Artist of the week
A face, a carp and quiet still lifes
Keisai Eisen
Keisai Eisen, an Edo printmaker, from about 1812 to the 1840s. A woman’s face fills one print, tilted close, tortoiseshell pins fanned out in her black hair, a red robe with white dots at her neck. A dark carp swims down through turquoise water, and snowy roofs, pines and a shrine gate stand by the water, all in blue. Then surimono, prints issued privately with poems: a stone marked with a sun, a moon and stars, a little pine above a koto, a pink bookcase stacked with blue books.
As a puzzle
Start where the colour is strongest: the dark carp on its turquoise water, the black hair and red robe of the woman, the orange brocade, the red cup, the blue books. The surimono are slow: much of each is pale paper with lines of poems in thin black script, so build the objects first and leave the text for last. The winter scene is blue and cream alone, its sky and water nearly one colour. Keep the count moderate.
A good size here: 40–150 pieces.
Also filed under Ukiyo-e
Subjects here: Still LifeAnimalsLandscapesWinterNightPortraitsBooksMusic and Dance
7 pictures, pick one to build
