About This Print
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 detail from this collection's print |
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Kiyochika’s earliest known print of an individual was a portrait of Saigō Takamori, published by Matsuki on October 5, 1877, just eleven days after the death of the popular leader of the Satsuma Rebellion. It is a wholly traditional print that shows Saigō seated in a chair, his face depicted in an imaginary conception made familiar in countless prints of the rebellion over the preceding months. It was not until February 1878 that Kiyochika turned to a completely new style in a memorial portrait of Kido Kōin, another important early Meiji leader, who had died of tuberculosis in May 1877. The portrait was framed in the oval shape frequently used for photographs at the time, and seems clearly to have been modeled after a surviving photograph of Kido.
Just ten days after the portrait of Kido, on February 15, 1878, Matsuki published a still more striking portrait by Kiyochika. Three Geisha: Kayo of Kyoto, Hitotsuru of Osaka, and Kokichi of Tokyo. The theme of “Beauties of the Three Capitals” (santo bijin) dated back over two centuries in ukiyo-e, but here Kiyochika has used the novel trick of overlapping eyes to combine all three into a single oval portrait. The source of this device is unclear, but Kiyochika has executed it skillfully, so that each face may be read separately. The photographic sense is emphasized by the printing in plain black and by the use of a net pattern in imitation of wood engraving, at that time the primary technique in the West for the mass reproduction of photographs.
It was probably later in 1878 that Kiyochika designed Portrait of the Late Home Minister, Lord Ōkubo Toshimichi, Awarded Senior Second Rank, Great Minister of the Right. Ōkubo was assassinated in May of that year, the last of the great early Meiji triumvirate after Kido and Saigō. The image of the bust is modeled after a photograph of Ōkubo taken in about 1870….
Although considerable care obviously went into the portrait of Ōkubo, it sold so poorly that Matsuki was forced to lower the price from 2.5 sen to 2 sen, and then to 1.8 sen – and even then had many left unsold.2
Portrait of the Late Home Minister, Lord Ōkubo Toshimichi, Awarded Senior Second Rank, Great Minister of the Right
A Short Bio of Kido Takayoshi
Statesman. Born in Yamaguchi, the son of a doctor serving in the Hagi Clan. He became a pupil of Shoin Yoshida. Later he learned swordsmanship and western military science in Edo. Opposed to the kobu gattai group (supporters of the union of the Imperial Court and the Shogunate), he worked tirelessly for the sonno joi undo (movement to revere the emperor and expel the barbarians). He held an important position in the clan and led the argument for the overthrow of the shogunate. In 1866, he concluded the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance with the Kagoshima Clan. After the coup d'etat of osei fukko (restoration of Imperial rule), he engaged in the drafting of the Charter Oath. Appointed san'yo (senior councillor), he poured his efforts into hanseki hokan (the return of the lands and people to the Emperor). He became sangi (councilor) in 1870. In 1871, he took part in Iwakura Mission as deputy envoy. Later, he held important posts including monbukyo (Education Minister), naimukyo (Home Miinister), chairman of the local official council, cabinet councilor, etc., while advocating the gradual establishment of constitutional government.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog |
#1208 |
| Title or Description | Portrait of Kido Takayoshi (With a transcript of the biographical sketch of Lord Kido Takayoshi from the Nichinichi Shinbun 木戸孝允公略傳日々新聞ヨリ録) |
| Series | |
| Artist | Kiyochika Kobayashi (1847-1915) |
| Signature |
 |
| Seal | none |
| Publication Date |
 This date seal is sometimes referred to as a "nengō" seal. |
| Publisher |
 |
| Carver |  Horikō Gin 彫工銀 |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | fair - soiling; paper loss along margins; wrinkling; tape remnants verso along top margin; not backed |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; nizura |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | oban |
| H x W Paper |
14 x 9 5/8 in. (35.6 x 24.4 cm) |
| Literature |
Kiyochika: Artist of Meiji Japan, Henry D. Smith II, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1988, p. 28-29 (described in text, but not pictured) |
| Collections This Print |
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