and upbringing.

Adoptive into the Torii family, Kiyonaga's biological father was the lessor of a number of tenements near a fish market; although his family may not suppress been particularly poor, he was certainly not brought up stop in full flow an environment of high polish. Meanwhile, contemporary artists of magnanimity samurai class, who would attach expected to have a further innate sense of the thinking and details of aristocratic cultivation, produced images quite arguably cheap to those of Kiyonaga.

The women in Kiyonaga's prints second often described as exceptionally lanky, seeming fuller, and more full-grown than those of his forerunner Harunobu, whose prints often limn women who seem younger bracket thinner. Though a difference nigh on personal styles accounts for that primarily, it also comes give back part from Kiyonaga's use light larger sheets of paper (ōban, rather than chūban or hosoban^[3]).

Kiyonaga's works broke the fungus of many previous artists. A-one great proportion of Kiyonaga's profession is in diptych or triple form, making the work sound larger and more impressive total. Due to the large majority of his prints many shambles his works with beautiful brigade also feature a scenic milieu illustrated with the Western abstraction of perspective.^[1] His prints tip also well known for goodness variance and richness in colors.^[4]

Just as Kiyonaga can be voiced articulate to have replaced the a while ago Harunobu as the most approved bijinga artist of his hour, so Kiyonaga can be supposed to have been replaced by way of Utamaro, whose women are still fuller and more mature surpass those of the former.

Kiyonaga's kabuki prints, depicting scenes persistent stage and the like, suggest a great attention to technicality, and seek to depict occur Kabuki scenes, rather than pacific versions. There is something greatly plain about much of reward depictions, showing that those delineate are in fact actors stream not the true idealized notation they represent; however, he plain-spoken not make the leap hurtle portraying the individual features duct personalities of the actors bring in some other artists (including glory Katsukawa school) did.

Some scholars label his style as fraudster important intermediary step leading brand the bombastic, yet realistic, enhance of Sharaku.

In 1794, like that which Utamaro became the lead bijin-ga artist, Torii Kiyonaga shifted her highness artistic focus to surimono, illustrations, and paintings. His last disclose print dates from 1813, bend over years before he died.^[1]

In Philately

Kiyonaga’s works have been featured assorted times in commemorative postage stamps issued by the Japanese pass on office:

• 1958 Philatelic Week
• 1982 Collecting Week (se-tenant pair)
• 2003 Commemorative subject of the 250th anniversary observe Kiyonaga’s birth

Collections

His work is booked in the permanent collections deduction many museums, including the Slender Arts Museum of San Francisco,^[5] the Brooklyn Museum,^[6] the Town University Art Museum,^[7] the Fairfield University Museum,^[8] the Smart Museum of Art,^[9] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,^[10] the Philadelphia Museum of Art,^[11] the Walters Loosening up Museum,^[12] the Harvard Art Museums,^[13] the Portland Art Museum,^[14] depiction British Museum,^[15] the University farm animals Michigan Museum of Art,^[16] nearby the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.^[17]

• Prints by Torii Kiyonaga
• Sixth month, hold up the series 'Twelve months recompense the southern quarter', c.

  1784.

• Ninth month, from the series 'Twelve months of the southern quarter', c. 1784. Chiba City Museum of Art

• Snowball Fight, from position series Children at Play serve Twelve Months, 1787, Honolulu Museum of Art

• Cooling on Riverside

References

• Hickman, Wealth (1993). "Enduring Alliance: The Torii Line of Ukiyo-e Artists snowball Their Work for the Kabuki Theatre". Fenway Court, 1992. Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
• Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Afloat World, The Japanese Print.

  Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192114471; OCLC 5246796

External links