Torii Kiyohiro

No other evidence of those dates are known. Kiyohiro's personal name was Shichinosuke (七之助). He lived in the Sakaimachi area of Edo (modern Tokyo) and was registered as a student of Torii Kiyomasu I and likely studied under Torii Kiyonobu II or Torii Kiyomasu II. Ernest Fenollosa considered him "of almost equal ability with" his contemporary Torii Kiyomitsu, and speculated they may have been brothers. Kiyohiro's first known work appeared about 1751, and the last about 1764. All of his known works are benizuri-e, and though the Torii school was known for its yakusha-e actor prints, Kiyohiro also specialized in bijin-ga prints of female beauties extending into some with erotic themes. Although his style closely follows that of Ishikawa Toyonobu, Kiyohiro's prints are highly regarded for their youthful vigour and power. The nudes produced by Kiyohiro and his contemporary Kiyomitsu are exceptional within the whole of Japanese art; both artists experimented briefly with the nude, though not so much to establish a lasting trend in pre-modern Japanese art as to use it as a means of subtle erotic suggestion rather than any glorification of the human form.He specialized in designing prints in the ōban size. Two of his major sponsors/printers were Sakai-ya of Hongoku-chō, and Hōsendō of Tōri Abura-chō, both in the close neighborhood of Ichimura and Nakamura kabuki theaters. • Illustration — Quarrel over a game of Shogi, Rijksmuseum • Illustration — Hashira-e, Brooklyn Museum • Illustration — Three Street Vendors • Illustration — Ichikawa Danjuro IV (l) and Nakamura Tomijuro I (r) • Illustration — Flower-like Lovers under a partially-closed Umbrella, Brooklyn Museum • Illustration — Sanogawa Ichimatsu (r) and Nakamura Tomijuro with an abacus (l). Rijksmuseum • Illustration — Nakamura Kiyosaburo as Omutsu collecting sea shells.

Torii Kiyohiro is recorded as printmaker, ukiyo-e artist, painter and illustrator.