Actor as a Standing Beauty
About 1715
Medium
Woodblock print; sumizuri-e, kakemono-e
Dimensions
53.4 × 29.3 cm (21 × 11 1/2 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
19151
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of early 18th-century Japan with *Actor as a Standing Beauty* Torii Kiyomasu, created around 1715. This woodblock captures an onnagata—a male kabuki actor specializing in female roles—posed gracefully in elegant robes, embodying the idealized beauty of the "floating world" (ukiyo). Kiyomasu I, a key figure in the Torii, pioneered yakusha-e (actor prints), blending theater fandom with innovative printmaking during the Genroku era's cultural boom in Edo (modern Tokyo). Printed as a sumizuri-e (monochrome ink print) in the tall, narrow kakemono-e format—measuring 53.4...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyomasu I
Torii Kiyomasu I was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist working in the early eighteenth century, closely associated with the Torii school, one of the most important lineages in the history of Japanese woodblock printmaking. The Torii school was founded by Torii Kiyonobu, and Kiyomasu I is believed to have been either his son or a close pupil — the precise family relationship remains a matter of scholarly d...