Ukiyo-e painters: The Art of Eishi

Chōbunsai Eishi (1756–1829) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. His last name was Hosoda. His first name was Tokitomi. His common name was Taminosuke and later Yasaburo. Pupil of Kano Eisen'in Michinobu. Born as the first son of direct vassal of the Shogunate, a well-off samurai family that was part of the Fujiwara clan. Eishi was a vassal of the Shogunate with a generous stipend of 500 'koku' (90,000 litres) of rice. Eishi left his employ with the Shōgun Ieharu to pursue art. His early works were prints, mostly Bijin-ga portraits of tall, thin, graceful beauties in the original style established by himself akin to Kiyonaga and Utamaro. He established his own school and was a rival to Utamaro. He was a prolific painter, and from 1801 gave up print designing to devote himself to painting.