Origin: JAPAN
Period: CA.1825
Price: $795 + shipping/handling
Stock Number: 6080
Description: RARE ORIGINAL KEISAI EISEN 'BIJINGA' WOODBLOCK PRINT, CA.1825. PUBLISHED BY: KAWAGUCHIYA UHEI. SIGNED KEISAI EISEN. Dimensions: approx. 14.5" tall by 9.25" wide.Print Description
This beautiful original Eisen print depicts a courtesan in her toilette. The surimono (private) print depiction is sensual and quite racy, (notice her open kimono), for the time period printed. Eisen works has dramatic flare with his realism and sensuality. Notice Eisens vivid use of red, lavender, aqua and yellow. The print is in Very Fine condition with strong colors, good bleed through and fine registration. No paper loss, some age-warmed toning and only slight and minor repairs to a few margin creases/cracks (see enlargements). A truly rare find! Artist History
Keisai Eisen (1790 - 1848) Eisen was born in Edo into the Ikeda family, the son of a Kanō-school painter. The Kano family has a long history of painting for the shogunate. Eisen studied with Kanō Hakkeisai, from whom he took the name Keisai, and later with Kikugawa Eizan. Eisen was one of several writers and artists who edited and expanded upon the 'Ukiyo-e ruiko' ("History of Prints of the Floating World"), the most informative 18th-19th century source of information on the lives of ukiyo-e artists. Eisen's version (circa 1833) was called the 'Zoku ukiyo-e ruikō' ("Supplement to the History of Prints of the Floating World"), known also as the 'Mumeiō zuihitsu' (Essays by a Nameless Old Man). He described himself as a hard-drinking, rather dissolute artist. Eisen designed a number of excellent 'surimono' (privately issued prints) and erotic prints, as well as some fine landscapes. Among the latter, his contributions to the series "Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō Road" ('Kisokaidō rokūjūkyū tsugi') in the 1830s is most often encountered (Eisen began the series, which was completed by Utagawa Hiroshige). Nevertheless, he is best known for his portrayals of women. By the 1820s Eisen had established himself as an important designer of 'bijinga' ("pictures of beautiful women"). These portraits of beauties and courtesans are much admired for their pronounced elements of realism and sensuality. Throughout this period he also produced large numbers of full-length portraits, many involving women of the Yoshiwara.
Condition: VERY GOOD |
