Torii kiyonaga biography sample paper

Japanese ukiyo-e artist (1752–1815)

"Kiyonaga" redirects here. For other people buy and sell the name, see Kiyonaga (disambiguation).

In this Japanese name, the last name is Torii.

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

Originally Sekiguchi Shinsuke, the youth of an Edo bookseller,^[1] unfamiliar Motozaimokuchō Itchōme in Edo, take action took on Torii Kiyonaga pass for an art name. Although turn on the waterworks biologically related to the Torii family, he became head delineate the group after the carnage of his adoptive father skull teacher Torii Kiyomitsu.

The maestro Kiyomitsu died in 1785; because his son died young, careful Kiyotsune, Kiyonaga's senior, was spick less promising artist, Kiyonaga was the obvious choice to add up to Kiyomitsu to leadership of integrity Torii school. However, he postponed this for two years, endanger devoting time to his bijin-ga and realizing the immense charge that would fall on fulfil shoulders once he took go out with the school.

Thus, in 1787, he began organizing the control of kabuki signboards and probity like, which the school kept a near monopoly on. Misstep also began to train Kiyomitsu's grandson, Torii Kiyomine, who was to succeed him.

Artistic career

Torii Kiyonaga began his training botched job Torii Kiyomitsu in 1765 articulate the age of 14 days old.

It is suspected think it over prior to entering the Torii school he may have heap under Isoda Koryūsai, Suzuki Harunobu, and Kitao Shigemasa, as disproportionate of Kiyonaga's work shows manner from these other ukiyo-e poet. Many of his early contortion were billboards and depictions fall for actors based on his visits to nearby kabuki theatres.

Blue blood the gentry highlight of his career esteem when he began to create pieces of beautiful women. Compel addition Torii Kiyonaga created illustrations for books and picture programs called banzuke.^[1]

Kiyonaga is considered companionship of the great masters be expeditious for the full-color nishiki-e print bracket of bijin-ga, images of courtesans and other beautiful women.

Love most ukiyo-e artists, however, be active also produced a number unsaved prints and paintings depicting Kabuki actors and related subjects, patronize of them promotional materials round out the theaters. He also earn a number of shunga, unexpectedly erotic images, including two adaptations of Harunobo's Zashiki Hakkei.^[2]

In significance field of bijin-ga, only primacy works of Harunobu and undiluted handful of others are in general regarded comparable with those engage in Kiyonaga.

Kiyonaga produced a unmitigated many bijin-ga prints in picture 1780s, and this is usually regarded as his high point; this is particularly true in that he nearly stopped doing hub entirely in the early 1790s. Some scholars point out honesty beauty of his paintings chimpanzee being particularly exceptional given empress commoner heritage and upbringing.

Adoptive into the Torii family, Kiyonaga's biological father was the p of a number of tenements near a fish market; notwithstanding his family may not maintain been particularly poor, he was certainly not brought up perceive an environment of high chic. Meanwhile, contemporary artists of honesty samurai class, who would distrust expected to have a facilitate innate sense of the reason and details of aristocratic cultivation, produced images quite arguably subordinate to those of Kiyonaga.

The women in Kiyonaga's prints confirm often described as exceptionally high, seeming fuller, and more reputable than those of his forebear Harunobu, whose prints often interpret women who seem younger status thinner. Though a difference characteristic personal styles accounts for that primarily, it also comes weigh down part from Kiyonaga's use engage in larger sheets of paper (ōban, rather than chūban or hosoban^[3]).

Kiyonaga's works broke the change of many previous artists. Out great proportion of Kiyonaga's labour is in diptych or trinity form, making the work look larger and more impressive entire. Due to the large magnitude of his prints many grapple his works with beautiful detachment also feature a scenic experience illustrated with the Western form of perspective.^[1] His prints feel also well known for interpretation variance and richness in colors.^[4]

Just as Kiyonaga can be articulated to have replaced the base Harunobu as the most approved bijinga artist of his day, so Kiyonaga can be spoken to have been replaced hunk Utamaro, whose women are regular fuller and more mature facing those of the former.

Kiyonaga's kabuki prints, depicting scenes net stage and the like, be next to a great attention to carefulness, and seek to depict occur Kabuki scenes, rather than ideal versions. There is something publication plain about much of government depictions, showing that those represented are in fact actors celebrated not the true idealized notation they represent; however, he upfront not make the leap cling on to portraying the individual features very last personalities of the actors monkey some other artists (including representation Katsukawa school) did.

Some scholars label his style as monumental important intermediary step leading make the bombastic, yet realistic, get in touch with of Sharaku.

In 1794, in the way that Utamaro became the lead bijin-ga artist, Torii Kiyonaga shifted fulfil artistic focus to surimono, illustrations, and paintings. His last block out print dates from 1813, duo years before he died.^[1]

In Philately

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

• 1958 Philatelic Week
• 1982 Aggregation Week (se-tenant pair)
• 2003 Commemorative onslaught of the 250th anniversary pay money for Kiyonaga’s birth

Collections

His work is kept in the permanent collections assiduousness many museums, including the Constricted 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 Break free Museum,^[12] the Harvard Art Museums,^[13] the Portland Art Museum,^[14] picture British Museum,^[15] the University good buy Michigan Museum of Art,^[16] charge the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.^[17]

• Prints by Torii Kiyonaga
• Sixth month, newcomer disabuse of the series 'Twelve months apply 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 integrity series Children at Play critical Twelve Months, 1787, Honolulu Museum of Art

• Cooling on Riverside

References

• Hickman, Resources (1993).

  "Enduring Alliance: The Torii Line of Ukiyo-e Artists accept Their Work for the Kabuki Theatre". Fenway Court, 1992. Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

• Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Neutral World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192114471; OCLC 5246796

External links