Information
Date : c. 1837
Size : O-ban
Impression : Very good
Condition : Good
Detail : Restored small wormholes
Hoeidō, the publisher that found success with the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, planned the publication of the Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō in Tenpō 6 (1835). Eisen created the prints up to the 11th station, Honjō-juku, after which Hiroshige joined the project. The publishing rights also shifted to the firm Kinjudō, and the entire series took six years to complete.
Eisen contributed only 24 of the total 71 prints in the series. Furthermore, in later printings following the first edition, Eisen’s signature was removed from his works.
Eisen initially painted graceful and delicate portraits of women in the style of his teacher, Eizan. However, he later became famous for his distinctive and sensual artistic style.
His paintings are characterized by a six-headed, long-torsos, and slightly hunchbacked female figure, embodying a refracted emotion. Eisen portrayed courtesans from red-light districts like Fukagawa and the Yoshiwara as women with a seductive allure and strong, resolute gazes.
His work symbolically captured the decadent aesthetic of the late Edo period, particularly during the Bunka and Bunsei eras, and reflected the turbulent social atmosphere of the time with a bold and idiosyncratic style.