Eisen | Uki-e of Nihonbashi Market
溪齋英泉 Keisai Eisen（1790-1848）
新版浮绘江户日本桥市中之图
Uki-e of Nihonbashi Market
Early 19C
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 26cm x 38cm
Woodblock-print | Oban-yoke-e | 26cm x 38cm
早期版本和版次；颜色鲜艳；整体品相完好，正面边缘和背面有轻微脏痕；非常罕见
Fine edition, impression and color; minor soiling, mostly margins, front and verso, otherwise good condition. Very Rare.
Nihonbashi was not and is not the largest bridge in Edo-Tokyo, but in many ways it was the center of all things. This was a thriving market area in Edo times, featuring rows of fishmonger stands that were the precursor of today’s Tsukiji fish market, and Japan’s first department store, Mitsukoshi.
It was also the starting point of the Tokaido and Kiso Kido highways, and the point by which all distances to Edo were measured. Still is. So it’s no surprise that it was a favorite of Ukiyoe artists like Hokusai, Hiroshige and, here, Eisen.
The bridge and the surrounding riverbanks were alive with energy and excitement. Throngs pressed to get across the elegantly curved wooden span. Shoppers haggled with merchants. The cries of vendors filled the air. Giving us a bird’s-eye view, Eisen and his contemporaries allowed us to see beyond this roiling beehive of activity to the rooftops and fire towers of Edo, the Imperial Palace and, off in the distance, Mount Fuji. It’s so full of life that all those little Edo-ites seem ready to jump off the paper.
This early design by Eisen has remarkably strong yellows, reds and greens and pre-dates some of Hokusai and Hiroshige’s views. “Uki-e” means “perspective print” and It provides a fascinating example of a Japanese print designer wrestling with Western perspective. We can see it in the diminishing size of the buildings. This genre took hold relatively early in the history of Japanese woodblock prints. Interestingly, scholars believe Japanese artists were copying Chinese experiments with perspective drawing.
Today Nihonbashi is a stone bridge built at the beginning of the 20th Century, one which, remarkably, survived the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Hasui continued the woodblock print tradition of depicting it. But it feels a bit forlorn. It is under an elevated highway. No view of Fuji here.
日本桥，狭义指东京都中央区的一座桥梁，广义指此桥周边地域，范围约为今东京都中央区北部。自江户时代起，此地就是东海道、中山道、日光街道、奥州街道与甲州街道这五条陆上干道的共同起点，人口众多，商业繁荣，堪称江户城乃至全日本的CBD。
日本桥的繁华怎么也阅不尽，一代代的画家们却总是想在有限的画纸上填入更多。于是乎，特用以描绘人物众多，场景宏大的“浮绘”技法诞生了。此法引用了西洋绘画中的立体透视，常需借助一个用两片呈45度夹角的凸透镜构成的装置来观赏，可使观者颇具身临其境之感。
浮世万千，尽“浮”眼前，前景中，日本桥的熙攘人群与桥头小店被放大到近在眼前的比例，贩夫走卒，交谈观景，光是数十个桥上的漫画人物群像就足够观者细细看上一刻。拉远视线，略成俯视的构图同时将日本川外的一石桥、钱瓶桥乃至富士山尽收画内，直接将画面边界延伸至数十公里外，足以远眺尽江户胜景。一幅好似在古早VR眼镜中看到的微缩世界，在穿越二百年岁月流转后依然鲜活，并且，还将在往后的日子里变得愈发珍贵。
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
溪齋英泉 Keisai Eisen（1790-1848）
新版浮绘江户日本桥市中之图
Uki-e of Nihonbashi Market
Early 19C
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 26cm x 38cm
Woodblock-print | Oban-yoke-e | 26cm x 38cm
早期版本和版次；颜色鲜艳；整体品相完好，正面边缘和背面有轻微脏痕；非常罕见
Fine edition, impression and color; minor soiling, mostly margins, front and verso, otherwise good condition. Very Rare.
Nihonbashi was not and is not the largest bridge in Edo-Tokyo, but in many ways it was the center of all things. This was a thriving market area in Edo times, featuring rows of fishmonger stands that were the precursor of today’s Tsukiji fish market, and Japan’s first department store, Mitsukoshi.
It was also the starting point of the Tokaido and Kiso Kido highways, and the point by which all distances to Edo were measured. Still is. So it’s no surprise that it was a favorite of Ukiyoe artists like Hokusai, Hiroshige and, here, Eisen.
The bridge and the surrounding riverbanks were alive with energy and excitement. Throngs pressed to get across the elegantly curved wooden span. Shoppers haggled with merchants. The cries of vendors filled the air. Giving us a bird’s-eye view, Eisen and his contemporaries allowed us to see beyond this roiling beehive of activity to the rooftops and fire towers of Edo, the Imperial Palace and, off in the distance, Mount Fuji. It’s so full of life that all those little Edo-ites seem ready to jump off the paper.
This early design by Eisen has remarkably strong yellows, reds and greens and pre-dates some of Hokusai and Hiroshige’s views. “Uki-e” means “perspective print” and It provides a fascinating example of a Japanese print designer wrestling with Western perspective. We can see it in the diminishing size of the buildings. This genre took hold relatively early in the history of Japanese woodblock prints. Interestingly, scholars believe Japanese artists were copying Chinese experiments with perspective drawing.
Today Nihonbashi is a stone bridge built at the beginning of the 20th Century, one which, remarkably, survived the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Hasui continued the woodblock print tradition of depicting it. But it feels a bit forlorn. It is under an elevated highway. No view of Fuji here.
