Torii Kiyomoto
Torii Torii Kiyomoto (1645–1702) was a kabuki actor from Osaka and painter of billboards and other kabuki advertisements; the founder of the Torii school of artists, he painted in an early form of what came to be known as the ukiyo-e style. Onstage, he went by the name Torii Shōshichi.
Torii Kiyomoto
- Born
- 1645.
- Died
- 1702.
- Nationality
- Japan.
- Occupation
- painter, printmaker and ukiyo-e artist.
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In this article
Acting
Acting
Moving to Edo in 1687 with his son Shōbei, he made his home very close to the entertainment district. He was unsuccessful onstage, like many other Osaka actors who tried to adapt to the Edo acting styles and audience preferences, so he turned to focus exclusively on painting advertisements and billboards for the kabuki theater. In 1690, Kiyomoto produced the first poster for the Ichimura-za theatre, originating a professional kabuki poster style that his son would go on to refine, and which remained popular for several decades.
Painting
Painting
Soon eclipsed by Shōbei, who took the name Torii Kiyonobu in his artistic career, the pair established a school of painting which strongly influenced that of the emerging ukiyo-e, and which monopolized the painting of kabuki signboards through the Edo period and into the 20th century. Like his father, Kiyonobu was himself a kabuki actor who specialised in onnagata roles. None of his work is known to survive today.
Further readings
Further readings
• Hickman, Money (1993). Enduring Alliance: The Torii Line of Ukiyo-e Artists and Their Work for the Kabuki Theatre. Fenway Court, 1992. Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. • Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press.; OCLC 5246796
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1645
Torii Kiyomoto born.
1702
Torii Kiyomoto died.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Torii Kiyomoto, revision 1371939397 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Milone, Marco. Ukiyo-e. L'Erudita. 121. 2022. 9788867707270.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Prints
4,138 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Tony JohannotEngraver
- Tony RosenthalEngraver
- Toomas AltnurmeEngraver
- Tore StrindbergEngraver
- Torii KotondoEngraver
- Tōshi YoshidaEngraver
- Tracey EminEngraver
- Trần Văn CẩnEngraver
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