RAKUBI (Setting Sun)
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
"Rakubi" — the setting sun — captures the final moments of daylight as it rakes across a traditional townscape, elongating shadows and warming the palette from the cool blues of afternoon toward the reds and golds of dusk. Nishijima's sunset scenes are among his most atmospheric compositions: the transformation of familiar architectural subjects by the specific angle and color of setting light reveals qualities in the buildings — textures, warmth, the softening of hard edges — invisible in the neutral illumination of midday. The moment of sunset carries the weight of endings.
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
Frequently Asked Questions
RAKUBI (Setting Sun) was created by Katsuyuki Nishijima (西島勝之).
RAKUBI (Setting Sun) depicts urban scenes and architecture.