Torii Kiyomasu I
Virtually nothing is known of the enigmatic Kiyomasu I, a contemporary of Torii Kiyonobu I who shares the same surname. Because the Torii family record speaks of only one Kiyomasu, some writers have argued that the surviving corpus of prints signed Kiyomasu is the work of one man. Others have detected differences in artistic personality between the earlier and later Kiyomasu prints and theorize that there were at least two artists using the Kiyomasu name.
The only clear documentation for assuming the existence of Kiyomasu I as distinct from Kiyomasu II is the art itself. Prints and illustrated books signed Kiyomasu appearing in the mid-1720s seem to be the work of an entirely different master of more limited artistic ability than the artist here called Kiyomasu I. Moreover, recent dating of the first Kiyomasu’s surviving prints (no signed and dated book illustration is known to be extant) suggests that this earlier master was possibly senior to Kiyonobu, the traditional founder of the Torii school. This second theory rests on the survival of five single-sheet prints signed Kiyomasu, their relationship to four dated books signed Kiyonobu, and two unsigned Torii style books dated 1697, 1701, and 1703-1704. The remaining two are dated on the basis of style to a time around 1705 (see Link, “Speculation”).
This body of evidence suggests that Kiyomasu was a mature active artist at a much earlier date (1697) than previously had been thought and that he was perhaps the first master to depict "aragoto" actors in a highly nervous and explosive style distinct from the calm, purely decorative style associated with the early book art of the first Kiyonobu. The dating of Kiyomasu’s prints to Kabuki plays beginning in 1697 makes it clear, moreover, that the first Kiyomasu could not have been Kiyonobu’s son as often has been argued. According to the "Torii ga Keifu Kö," Shöbei Kiyonobu did not marry until 1693.
Recorded information on Kiyomasu I is incredibly confused. It seems quite plausible, however, after studying early manuscripts of the "Ukiyo-e Ruikö," that the elusive Kiyomasu I and Kiyomasu II were totally unrelated to the Kiyomoto/ Kiyonobu branch of the Torii family and were, in fact, independent Torii artists working in Edo for the Kabuki theaters. The evidence of two independent tombstones, one for the Kiyonobu branch and the other for the Kiyomasu branch, offers considerable support for this opinion, although the chief artist of this second tombstone would appear to be Kiyomasu II if the accompanying dates are correct (see Inoue, UK 5, no.3).
Kiyomasu’s position in the Torii family, therefore, remains unclear. Until the discovery of some incontrovertible basic source directly linking Kiyomasu I with a member of this family, any identification must be approached with discretion. It is certain, nevertheless, that Kiyomasu was fully contemporary with Kiyonobu I, if not his senior, and together these early masters established a standard in the representation of Kabuki subject matter that was to influence ukiyo-e art throughout its long history.
The Michener Collection’s documentation on Kiyomasu I is excellent. Representing the master’s early explosive style is the superb print “Kintoki Wrestling with a Black Bear,” known in only one impression. From his later years (1710-1720s), marked by a calmer and more refined style, come a number of important prints. Included in the collection is a hosoban bijin study, four choice horizontal black-and-white öban sheets recording theatrical performances in 1715 and 1716, a highly explosive warrior subject recalling Kiyomasu’s earlier bombastic style, a bansuke (theater playbill) of 1715, and the exquisite portrait of the great onnagata actor Nakamura Senya (see Kiyomasu I, nos. 1-10).
Research by: Howard A. Link.
