A Parody of the Tales of Ise
c. 1789/95
Medium
Color woodblock print; right sheet of oban triptych
Dimensions
36.2 × 23.7 cm (14 1/4 × 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
24089
Art Historical Context
Chôbunsai Eishi, a master of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") Japan's Edo period, created *A Parody of the of Ise* around 1789–95. This vibrant color woodblock print is the right sheet of anan triptych—a-format series designed to be viewed together, measuring about 36.2 × 23.7 cm per sheet. Eishi, renowned for his elegant depictions of courtesans and, infused his works with a refined lyricism, blending delicate lines and subtle colors achieved through the collaborative woodblock process: carvers shaped blocks for each hue, printers applied pigments, and artisans layered them for dept...
About the Artist
Chôbunsai Eishi · 1756–1829
Chôbunsai Eishi, born Hosoda Tokitomi in 1756 to a prosperous samurai family of the Fujiwara clan in Edo, inherited a substantial stipend of 500 koku of rice annually. His grandfather had served as the shogunate's Treasury Minister, and upon his father Hosoda Tokiyuki's death in 1772, Eishi became family head while holding a position in Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu's palace from 1781. Unusually for a uk...