Updated October 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 13 works by Keisai Eisen in our catalogue
In short
Woman with a Veil (1790) is the Keisai Eisen painting that draws the most eyes; the original belongs to the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. After it, the eye goes to Courtesan (1834) and The Feast of Seven Herbs (Imayo musume nanakusa) - YT - (3037). Among the 13 works of Keisai Eisen in our catalog, these 13 are the most famous, each a unique original presented with its year, its museum and the reason it endures.
We are looking at Woman with a Veil, a work by the Japanese artist Keisai Eisen. This piece dates to about 1790, a period marking the beginning of the artist's life and creative presence. It is a significant example of the ukiyo-e tradition, specifically within the genre of bijin-ga, which focuses on the depiction of beautiful women.
The four subjects that come back most often in these originals, each with its finest example.
The 6 museums that hold the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Keisai Eisen | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore |
Saitama | 7 | Kiso-Road, Warabi Station, Toda River Ferry Landing, Kiso Road, Okegawa Station, View of Hirohra, Kiso Road, Konosu Station, Distant View of Fukiagefuji |
 Hermitage Museum |
Saint Petersburg | 1 | Woman with a Veil |
 Cleveland Museum of Art |
Cleveland | 1 | Courtesan |
 Art Museum |
Seattle | 1 | Courtesan in Moonlight |
 Peabody Essex Museum |
Salem | 1 | The Oiran Michitose of the Miuraya and Her Child Attendants |
 Art Gallery of South Australia |
Adelaide | 1 | Carp ascending a waterfall |
Pick a decade to see the original that defines it.
Woman with a Veil (1790), Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. Courtesan (1834) and The Feast of Seven Herbs (Imayo musume nanakusa) - YT - (3037) come next.
Woman with a Veil, Courtesan, The Feast of Seven Herbs (Imayo musume nanakusa) - YT - (3037), Courtesan in Moonlight, The Oiran Michitose of the Miuraya and Her Child Attendants, Carp ascending a waterfall, Kiso-Road, Warabi Station, Toda River Ferry Landing, Kiso Road, Okegawa Station, View of Hirohra, Kiso Road, Konosu Station, Distant View of Fukiagefuji and Kiso Road, Kumagaya Station, View of Hacchozutsumi. The ranking above gives each one's year and museum.
Our catalog holds 13 works by Keisai Eisen, dated from 1825 to 1840.
Mostly in Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore (Saitama), Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg) and Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland). The museum table above lists them all.
In 1820s: 2 of the 13 works on this page were made then, Courtesan in Moonlight among them.
On this page, the earliest is The Oiran Michitose of the Miuraya and Her Child Attendants (1825) and the latest Carp ascending a waterfall (1840).
Kimono (2), People (2) and Street (2), across the 13 works on this page.
Woodblock Print, for 4 of the 13 works on this page.
Ukiyo-e, judging by the originals on this page.
Kiso-Road, Warabi Station, Toda River Ferry Landing, Kiso Road, Okegawa Station, View of Hirohra and Kiso Road, Konosu Station, Distant View of Fukiagefuji: the Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore, Saitama holds 7 of the works on this page.
In the vibrant, flickering light of 19th-century Edo, few artists captured the pulse of the "floating world" with as much evocative intensity as Keisai Eisen. Born into the prestigious Ikeda samurai clan as Ikeda Yoshinobu, his early life was a tapestry of privilege and profound hardship. The son of a respected calligrapher, Shigeharu, Eisen was raised in an environment steeped in the delicate arts of poetry and brushwork. However, the untimely loss of his parents thrust him into the life of a rōnin—a wandering samurai. This transition from the structured world of the elite to the unpredictable streets of the urban commoner did more than just alter his social standing; it infused his artistic vision with a raw, rebellious spirit and a deep empathy for the transient beauty found in the everyday.
Eisen’s artistic journey was shaped by a rigorous lineage of masters. He first sought formal training under Hakkeisai, a practitioner of the prestigious Kano school, which provided him with a foundation in classical technique and structural precision. Yet, it was his subsequent apprenticeship under Kikugawa Eizan, a titan of bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women), that truly ignited his creative fire. While he inherited the grace of his predecessors, Eisen possessed an irrepressible urge to innovate. He moved away from the idealized, ethereal beauties of earlier eras, choosing instead to portray women with a more worldly, palpable sensuality. This shift defined the aesthetic of the Bunsei era (1818–1830), a period often characterized by its decadent and psychologically complex atmosphere.
The brilliance of Eisen’s work lies in his ability to balance the intimate with the expansive. He became a master of ōkubi-e, or large-head portraits, where he utilized bold compositions and arresting gazes to convey a spectrum of human emotion—from quiet confidence to a haunting, melancholic longing. His subjects were not mere icons of beauty but characters with depth, their identities woven into the intricate patterns of their meticulously rendered kimonos. Through his brush, the fashion of the Edo period became a language of itsability and social nuance.
Beyond the intimate portraits of women, Eisen demonstrated a remarkable command over the Japanese landscape. His series documenting the Kisokaidō highway stands as a testament to his ability to capture the rhythmic movement of travel and the rugged spirit of the countryside. In works such as his depictions of Fukaya Station or Ageo Station, he transformed mere topographical records into cinematic snapshots of life in motion. He possessed a unique gift for:
Keisai Eisen’s contribution to ukiyo-e extends far beyond the aesthetic; he was a chronicler of an era’s soul. While his contemporaries like Kunisada focused on the theatrical drama of Kabuki, and Kuniyoshi explored the heroic legends of warriors, Eisen turned his gaze toward the psychological and the atmospheric. His work bridged the gap between the classical elegance of the past and the more visceral, "decadent" realism that would characterize much of late Edo art. He was not only a printmaker but also a man of letters, contributing to the literary landscape through biographies and historical texts.
Today, Eisen is remembered as one of the most prominent masters of 19th-century Japanese woodblock prints. His ability to capture the ephemeral nature of the "floating world"—the fleeting moment, the passing traveler, the subtle glance—ensures his place in the pantheon of great artists. His legacy continues to resonate, offering modern observers a window into a vanished world where every line and color served to celebrate the profound beauty found within the transient and the everyday.
