Nishijima Katsuyuki 西嶋勝之, 1945-

Nishijima_photo (28K)Katsuyuki Nishijima was born 1945 in Yamaguchi, Japan. Between 1964 and 1968, he mastered many woodblock printing techniques at Mikumo publishing company in Kyoto. By 1969-1972, he was already studying and experimenting with stencil dyes for clothes and printmaking. In 1972, he started to learn the technique called, sōsaku hanga.

Typically Nishijima's prints show a romantic image of Japan that has little to do with reality. Views of old shop entrances in Kyoto, farmhouses with thatched roofs, old rural store houses, colorful umbrellas, old store signs, wooden bridges and stone walls. Curiously the scenes never have any people in them and certainly no modern objects such as cars.

See:

  • Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada. Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975 (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, c1992), p. 109.

Nishijima_sunset (184K) Creator.Personal Name: 西嶋勝之, 1945-
Creator.Personal Name: Nishijima Katsuyuki, 1945-
Creator.Role: print-maker
Title: 晩照 (Sunset)
Description: woodblock print; artist's signature at bottom; no edition number. The print depicts a sunset scene in Kamitoba, Kyoto.
Date: ca:1976.
Subject: Sunrises & sunsets.
Subject: Roofs.
Type: Woodcuts.
Style.Period: Modern.
Technique: Prints.
Material.Medium: ink.
Material.Support: paper.
Measurements: 13 x 10 in.
Location.Current Repository: private collection, C. J. Campbell (Chicago, Ill.)
ID: Nishijima Katsuyuki S-1. Rights: C. J. Campbell.
Record Type: work.
Title:
Nishijima_sunset_title (24K) 		Signature:
Nishijima_sunset_sig (24K)
nishijima_asahi (140K) Creator.Personal Name: 西嶋勝之, 1945-
Creator.Personal Name: Nishijima Katsuyuki, 1945-
Creator.Role: print-maker
Title: 朝日; (Asahi, Morning sun)
Description: woodblock print; artist's signature at bottom; no edition number. This scene depicts Takeojima island in Imazu, Shiga prefecture.
Date: ca:1999.
Subject: Sunrises & sunsets.
Subject: Boats.
Type: Woodcuts.
Style.Period: Modern.
Technique: Prints.
Material.Medium: ink.
Material.Support: paper.
Measurements: 13 x 10 in.
Location.Current Repository: private collection, C. J. Campbell (Chicago, Ill.)
ID: Nishijima Katsuyuki S-2.
Rights: C. J. Campbell.
Record Type: work.
Title and signature:
nishijima_asahi_sig (24K)
Visual Arts