Shunkan, 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
154970
Art Historical Context
Tsukioka Kôgyo (1869–1927), a master of Japanese woodblock printing, created *Shunkan* in 1898 as part of his renowned series *Pictures of Noances (Nogaku Zue)*. This woodblock print captures a moment from the Noh play *Shunkan*, featuring the titular character—a priest exiled to a remote island—in a pose rich with theatrical intensity. Produced during Japan's Meiji era (1868–1912), when rapid modernization threatened traditional arts, Kôgyo's works preserved the elegance of Noh theater, a 14th-century classical drama form blending dance, music, and masked performance. The medium of color woo...
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...