Kikugawa Eizan

Kikugawa Eizan was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist best known for pictures of beautiful women, called bijin-ga. His figures are graceful and lightly coloured, with elegant flowing lines, and he is seen as one of the finest followers of Kitagawa Utamaro.

He was born in 1787 and learned painting from his father, a Kanō school painter, and from Suzuki Nanrei. His style changed over time, with faces becoming fuller and more angular as fashion shifted. He was very active in the early nineteenth century and later turned to painting. He died in 1867.

At the Dressing Table and Beauty on Parade show his typical subjects: fashionable women, patterned kimonos and quiet domestic moments.