Aoi no Ue, from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)"
1898
Medium
Color woodblock print
Dimensions
Approx: 25.2 × 37.4 cm (10 × 15 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
154941
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of Japanese Noh theater with *Aoi no Ue*, a color woodblock print by Tsukioka Kôgyo from his renowned series *Pictures of Noances (Nogaku Z)*, created in 1898. This scene depicts a moment from the classic Noh *Aoi no Ue*, drawn from the 11th-century *Tale of Genji*. It portrays the tormented spirit of Lady Aoi, possessed by jealousy, in a dramatic tableau that freezes the ritualistic grace of Noh performers—complete with elaborate costumes, masks, and stylized poses. Kôgyo, a master of the ukiyo-e tradition in the late Meiji era, specialized in "shin-nōga" (new Noh...
About the Artist
Tsukioka Kôgyo · 1869–1927
Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869–1927), born Hanyū Bennosuke in Tokyo's bustling Nihonbashi district as the second son of an innkeeper family, navigated a path from humble origins to mastery in Japanese printmaking. After his father's early death, he was raised by his mother's Sakamaki family and apprenticed in pottery painting under his uncle, a ceramics exporter in Yokohama. He briefly attended the Tokyo Sc...