The other day a friend asked me if there were any examples of Noh theatre in Edo-era Ukiyo-e, as there are with Kabuki. I thought for a moment but was unable to think of any artists or sets where Noh was featured.
I did some more research this evening and realized that the reasoning behind this was two-fold:
While Noh was practiced before, and during, the Edo era it was predominantly an activity enjoyed by only the most aristocratic. This conflicted rather heavily with the Ukiyo-e medium as woodblock prints were predominantly a means for lay-people to acquire new pieces of art (and since they weren’t able to go to Noh performances they had little interest in seeing pictures of performers or plays). It wouldn’t surprise me learn if there were additional sumptuary laws preventing the explicit creation of prints that featured Noh theatre.
There only appears to be one Ukiyo-e artist that explicitly tackled the subject of Noh and that was Tsukioka Kōgyo – and he didn’t produce works until well into the Meiji and Taishō eras (late 1890s to mid 1920s).
Kōgyo created two series dedicated to Noh: One Hundred Noh Pictures (1897-1902) and One Hundred Noh Plays (1922-1926).
Looking through Kōgyo’s prints I quickly noticed two things: Their decidedly modern style and their similarity to Yoshitoshi’s prints. Reading more it became clear that this was more than just coincidence: Kōgyo was Yoshitoshi’s step-son.
Two Yoshitoshi pieces from his series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon jumped to mind when looking at some of Kōgyo’s work:
Admittedly the colors are much more vibrant (and the theme decidedly less Noh-centric) but the lines and spacing all indicate how clearly Yoshitoshi’s work inspired Kōgyo.
On the whole I think I find the use of empty space in the pieces done by Kōgyo to be the most interesting aspect of his work. Perhaps it’s due to the subject matter but the actors seem to lack any passion, making for some rather lifeless compositions. Even the costumes, which could be rather vibrant, seem to be dull and muted.
It’s a shame that this aspect of Japanese culture was relatively hidden from Ukiyo-e artists for so long. Perhaps with additional attention there could have been some interesting exploration done of the medium.
I hope to explore a copy of Hotei Publishing’s recent book on Kōgyo, entitled The Beauty of Silence, soon to see if it helps to change my opinion on his work.
Sources:
- http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=28769
- https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/K%C5%8Dgyo_Tsukioka
- http://web-kiosk.scrippscollege.edu/prt414?sid=12048&rec=1&page=414
- http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/
- http://www.artelino.com/articles/tsukioka_kogyo.asp
- http://www.artelino.com/articles/noh-plays.asp
