Muko Ryogoku Aoyagi “The Restaurant Aoyagi before Ryogoku“ (向両国 青柳). Original color woodblock print from the series “Famous Restaurants of our Days“ (Tosei kaiseki zukushi 當世會席尽), published around 1820′s. Signed: Keisai Eisen ga. Publisher: Sanoya Kihei. Censor seal: Kiwame.
Eisens woodblock prints thematize both beautiful courtesans, and actors, landscapes, as well as erotic scenes, most in convincing quality. In Japan, Eisen is especially appreciated for his Bijin-ga and erotic prints. In Europa, on the other hand, collectors give the advantage to his rare, excellent landscapes depictions, which beside his own designs, were particularly created in collaboration with Hiroshige (Kisokaido). Also the blue pictures, so-called Aizuri-e, were supposedly conceived by Eisen.
OBAN, 38,1 x 25,7 CM
From a Viennese private collection