BE@RBRICK Vincent van Gogh “Courtesan (after Eisen)” [Van Gogh Museum] (100%+400%)

Description

This Bearbrick brings one of Vincent van Gogh’s most fascinating works into three-dimensional form: The Courtesan after Keisai Eisen from 1887. With this set, you’ll not only bring a piece of art history to your shelf, but also a striking testament to the cultural encounter between East and West. Officially licensed by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the motif depicts van Gogh’s intense engagement with Japanese ukiyo-e art, which revolutionized his painting and contributed to his distinctive style.

The color scheme is breathtaking: a bright mustard yellow dominates the background, giving the entire figure a warm, sun-drenched atmosphere. The courtesan herself wears a magnificent kimono with intense red tones and dark brown accents, decorated with traditional Japanese motifs. Particularly striking is the elaborate hair ornament in violet, pink, and light blue tones, which protrudes like chopsticks from the artfully styled black hair. Van Gogh framed the central figure with a decorative border full of symbolic elements: bamboo stalks in various shades of yellow and green, cranes, frogs, water lilies, and a small boat in the distance. These details are not merely decorative—the cranes and frogs were slang for prostitute in 19th-century Paris and subtly reference the profession of the woman depicted.

Van Gogh created this work in 1887 during his time in Paris, when he was collecting and studying hundreds of Japanese woodblock prints. He copied the figure from the cover of Paris Illustré magazine using a grid and enlarged it, but used more intense colors and bolder contours than the original. The result is typical van Gogh: bright complementary colors, bold linework, and a unique fusion of Western and Eastern artistic traditions. This collaboration between Medicom Toy and the Van Gogh Museum was released in February 2021 and includes both sizes, measuring 7 cm and 28 cm in height—a must-have for art lovers and Bearbrick collectors.