The Actor Ichikawa Monnosuke I as Oiso no Tora in the play "Nigiwai Suehiro Soga," performed at the Morita Theater in the first month, 1721 (?)

Art Historical Context

Torii Kiyonobu I's *The Actor Ichikawa Monuke I as Oiso no Tora in the playNigiwai Suehiro Soga"* captures a vibrant moment from kabuki theater around 1721 at the Morita Theater in (modern Tokyo). This hand-colored woodblock print depicts the famous onnagata actor Ichikawa Monnosuke in the role of Oiso noora, a seductive courtesan from the popular Soga brothers revenge drama. Produced during the height of ukiyo-e—"pictures of the floating world"—art, it reflects the era's obsession with theater stars, whose images were avidly collected by fans as affordable celebrity portraits. Printed in the narrow hosoban format (about 32.4 × 15.8 cm), this urushi-e (lacquer print) showcases an innovative early technique: colors mixed with glue for a glossy, durable sheen that mimicked luxurious lacquerware. Kiyonobu, a master of the Torii school, excelled in yakusha-e (actor prints), using bold lines, expressive poses, and vivid hues to convey dramatic tension and the actor's nuanced femininity—key to kabuki's all-male casts. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts of Asia collection, this print highlights ukiyo-e's role in democratizing art and culture in 18th-century Japan, bridging elite theater with everyday viewers and paving the way for the genre's global influence.

About the Artist

Torii Kiyonobu I · 1664–1729

Torii Kiyonobu I (1664–1729), born Shōbei in Osaka, was the second son of Torii Kiyomoto, a prominent kabuki actor specializing in onnagata roles and a painter of theater signboards. He studied painting under his father as well as Yoshida Hanbei and Hishikawa Moronobu, the pioneering ukiyo-e master whose figure styles profoundly shaped his early work. In 1687, at age twenty-four, Kiyonobu accompan...