Nishijima Katsuyuki – A Cool Day

Original woodblock print, hand-signed and numbered 23/100 by the artist. First published in 2006.

Nishijima Katsuyuki shows houses with traditional Japanese roofs from above, a composition he uses more often. The season is summer and the sun is shining on the roofs. The day is cooler than the days before, with a refreshing breeze providing relief from the hot days that came before. The houses are located in the city of Kurashiki in Okayama, which has a humid subtropical climate, so it is easy to imagine the pleasantness Nishijima Katsuyuki might have felt himself on the day depicted after a long period of heat. Nishijima Katsuyuki is a master at capturing such subtle differences in the various types of weather, as shown with “A Cool Day” once again.

Image size (excluding margins): 39.4 * 54.6 cm (15.5 * 21.5 in).

The print is in excellent state. There are wrinkles in the margins.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Nishijima Katsuyuki b. 1945) is a prolific and popular Japanese woodblock artist. He has been perfecting his art since half a century, working in the Sosaku Hanga (creative prints) style, and thus carving and printing all by himself.

He has developed a completely unique style, making his prints recognizable from across the room. Common themes are country side landscapes and city scenes. Here, the scenes do not show people or modern tools, creating a timeless beauty, where, to an extent, it is possible to imagine oneself being in the present or a century earlier just as easily.

Nishijima Katsuyuki signs his prints, but many of the designs are unnumbered. With many designs and possibly recurring editions for his unnumbered prints, it seems that it was possible for him to keep them relatively affordable.

See an overview of Nishijima Katsuyuki's woodblock prints