Eizan | Twilight Snow at Mount Hira, Fashionable Beauties for the Eight Views of Omi
菊川英山 Kikukawa Eizan（1787-1867）
风流美人近江八景 比良暮雪
Twilight Snow at Mount Hira, from the series Fashionable Beauties for the Eight Views of Omi
1814-17
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 36.6cm x 25.4cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 36.6cm x 25.4cm
早中期版次；品相非常好
Early-middle impression; very good condition
$5,500
《风流美人近江八景》，是浮世绘画家菊川英山于文化11年至14年（1814-1817）创作的一个大判锦绘风景美人画系列，为其生涯代表作之一。受中国潇湘八景这一传统题材的影响，日本也有许多各地自评的“八景”，如最知名的近江八景。此八景依然沿用着潇湘八景的胜景名称（夜雨、落雁、晚钟、晴岚、暮雪、夕照、秋月、归帆），只是冠以了近江国（今滋贺县）本土化的地名。如本作名中的“比良暮雪”，便是化用了潇湘八景中的“江天暮雪”。比良山脉，位于滋贺县琵琶湖西岸，南北长约20公里，最高峰为海拔1214.4米的武奈岳。受日本海侧气候影响，每当冬季的朔风席卷了比良山脉，丰厚的积雪就会让人迅速沉浸在一片银白之中，著名的“比良暮雪”也便因此诞生。在雪景之外，一位衔着爪杨枝的美丽少女正提着衣摆，微露玉足，回眸而望。古早蒙太奇般的手法将美景与美人融为一体，无限风光，无限风流。本作历经二百余年沧桑变迁，依旧纸面硬挺，色泽鲜活，摺印清晰可见，品相上乘，值得庋藏。
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Kikukawa Eizan (1787-1867)
Kikugawa Eizan can be considered the true heir to Utamaro, even if he never studied with that legendary master of beauties.
But history records he was deeply enamored of Utamaro’s work, and when Utamaro died, it was Eizan, and not one of Utamaro’s students, who truly filled the void. His bijin-ga prints paid hommage to the master’s style, especially their poses, but their narrow faces and slim bodies were perfected by Eizan. The kimonos in which he dressed his women were often quite intricate, as were their hairstyles, with both providing fascinating and useful glimpses of the styles in the ever-stylish Edo of the time.
Eizan was born to a painter, and in the end of his life it was apparently painting that warmed his passion most. He abruptly stopped designing prints around 1830, when he was 43, but kept painting for the rest of his life. He died at 81 in 1867.