Courtesan: after Eisen

The Courtesan illustrates Van Gogh ’s interest in Japan and Japanese prints. He based his painting on a work by the Japanese artist Kesai Eisen, which had been used for the cover of a special number of the magazine Paris Illustré. He copied and enlarged the Japanese figure by tracing on a grid, giving her a colorful kimono and placing her against a bright yellow background. The border around the figure is a unified whole.