Utsubosaru, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"

Utsubosaru, issued in 1922 in 'Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban),' depicts one of the most beloved kyogen plays, in which a daimyo demands that a passing trainer's pet monkey provide skin for his quiver, only to be moved to tears by the monkey's affecting performance. The play is famous for its emotional turn from cruelty to compassion and for the demanding child-actor or puppet role of the monkey itself. Tsukioka Kogyo (1869-1927) brings his usual noh-e discipline to the scene, isolating the figures against an open ground and rendering costume detail with the documentary care that defined his Meiji woodblock practice. The daimyo's quiver, the trainer's staff, and the small monkey at center are all positioned to convey the moment when emotion shifts the action. Kogyo had thirty years of theater observation behind him by 1922, and his draftsmanship registers the play's pivot without overstating it. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this impression. For collectors, Utsubosaru is one of the most narratively rich sheets in the Kyogen gojuban series and pairs well with other animal-centered kyogen subjects. The print also offers a useful counterpoint to the more stoic noh-e in Kogyo's output, showing the same artist applying his honed visual vocabulary to a play whose appeal rests on emotional warmth rather than ritual gravity.