日本桥，狭义指东京都中央区的一座桥梁，广义指此桥周边地域，范围约为今东京都中央区北部。自江户时代起，此地就是东海道、中山道、日光街道、奥州街道与甲州街道这五条陆上干道的共同起点，人口众多，商业繁荣，堪称江户城乃至全日本的CBD。
日本桥的繁华怎么也阅不尽，一代代的画家们却总是想在有限的画纸上填入更多。于是乎，特用以描绘人物众多，场景宏大的“浮绘”技法诞生了。此法引用了西洋绘画中的立体透视，常需借助一个用两片呈45度夹角的凸透镜构成的装置来观赏，可使观者颇具身临其境之感。
浮世万千，尽“浮”眼前，前景中，日本桥的熙攘人群与桥头小店被放大到近在眼前的比例，贩夫走卒，交谈观景，光是数十个桥上的漫画人物群像就足够观者细细看上一刻。拉远视线，略成俯视的构图同时将日本川外的一石桥、钱瓶桥乃至富士山尽收画内，直接将画面边界延伸至数十公里外，足以远眺尽江户胜景。一幅好似在古早VR眼镜中看到的微缩世界，在穿越二百年岁月流转后依然鲜活，并且，还将在往后的日子里变得愈发珍贵。
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
溪齋英泉 Keisai Eisen（1790-1848）
新版浮绘江户日本桥市中之图
Uki-e of Nihonbashi Market
Early 19C
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 26cm x 38cm
Woodblock-print | Oban-yoke-e | 26cm x 38cm
早期版本和版次；颜色鲜艳；整体品相完好，正面边缘和背面有轻微脏痕；非常罕见
Fine edition, impression and color; minor soiling, mostly margins, front and verso, otherwise good condition. Very Rare.
Nihonbashi was not and is not the largest bridge in Edo-Tokyo, but in many ways it was the center of all things. This was a thriving market area in Edo times, featuring rows of fishmonger stands that were the precursor of today’s Tsukiji fish market, and Japan’s first department store, Mitsukoshi.
It was also the starting point of the Tokaido and Kiso Kido highways, and the point by which all distances to Edo were measured. Still is. So it’s no surprise that it was a favorite of Ukiyoe artists like Hokusai, Hiroshige and, here, Eisen.
The bridge and the surrounding riverbanks were alive with energy and excitement. Throngs pressed to get across the elegantly curved wooden span. Shoppers haggled with merchants. The cries of vendors filled the air. Giving us a bird’s-eye view, Eisen and his contemporaries allowed us to see beyond this roiling beehive of activity to the rooftops and fire towers of Edo, the Imperial Palace and, off in the distance, Mount Fuji. It’s so full of life that all those little Edo-ites seem ready to jump off the paper.
This early design by Eisen has remarkably strong yellows, reds and greens and pre-dates some of Hokusai and Hiroshige’s views. “Uki-e” means “perspective print” and It provides a fascinating example of a Japanese print designer wrestling with Western perspective. We can see it in the diminishing size of the buildings. This genre took hold relatively early in the history of Japanese woodblock prints. Interestingly, scholars believe Japanese artists were copying Chinese experiments with perspective drawing.
Today Nihonbashi is a stone bridge built at the beginning of the 20th Century, one which, remarkably, survived the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Hasui continued the woodblock print tradition of depicting it. But it feels a bit forlorn. It is under an elevated highway. No view of Fuji here.
日本桥，狭义指东京都中央区的一座桥梁，广义指此桥周边地域，范围约为今东京都中央区北部。自江户时代起，此地就是东海道、中山道、日光街道、奥州街道与甲州街道这五条陆上干道的共同起点，人口众多，商业繁荣，堪称江户城乃至全日本的CBD。
日本桥的繁华怎么也阅不尽，一代代的画家们却总是想在有限的画纸上填入更多。于是乎，特用以描绘人物众多，场景宏大的“浮绘”技法诞生了。此法引用了西洋绘画中的立体透视，常需借助一个用两片呈45度夹角的凸透镜构成的装置来观赏，可使观者颇具身临其境之感。
浮世万千，尽“浮”眼前，前景中，日本桥的熙攘人群与桥头小店被放大到近在眼前的比例，贩夫走卒，交谈观景，光是数十个桥上的漫画人物群像就足够观者细细看上一刻。拉远视线，略成俯视的构图同时将日本川外的一石桥、钱瓶桥乃至富士山尽收画内，直接将画面边界延伸至数十公里外，足以远眺尽江户胜景。一幅好似在古早VR眼镜中看到的微缩世界，在穿越二百年岁月流转后依然鲜活，并且，还将在往后的日子里变得愈发珍贵。
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
Keisai Eisen (1790–1848)
Keisai Eisen was born in Edo into the Ikeda family, the son of a noted calligrapher. He was apprenticed to Kanō Hakkeisai, from whom he took the name Keisai, and after the death of his father he studied under Kikugawa Eizan. His initial works reflected the influence of his mentor, but he soon developed his own style.
He produced a number of surimono (prints that were privately issued), erotic prints, and landscapes, including The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō, which he started and which was completed by Hiroshige. Eisen is most renowned for his bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) which portrayed the subjects as more worldly than those depicted by earlier artists, replacing their grace and elegance with a less studied sensuality. He produced many portraits and full-length studies depicting the fashions of the time.