Kiyochika: Tear-inducing Performance (Sold)

Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika
Title: Tear-inducing Performance
Series: Instructive Models of Lofty Ambition (Kyôdô risshiki no motoi)
Date: 1886

Young Nobleman Toyotomi Hideyasu, is Moved to Tears by the Performance of the Female Dancer Okuni. Here we have a backstage view of an audience that contains the the adopted son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a man not known for his moments of tenderness. In Japanese society a samurai was not supposed to flinch when beheading an enemy, but it was considered perfectly manly to be brought to tears at affecting demonstrations of the ideals of the warrior class. The expression on the performer herself, who was playing a samurai, seems to border on dismay. Kiyochika designed seventeen of fifty-two prints in this series.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: ôban
Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi
Seal: Artist’s seal
Signature: Kiyochika

SKU: KYC189