Eishosai Choki (Active 1780s)

Nakai Kan and Geisha 15.0" x 10.0" Click image for larger version

Little is known about Choki's birth, death, or training. Kondo describes him as a "second-class artist in the history of Ukiyo-e ... not a man of creative genius" who imitated the forms of popular first-class artists. Lane states "The wonder of it is that, although Choki was not the equal of any of the men he studied, in a small number of his finest prints he somehow surpassed them all in the evocation of poetic atmosphere and in the creation of an ideal of feminine beauty that is second to none in ukiyo-e." And from Hillier we hear "... so Choki is reckoned among the most significant of the Japanese print-designers by virtue of a handful of prints bearing that certain impress we recognise as his own. The rest of his prints range from rather undistinguished bigin-e and triptychs in the manner of Kiyonaga, Eishi or Utamaro, to remarkably inept imitations of Sharaku." Hillier also remarks on that aspect of Choki that appeals to me. "Occasionally, he reminds us of Modigliani: there is a comparable, though not similar, perversion of human proportions in compositions at once compelling and unsettling."

This print, The Nakai Kan in the Izutsu-ya and the Geisha Fuseya in the Ogiya, showing two beauties walking together, one a nakai (waitress) in full womanhood and the other a young geisha girl, is a typical work of Choki, well worth being called one of his best. The pleasant colour effect of green and purple on the clothings, against the silver-gray background coated with mica dust, also is the best example of his sense of coloration.

Readings:Ichitaro Kondo p. 28; Munsterberg pps. 95-96: limited; Lane p.146: quoted above. This print is discussed in some detail by Hillier in "The Japanese Print" p. 98.