Torii Kiyomitsu I
Japanese, 1735 - 1785
As titular head of the Torii family Kiyomitsu carried on the duties of producing actor prints, billboards, and playbills for the Edo theatres. In these works he followed the traditional style of the Torii school. He also illustrated books from about 1764 to 1780. Most of his single-sheet prints are two- and three-color prints published during the period of "benizuri-e" (from the late 1750s to the early 1770s). In the mid-1760s, however, he began to produce prints in four or more colors, some of which may even precede the full-color calendar prints of 1765. His artistic style is somewhat stiff and prosaic, for Kiyomitsu was no innovator. At his best, however, he produced some remarkably satisfying designs. His output was great, and he had many pupils.
Kiyomitsu is represented in the Michener Collection by several fine single sheets recording "kabuki" performances from the late 1750s to the early 1770s, as well as a few choice "mitate" designs.
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According to the studies of Inoue Kazuo, Torii Kiyomitsu was the son of Kiyomasu II. He became the titular head of the Torii school following the death of his father and was the third in the Torii line to be so honored with a nine-character posthumous name. Kiyomitsu's art in actor prints often tends to be rather routine and uninspired, but in other subjects where he was not bound by the already crystallized and stultifying traditions of the Torii, his work displays a dreamlike grace that compares very favorably with the art of Harunobu. Occasionally, however, he is able to produce a really fine actor print full of the same vigor that characterizes the earlier Torii at its best. Some of his late experiments in "benizuri-e" (3-block printing) are important to the development of full-color printing.
Research by: Howard A. Link.
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