Mekari, from the series "One Hundred No Dramas (Nogaku hyakuban)"
1898/1903
Medium
Color woodblock print
Dimensions
Approx: 37.8 × 25.6 cm (14 7/8 × 10 1/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
154668
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts of Asia collection, where Tsukioka Kôgyo's *Mekari*, from the series *One No Dramas (Nogaku hyakuban)* (1898/1903), captures the ethereal grace of classical Japanese Noh theater. Kôgyo, a master of ukiyo-e woodblock printing in the late Meiji era, dedicated this ambitious 100-print series to documenting iconic Noh plays, preserving their stylized poses, elaborate costumes, and masked performers amid Japan's rapid modernization. Printed in vibrant colors on a modest 37.8 × 25.6 cm sheet, *Mekari* exemplifies the woodblock technique's precision: in...
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...