Eisen was a Japanese painter, printmaker and illustrator that worked in the ukiyo-e style. He was the son of a calligrapher and born with the name, Ikeda Yoshinobu. He lived in Edo and took the name Eisen after studying with his teacher, the great ukiyo-e artist Kikugawa Eizan. Eisen authored Zoku Ukiyo-e Ruiko, which is a main source book for the history of ukiyo-e. He was an erratic, uneven, and prolific artist. He specialized in bijinga, erotica and landscapes. He collaborated on a few series of prints with Hiroshige, The Sixty-Nine Stations of Kiso Highway, and others. His work varies from being refined and elegant to vulgar. Bibliography: Laurance P. Rogers, A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, 1976.