Torii Kiyosada
Torii Kiyosada 鳥居清貞 (1844-1901)
BIOGRAPHY
Sources: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists: Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Prints, Lacquer, Laurance P. Roberts, Weatherhill, 1976, p. 183 and "Enduring Alliance: The Torii Line of Ukiyo-e Artists and Their Work for the Kabuki Theater," Money L. Hickman appearing in Fenway Court1992, Trustees of the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum, 1993.Torii Kiyosada was the eldest son of Torii Kiyomitsu II (1787-1868) and became the sixth generation in the Torii line upon his father's death. He was a pupil of Torii Kiyomine (1787–1869) and Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1862). Kiyosada was closely connected with the Kabuki world as the manager of the Hisamatsu-za, one of the main Tokyo kabuki theaters.
His name was originally Watanabe 渡辺, then Saitō 斎藤. Upon his father's death, he took the name Kiyomitsu 清満 III. Other names associated with the artist are Chōhachi 鳥居長八 and Matsujirō 松次郎. His only known gō (artist name) is Kiyosada 清貞.
His son was Torii Kiyotada VII (1875-1941) with whom he co-designed a series of prints titled The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki jūhachiban) issued 1895-1896.
Artist's Seals and Signatures
Torii Kiyosada ga 鳥居清貞画 followed by 画楽 Chōhō seal
Torii Kiyosada ga 鳥居清貞画 with Kiyosada 清貞 seal
Torii Kiyosada hitsu 鳥居清貞筆 with Kiyosada 清貞 seal
Torii Kiyosada hitsu 鳥居清貞筆
last revision:
12/21/2023
Prints in Collection
click on thumbnail for print details
Prints from the series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban)
IHL Cat. #1272
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as
Fuwa Banzaemon
in the play Fuwa, 1896
IHL Cat. #805
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as
Narukami Shōnin
in the play Narukami, 1896
IHL Cat. #991
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Teruhi no Miko in the play Uwanari, 1896
IHL Cat. #1510
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as
Kazusa Akushichibei
in the play Kagekiyo, 1895
IHL Cat. #722
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as
Hanakawa Toagemaki no Sukeroku
in the play Sukeroku, 1896
IHL Cat. #471
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as
Suhama Sōzu
in the play Jayanagi, 1896
IHL Cat. #992
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as
Musashibō Benkei
in the play Kanjinchō, 1896
IHL Cat. #1255
Saruwaka Kyōgen from the series
Annual Events of the Edo Theater, 1897
IHL Cat. #2015