Okina, from the series "One Hundred No Dramas (Nogaku hyakuban)"
1898/1903
Medium
Color woodblock print; triptych oban
Dimensions
37.8 × 77 cm (14 15/16 × 30 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
48226
Art Historical Context
Tsukioka Kôgyo’s *Okina*, from the *One Hundred No Dr (Nogaku hyakuban)*, is a stunning color woodblock print triptych created between 1898 and 1903. This large-format oban work (37.8 × 77 cm) captures a pivotal moment from the revered Noh play *Okina*, one of the oldest and most sacred pieces in the Japanese classical theater repertoire. Kôgyo, a master of shin-hanga (new prints), specialized in documenting Noh performances, preserving their elegance amid Japan’s Meiji-era modernization. Noh drama, dating back to the 14th century, blends dance, music, and poetry to explore profound themes li...
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...