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

Tsukioka Kogyo's Nomori, from the series Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue), is a Meiji woodblock print dated 1893 and held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The print illustrates a scene from the noh play Nomori, in which a travelling priest encounters at a field in Yamato the spirit of a fearsome demon bound to a great mirror that reflects all the realms of existence. The play belongs to the fifth or demon category and culminates in the demon's exit through the earth, a moment of considerable theatrical force in performance. Kogyo's noh-e composition presents the demon in the patterned costume and red-haired mask of the role, holding the still posture of the climactic dance against the bare planks and painted pine of the noh stage. Kogyo had trained under Tsukioka Yoshitoshi in the strict figure drawing of the late [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) tradition, and his line work here shows that discipline applied to one of the more dramatic figures of the demon repertoire. The Nogaku Zue series, pursued across the 1890s, drew on direct observation of performances and on cooperation with the great schools then reconstructing the art under Meiji patronage. The carving renders the costume's complex patterns with patient detail, and the printing keeps the muted ground appropriate to performance documentation rather than the saturated colour of popular theatre prints. The Art Institute of Chicago catalogues this impression under the title and series given here.