To offer you even more information about the museum and Vincent van Gogh, and serve you better, we use cookies. By clicking ‘Accept’, you are giving us permission to use these cookies. Cookies help us to ensure that the website works properly. We also analyse how the website is used, so that we can make any necessary improvements. Advertisements can also be displayed tailored to your interests. And finally, we use cookies to display forms, Google Maps and other embedded content.
Find out more about our cookies.

Search the collection

This image is
unavailable

Meer informatie

Courtesan (after Eisen)
Vincent van Gogh, October-November 1887

  • Download image
    • Terms and conditions (pdf)
    • To use the image for commercial purposes, please request separately
  • Share this work
    Facebook (Opens in new window) Twitter (Opens in new window) Pinterest (Opens in new window) E-mail (Opens your Emailclient)

Courtesan (after Eisen)

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Paris, October-November 1887

oil on cotton, 100.7 センチ x 60.7 センチ
Credits: ファン・ゴッホ美術館、アムステルダム 「フィンセント・ファン・ゴッホ財団」


Van Gogh based this painting on a woodcut by the Japanese artist Kesai Eisen. The print had been reproduced on the cover of the magazine Paris illustré in 1886. Van Gogh used a grid to copy and enlarge the Japanese figure. He used bright colours and bold outlines, as if it were a woodcut.

We can tell the woman is a courtesan by her hairstyle and the belt (obi) that she is wearing, which is tied at the front of her kimono rather than at the back. Van Gogh framed her with a pond full of water lilies, bamboo stems, cranes and frogs. This scene has a hidden meaning: grue (crane) and grenouille (frog) were French slang words for 'prostitute'.

Search in the collection:

  • 1887
  • Paris
  • painting
  • figure (representation)
  • landscape (representation)
  • river landscape
  • Vincent van Gogh

F-number
F0373
JH-number
JH1298
Object number
s0116V1962
Credits
ファン・ゴッホ美術館、アムステルダム 「フィンセント・ファン・ゴッホ財団」
Dimensions
100.7 センチ x 60.7 センチ, 117.5 センチ x 77.5 センチ

Related work

Tracing of the Cover of Paris Illustré. Le Japon, 1887
新板虫尽, 1883
Portrait of Père Tanguy, 1887
初春の万歳, 1875