Torii Kiyohiro

Torii Kiyohiro (鳥居 清広, d. c. 1776) was a Japanese artist of the Torii school of ukiyo-e.

Kiyohiro's date of birth is unknown,^[1] while Ukiyo-e Ruikō lists his death date as 1776. No other evidence of those dates are known.^[2]

Kiyohiro's personal name was Shichinosuke (七之助). He lived in the Sakaimachi area of Edo (modern Tokyo) and was registered as a student of Torii Kiyomasu I and likely studied under Torii Kiyonobu II or Torii Kiyomasu II.^[2] Ernest Fenollosa considered him "of almost equal ability with" his contemporary Torii Kiyomitsu, and speculated they may have been brothers.^[3]

Kiyohiro's first known work appeared about 1751,^[4] and the last about 1764. All of his known works are benizuri-e, and though the Torii school was known for its yakusha-e actor prints, Kiyohiro also specialized in bijin-ga prints of female beauties extending into some with erotic themes.^[2] He specialized in designing prints in the ōban size.^[4] Two of his major sponsors/printers were Sakai-ya of Hongoku-chō, and Hōsendō of Tōri Abura-chō, both in the close neighborhood of Ichimura and Nakamura kabuki theaters.^[5]

• Works by Torii Kiyohiro
• 
  Quarrel over a game of Shogi ^[a], Rijksmuseum
• 
  Hashira-e^[b], Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Three Street Vendors^[c]
• 
  Ichikawa Danjuro IV (l) and Nakamura Tomijuro I (r)^[d]
• 
  Flower-like Lovers under a partially-closed Umbrella,^[e] Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Sanogawa Ichimatsu (r) and Nakamura Tomijuro with an abacus (l). Rijksmuseum^[f]
• 
  Nakamura Kiyosaburo as Omutsu collecting sea shells. ^[g]