Van Gogh enlarged Eisen's image of the courtesan and placed her against a contrasting gold background surrounded by a lush water garden, based on landscapes from other prints he owned.
During his stay in Paris, Van Gogh was exposed to numerous artistic styles, including Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. These prints were not available in the West until the mid-19th century. Van Gogh collected works by Japanese ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige and Hokusai and claimed that these works were just as important as works by European artists such as Rubens and Rembrandt. Van Gogh was inspired by a reproduction of a print by Keisai Eisen that appeared on the cover of Paris Illustré magazine in May 1886. Van Gogh enlarged Eisen's image of the courtesan and placed her against a contrasting gold background surrounded by a lush water garden, based on landscapes from other prints he owned. This particular garden is populated by frogs and cranes, both of which refer to prostitutes in colloquial French. While the stylistic features displayed in this painting, particularly the bold, dark contours and bright fields of color, later defined Van Gogh's mature style, he also made the work his own. By working in color rather than a woodcut, Van Gogh was able to soften the work and rely on visible brushstrokes to give depth to the figure and its surroundings, creating a dynamic tension across the surface that was not present in the original print.