#1, Boy Paying Formal Calls at New Year, Torii Kiyonaga

Artwork Overview

Torii Kiyonaga, #1, Boy Paying Formal Calls at New Year
Torii Kiyonaga, #1, Boy Paying Formal Calls at New Year
Torii Kiyonaga
#1, Boy Paying Formal Calls at New Year
circa 1770s, Edo period (1600–1868)
Torii Kiyonaga
1752–1815
#1, Boy Paying Formal Calls at New Year, circa 1770s, Edo period (1600–1868)
Portfolio/Series title: Fūzoku Jūnitsui (Twelve Common Understandings)
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: color woodcut
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 229 x 170 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 1/2 x 6 11/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 233 x 170 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 9 1/2 x 6 11/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in
Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial
Accession number: 1928.7504
Not on display
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Label texts

Archive Label 2003:
Kiyonaga was the fourth head of the Torii school, one of the most important traditions of print artists who produced billboards, programs, illustrated books, and actor prints for the kabuki stage. Although Kiyonaga also produced prints related to kabuki, he is most famous for his prints of tall, statuesque women, a style he developed in his later period. His earlier figural style, however, is reminiscent of Harunobu. This can be seen in the slender, elegant figures with rounded faces of the present print.

The subject of this print is readily apparent once the seasonal imagery has been recognized. The gifts and cards displayed in the lower right corner are exchanged on the New Year. Pine imagery and spring plants also represent the new year. Small pine shoots can be seen next to the New Year’s gifts and the young plants, called warabi, are found depicted in white on the black ground of one of the young women’s kimono.