Masataka, from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)"

Masataka is a Meiji woodblock print by Tsukioka Kogyo, published in 1893 in Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue). Kogyo, who trained first with Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and then with Ogata Gekko, devoted nearly his entire mature career to noh-e and is credited with establishing it as a recognized genre of Meiji woodblock art. This print follows the conventions of the series: a low ground line, sparse setting and emphatic focus on the costumed figure, faithful to the bare cedar stage of the noh theater. The keyblock outline preserves the silhouette of the robe and the disciplined posture of the figure, while overprinted brocade patterns and selective bokashi gradations build the textiles prized by Meiji-era patrons. A muted palette - earthy ochres, indigo and pale gold - anchors the figure without illusionistic landscape, allowing costume, mask and stance to remain the primary visual subjects. Kogyo's documentary precision came from his unusual access to performances at the Hosho and Kanze schools during the Meiji noh revival, when patrons including Iwakura Tomomi worked to rebuild the repertoire after the Restoration. Pictures of No Performances, issued by Matsuki Heikichi, was Kogyo's first dedicated noh series and the prelude to the monumental One Hundred No Dramas. Together they form the most ambitious printed record of late nineteenth-century noh and helped re-anchor the repertoire in the cultural life of modern Tokyo. The Art Institute of Chicago retains this impression among its substantial Kogyo holdings. Source: Art Institute of Chicago (https://www.artic.edu/artworks/154967).