Torri Kiyonaga (1752-1815) worked during the Tenmei era (1781-89) and was known as a master of feminine portraits.  He came from humble surroundings, his father was a book seller in Edo.  Orignally named Sekiguchi Shinsuke, he changed his name to Torii Kiyonaga after the death of his teacher, leader of the Torii family.  His instructor, Kiyomitsu, was considered the last of the great artists of the traditional Torii line.  Kiyonaga began working in the oban size print (39 x 26 cm) but also experimented with the diptych and triptych styles for single compositions.  In his prints, idealized women who appear graceful and appealing are placed within contemporary settings, this difference from past styles.   He chose to take a horizontal viewing plane, rather than the overhead and to give the print further realism used varying lines in a dramatic fashion.  Combining these tall beautiful depictions of women with the urban culture of Edo makes Kiyonaga a typical ukiyo-e artist, though he was also a great innovator.  Kiyonaga began the tradition of making prints featuring kabuki actors.  His style within these prints is called degatari-zu, “pictures featuring the accompaniment” because they also include musicians who complete the actors’ performance.  These prints include a great attention to detail, making the images seem truer to life, but did not go as far as to depict specific identifying features of the actors.

Torri Kiyonaga’s print at the Wriston Art Galleries is entitled, “Noble Lady Resting and Viewing Mt. Fuji with Two Female Attendants.”  The print is a modern woodblock print reproduction of the center sheet of a triptych. The whole composition shows a noble lady and a prince with attendants on an outing.  The scene included the lucky symbols of the first dream of the New Year.  The right-hand sheet depicts the prince holding a hawk, or taka; the left-hand sheet shows a maiden holding a potted eggplant, nasubi.  The triptych is a parody of the old saying "Ichi-Fuji ni-taka sannasubi" (Mt. Fuji is best, a hawk is second best and the eggplant is third best.)  The saying defines lucky New Year dreams.