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

Tsukioka Kogyo's 1893 print "Yokihime," from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)," depicts the spirit of Yang Guifei, the historical Tang dynasty consort whose beauty and tragic end inspired centuries of East Asian literature. In the noh play, a Taoist sorcerer journeys to a celestial realm to seek the dead consort on behalf of the grieving Tang emperor, and the shite appears as Yokihime, lingering in melancholy splendor among the immortals. Kogyo renders the moment with the careful attention to costume and ornament that distinguishes his noh-e: layered robes patterned with Chinese-style motifs, a hairpiece weighted with ornaments, and the static, frontal posture characteristic of the female shite. As a Meiji woodblock, the sheet relies on patient line work and softly applied color rather than bold dramatic effects, conveying the play's contemplative, elegiac tone. "Nogaku Zue" was published by Daikokuya Matsuki Heikichi as part of a broader Meiji-era effort to document the noh repertoire in print, and the Art Institute of Chicago preserves this impression alongside the other Yokihime designs Kogyo produced during his career. Because the play occupies the third category of noh, devoted to refined female shite, the print exemplifies the iconography of that category, including the specific mask types used and the conventions of ornament and pose. For collectors and students of noh-e, "Yokihime" offers a model of how Tsukioka Kogyo aligned his woodblock practice with the visual codes of the stage.