
Biography
Tsukioka Gyokusei (1908-1994) was a Japanese painter and printmaker who carried forward the Tsukioka family legacy in woodblock art. She was the daughter of Tsukioka Kogyo and granddaughter by adoption of the great ukiyo-e master Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. After her father's death in 1927, Gyokusei completed his unfinished Fifty Kyogen Plays series, contributing 34 of the 50 designs. She went on to create her own acclaimed series of Noh theater prints published by Watanabe Shozaburo, establishing herself as a distinctive voice in shin-hanga.
Key Facts
- Active Period
- 1908–1994
- Nationality
- 🇯🇵Japan
- Movement
- Shin-hanga
- Works Indexed
- 36
Frequently Asked Questions
Tsukioka Gyokusei (1908-1994) was a Japanese painter and printmaker who carried forward the Tsukioka family legacy in woodblock art. She was the daughter of Tsukioka Kogyo and granddaughter by adoption of the great ukiyo-e master Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. After her father's death in 1927, Gyokusei completed his unfinished Fifty Kyogen Plays series, contributing 34 of the 50 designs. She went on to create her own acclaimed series of Noh theater prints published by Watanabe Shozaburo, establishing herself as a distinctive voice in shin-hanga.
Tsukioka Gyokusei was active from 1908 to 1994. They were associated with the Shin-hanga movement.
Tsukioka Gyokusei's work was shaped by the Shin-hanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Shin-hanga: ## What is Shin-hanga? Shin-hanga (新版画), literally "new prints," is the early twentieth-century revival of the collaborative Japanese woodblock workshop, organized between roughly 1915 and 1960 by the Tokyo publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885–1962) and a handful of competing houses.
Tsukioka Gyokusei's prints frequently feature kabuki, mythology, abstract, figures, night scenes, birds & flowers.
Original prints by Tsukioka Gyokusei can be found in collections including Art Institute of Chicago, ukiyo-e.org.
Series by Tsukioka Gyokusei
Woodblock Prints by Tsukioka Gyokusei (36)

Asau, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Nakiama, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Shido Hokaku, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Kakiyamabushi, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Busu, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Naizata, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Shuron, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Oni No Mamako, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Taue, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Futaridaimyo, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Onimaru, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Fukunokami, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Kaniyamabushi, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Dontaro, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Ishigami, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Fukitori, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Nagamitsu, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Chidori, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Konusubito, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Nurishi, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Naruko, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Ushinusubito, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Kanaoka, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

Title Page, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print