GYOUN (Moving Cloud)
Typical Price
$1,000–$6,000. Common subjects: $1,000–$2,000. Key value factors: Nishijima's nostalgic Japanese village scenes appeal to collectors worldwide. Limited editions maintain value well.
Description
"Gyoun" — a moving cloud — captures the transient drama of clouds in motion across a Japanese sky, rendered in relation to the stable, enduring forms of traditional architecture below. Nishijima's cloud studies demonstrate his awareness of the sky as an active compositional element rather than mere backdrop: the moving cloud casts shifting shadows, changes the quality of light, and transforms the mood of the scene below it. The contrast between the moving cloud and the static rooflines creates a meditation on temporal scale — the momentary weather against the enduring built form.
More Prints by Katsuyuki Nishijima
More Urban Scenes Prints
A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)
Woodblock print
View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"
1928
Color lithograph
Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"
1930
Color lithograph
Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
GYOUN (Moving Cloud) was created by Katsuyuki Nishijima (西島勝之).
GYOUN (Moving Cloud) depicts urban scenes, landscapes, and architecture.