Kitao Masayoshi
Kitao Masayoshi was an artist active from 1759 through 1790. His documented output includes prints, illustrated books, and paintings, typical of the late 18th-century artistic landscape.
Museum collections currently hold fifteen works attributed to the artist, comprising thirteen prints, one book, and one painting. These Kitao Masayoshi prints include pieces drawn from important sequential narratives, such as Act II (Nidanme) and Act III (Sandanme), which belong to the series Perspective Pictures of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Uki-e kanadehon Chushingura). Other notable works represented in collections include the book Imayo shokunin zukushi uta awase and the study Zeedieren. A single known Kitao Masayoshi painting is also preserved in international holdings.
The quality of his production is affirmed by the institutional placement of his work. These museum-quality pieces are represented in the permanent collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Art Institute of Chicago. As a historical artist, much of Masayoshi’s visual output resides within the public domain today, allowing for widespread study of his prints and contributions.
