Chöbunsai Eishi
Eishi came from an important samurai family and was trained in the studio of the painter Kano Eisen-in. In the early 1780s, however, he resigned his official duties to pursue a career in ukiyo-e.
His first prints were designed in the style of Kitao Shigemasa and focused on the beautiful woman portrait. He soon began to work in the style of Kiyonaga, and later Utamaro, but added a degree of aristocracy to his studies that set his prints apart from other artists of the day. Although not an innovator (it is possible to date his work to three periods on the basis of the above influences), his beautiful woman portraits, in the words of Richard Lane, “inhabit a special world free of mundane thought and passions.”
He was quite prolific. His print series number at least 66 according to Eishi scholar, Klaus J. Brandt, and can be tentatively dated between 1786 and 1800. At least 21 books and albums have been catalogued by Brandt, ranging in date from 1785 to the 1810s.
According to Richard Lane, he turned to nikuhitsu painting in the latter part of his career because of a decline in the quality of prints being published. His art names include Chobunsai, Jibukyo, Tokitomi, Kuzaemon, and Yasaburo. (HAL)
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Eishi was a member of a high samurai family who began his art career as a Kanö artist before turning to the popular ukiyo-e style. It was in the early 1780s that he gave up his official duties as a Kanö painter and began to devote his attention to the depiction of beautiful women. His was not an original genius, but rather one in which he extended the styles of others in an elegant, even aristocratic manner. He first worked in the style of Shigemasa, then Kiyonaga, and finally Utamaro. In the latter half of his life he spent most of his time doing "carriage trade". He did paintings of great charm, although not all of his work is of prime importance.
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Of aristocratic origin, Eishi started his career as a Kanö painter but soon became attracted to ukiyo-e. His ukiyo-e work shows a distinction and restraint which are rather unusual and can probably be attributed to his classical background. His prints are not extremely rare and they are not all of prime importance. The finest and most distinctive of them, however, are among the loveliest in all of ukiyo-e.
Research by: Howard A. Link.
