Kikukawa Eizan

A native of Edo, Eizan Kikugawa was born as Toshinobu Omiya in 1787. He began his artistic career studying with his father Eiji Kikugawa, a Kano painter and fan maker, before pursuing printmaking under Hokkei, a pupil of Hokusai. From the start of the 19th century to his retirement, Eizan was a leading artist of bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) and shunga (erotic prints). He is considered the founder of the Kikugawa style. After 1830, he worked almost exclusively as a painter until his death in 1867.