Original woodblock print - From the series 'Nōga taikan' - ca 1925 - Tsukioka Kōgyo 月岡耕漁 (1869-1927) - Japan

Tsukioka Kōgyo 月岡耕漁 (1869-1927)

Kōgyo was born the year after the beginning of the Meiji restoration, which brought Japan into the modern Western world. While this was to be a period of great political and social upheaval in Japanese society, Kōgyo's work was largely focused on the traditional, the theater of Noh. In his lifetime he created over 550 prints, in three major print series, documenting Noh performances, with particular focus on the costumes and poses of the actors. These prints were widely distributed, many appearing in magazines, books and posters.1

At the age of fifteen he apprenticed with the great woodblock artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), who had married his mother. His interest in Noh was likely sparked by Yoshitoshi, who had a "lifelong fascination with Noh."2 After Yoshitoshi's death, he went on to study with the painter and woodblock artist Ogata Gekkō (1859-1920), who likely was instrumental in the development of Kōgyo's watercolor-like, painterly style and his synthesis of Western and traditional Japanese artistic styles.

The Noh prints created by Kōgyo serve as "an artistically elegant and beautiful record of this theatrical genre's customs and performances"3 that "stand in their own right as works of art."4

Noh Print Series
Sources: The Prints of Tsukioka Kogyo, a brochure from the exhibition of the same name held at the Frick Art Museum February 3 - April 7, 2007 and as footnoted.

Kōgyo created three major series of prints related to the Noh theater, all published by Matsuki Heikichi 松木平吉, proprietor of Daikokuya 大黒屋.

The first series, begun in 1897 and completed in 1902, Nōgakuzue (Illustrations of Noh), consists of 261 prints all in the horizontal oban format. The second series, Nōgaku hyakuban (One Hundred Prints of the Noh), consists of 120 prints, almost all in the vertical oban format. The last series, Nōga taikan (A Great Collection of Noh Pictures), featuring 200 prints, was completed by his student Matsuno Sōfū (1899-1963) after Kogyo's death in 1927 and are all in the horizontal oban format.

This second series of prints consists of 120 prints derived from 100 plays. Fourteen diptych and three triptych prints were included in this series. These prints are quite different from those in the first series. The principal actor is nearly always the focus of the composition and all the prints are in vertical rather than horizontal oban format. "The backgrounds often contain rich gradations of color, or dramatic, painterly suggestions of a setting. The monumentality of the figure creates a powerful, authoritative tone."

Third Series (1925-1930) - Nōga taikan 能画大鑑 (Encyclopedia of Noh Plays)

Kōgyo's last series completed after his death consists of 200 prints, 24 of which were made by his student Matsuno Sōfū (1899-1963). The prints in this series tend to be further simplified, with the isolation of the figure less expressive.1

The prints were organized into five volumes (examples of which are shown below) and each print had an interleaved sheet with descriptive information2. The twenty four prints designed by Matsuno were published as part of volume 13 on January 25, 1930.

Artist Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927)
Signature Kōgyo
Seal Kōgyo seal
Date originally July 5, 1925
Publisher Seibi Shoten (or Seibi Shoin), Tokyo
Carver Uchida Eikichi
Printer Yoshida Takesaburō

The artwork is coming with a profesional frame and it will be shipped with international tracking number and insured service.