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New Photography
Soga Gorō Sharpening His Arrow
New Photography

Soga Gorō Sharpening His Arrow

Artist (Japanese, 1875 – 1941)
Date1899
PeriodMeiji period (1868–1912)
MediumTwo-panel folding screen; ink, colors, and metallic pigments on paper
DimensionsOverall (Open): 51 7/16 × 55 1/2 × 9/16 in. (130.6 × 141 × 1.5 cm)
Overall (Closed): 51 7/16 × 28 × 1 3/8 in. (130.6 × 71.1 × 3.5 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Gerald Hill, 2018
Object numberSN11626
This painting depicts an actor in the role of Soga Gorō from a dramatization of the story of the Soga brothers, an incident first recounted in the medieval revenge epic Soga monogatari. The story was popularized on the kabuki stage; this episode, in which the younger of the two Soga brothers sharpens his arrows, is taken from a short, dramatic dance. The artist, Torii Kiyotada IV, was the seventh head of the Torii family that dominated the genre of actor portraits from the 18th century. While best known for his print designs, he also painted, but large-format works such as this screen are rare today. Recent conservation treatment of this screen was supported by Sylvia Barber and the Peck Stacpoole Foundation.
On View
Not on view
Soga Gorō Sharpening his Arrow
Torii Kiyotada IV
c. 1920
Image from Deco Japan Catalog
Enomoto Chikatoshi
c. 1936–40
Birds and Flowers
c. 1880–1910
Beauty
Torii Kiyotada I
Late 18th–early 19th century
Screen (Katsura Palace)
Saitō Kiyoshi
1957 or earlier
Scenes from the Tale of Genji
Late 17th–early 18th century
Scenes from the Tale of Genji
Late 17th–early 18th century
Books and Scholars' Possessions
late 19th or early 20th century