Program for Kawarazaki Theater
ca. 1800
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H. 14 1/8 in. (35.9 cm); W. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1929
Accession Number
JP1509
Tags
Art Historical Context
This woodblock print by Torii Kiyonaga, created around 1800 during Japan’s Edo period, served as a program for performances at the Kawarazaki Theater in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Kiyonaga, a leading figure in the Torii school of ukiyo-e artists, specialized in depictions of kabuki actors and theatrical scenes. His elegant compositions elevate actor prints from simple advertisements into refined works of art that captured the glamour and drama of the stage. Woodblock printing, using ink and color on paper, allowed such images to be produced affordably and in quantity, making theater culture acce...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyonaga · 1752–1815
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Uraga, Sagami Province, was the son of an Edo bookseller who owned tenements near a bustling fish market. At age 14 in 1765, he began his apprenticeship under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the prestigious Torii school of ukiyo-e, renowned for kabuki theater illustrations and signage. Adopted into the Torii family, Kiyonaga succeede...