Hitomoto of the Daimonjiya

Yesterday we presented a beautiful van Gogh painting which was a copy of a Japanese print created by Keisai Eisen. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the exact print in a proper resolution so I decided to present another "bijinga" (pictures of beautiful women). Eisen's best works, particularly his okubi-e ("large-head pictures"), are now considered masterpieces of the Bunsei Period (1818-1830). 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 depicted women in the Yoshiwara red light district of Tokyo. In addition to producing a prolific number of prints, Eisen was a writer, producing biographies of the 47 Ronin. In addition, he wrote several books, including a continuation of the Ukiyo-e Ruiko (History of Prints of the Floating World), a book which documented the lives of the ukiyo-e artists. His supplement is known as "Notes of a Nameless Old Man," in which he described himself as a dissolute hard-drinker and claimed to have owned a brothel in Nezu in the 1830s which subsequently burnt down. The print on the top-right depicts the courtesan Hitomoto of the famous Daimonjiya brothel. Hitomoto had been often depicted by Eisen and other Japanese masters, like Utamaro I.