The love story of O-yuri and Ohara Iori (no title)

This early sumizuri-e (black-ink woodblock print) page comes from an illustrated woodblock-printed book depicting the romantic tale of O-yuri and Ohara Iori, a subject drawn from the popular literature and theatrical retellings circulating in late seventeenth-century Edo. The print exemplifies the format in which Torii Kiyomasu I and his contemporaries worked at the outset of their careers: book illustration in pure black ink, before hand-coloring became widespread. The composition relies entirely on linear contour to convey figure, costume, and setting, with bold, confident outlines and patterned textiles that reflect the emerging Torii school style. As a documentary survival from the formative years of the ukiyo-e tradition, this work shows the printmaking idiom from which Kiyomasu I would develop his later large-format actor prints and theatrical posters. The print is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and is dated to circa 1696.