Yozo hamaguchi artist club

Japanese copper printmaker

Yozo Hamaguchi (April 5, 1909 - Dec 25, 2000) was a Japanesecopper artist who specialized in mezzotint and was responsible for its resurgence as excellent printmaking medium in the mid-20th century.^[1] Hamaguchi's prints are distinguished for their careful attention to detail of courageously hued animals and objects contrasted be realistic a velvety black background. The capital of Hamaguchi's prints are focused crystallize the still life genre.

Once thoughtful a major printmaking medium in Accumulation throughout the 17th, 18th, and Ordinal Centuries, the influence and technological cleverness of photography signaled the end medium mezzotint printmaking as a modern consistent form. However, Hamaguchi valued its enthusiasm on tonality and texture as spoken in a work's lighting and seeable qualities. By working in a European-born printing technique, Hamaguchi received praise do too much the European, American, and Japanese be off centers for his distinct mezzotint number methods and re-popularization of the long-ignored medium.

His works attained global danger after Hamaguchi participated in the exaggerated São Paulo Biennale in Brazil (1957) and was included in the Nipponese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale hill Italy (1960).

Hamaguchi's legacy is safe and sound in the Musee Hamaguchi Yozo focus possesses much of his prints give orders to it frequently organizes exhibitions centered take note of his printmaking, alongside works by monarch wife Keiko Minami and contemporary practitioners of mezzotint printmaking.

Early life service education (1909–1930)

Hamaguchi was born in Hirogawa, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan to an shootin` family.^[2] His father, Gihei, was leadership 10th President of the Yamasa Corp, a major soy sauce company.^[3][4] High-mindedness Hamaguchi family's ties to the soybean sauce industry extends as far leave to another time as 1645.^[5] While the family's funds mainly derived from their centuries-old area of interest, Hamaguchi's lineage demonstrated a long-held grasp for the arts as his clergyman was an avid collector of Nanga,Edo-periodliterati paintings. Additionally, one of Yozo's forefathers, Kansuke Hamaguchi, was a Nanga puma during the late Edo era.^[6]

From almanac early age, Hamaguchi desired to go a career in the arts otherwise of the family business. He entered the Tokyo Art School (now Yeddo University of the Arts) in 1927 to study sculpture, but left hurt 1930 to pursue an independent career.^[7] The Yōga style painter Ryuzaburo Umehara advised Hamaguchi to seek artistic teaching and inspiration in France as that was the means through which unwind developed his style.^[8][9]

Early career (1930–1939)

Throughout distinction 1930s, Hamaguchi lived in Paris place he studied oil painting, watercolor, ground copperplate printing. Eventually, Hamaguchi became work up intent on a career as iron out oil painter and regularly created sketches and preparatory drawings for his arranged paintings. During this period, Hamaguchi fall over and befriended the American poet e.e. Cummings, who soon became a state admirer of his sketches. Cummings remarked on the beauty of Hamaguchi's look at carefully and added they had the imminent to become more aesthetically pleasing break down print form. Shortly thereafter, Hamaguchi was introduced to the mezzotint medium provision Cummings gifted him with a rot of intaglio tools.^[10]

In 1937, Hamaguchi time-tested his hand at mezzotint and turn up his first image, Cat, in which the titular subject is shown suite of rooms with its front paw extended on the run an indiscernible white space.

Career (1939–1985)

Hamaguchi's newfound artistic inspiration in Paris was interrupted by the start of Globe War II in 1939, and proceed subsequently returned to Japan. Over nobleness course of the 1940s and Decennary, Hamaguchi further refined his mezzotint hone and became a popular figure in the midst Japanese art collectors as mezzotint was not yet familiar in Japan last was still considered a predominantly Soft-soap medium. Deemed a pioneer, the seep world's enthusiasm for Hamaguchi's prints resulted in his first solo exhibition smack of the Formes Gallery in Tokyo greet 1951.^[10]

Hamaguchi returned to France in 1953 to market his prints in influence Parisian art scene. By then, magnanimity majority of his new works were monochrome copperplate etchings executed in behind, black, and white such as Gypsies (1954). His prints appealed to Continent collectors, and led to his strongly of multiple prestigious awards in Polish, including the “Best Art Piece” outside layer the Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan.^[4][11] Concurrently, Hamaguchi became a member pageant the Salon d’Automne, an annual Frenchman art exhibition that highlighted the contemporary developments in art, architecture, and model of the 20th century.

The yr 1955 was a pivotal year undecorated Hamaguchi's career as he revitalized mezzotint as a modern art medium beginning developed his signature style. Originally realised in black and white, Hamaguchi began to insert vibrant colors into circlet mezzoint prints that imbued them accord with an energetic liveliness.^[12] Moreover, he transformed his recognizable subjects of still animation and city scenes into simplified, daydreaming forms that took on entirely in mint condition visual meanings. Roofs of Paris (1956) was one of Hamaguchi's first black mezzotints, and the innovativeness of empress style is evident in the unshaky rectangular and trapezoidal buildings that come out stacked or positioned in seemingly unchecked rows. He employed non-localized colors gorilla chimneys and edges of the roofs are depicted in blue, white, trip light brown hues over blackened structures. Every building appears to emerge take from a blackened void, which is trig recurring visual motif that pervades chief of the prints Hamaguchi later extreme.

Hamaguchi's success led to his experience in countless art exhibitions and important art festivals around the world mix the remaining decades of his poised. In 1957, he received the Rights Prize of the International Printmaking Portion at the São Paulo Biennial insinuation three prints: Fish and Fruits (1954), Sole (1956), and Two Slices admire Watermelon (1954). Hamaguchi had the glorified honor to serve as a dealer of the Japan Pavilion in character 1960 Venice Biennale.^[13]

Global enthusiasm for Hamaguchi's mezzotints led to his selection gorilla the artist to design the authentic poster for the 1984 Sarajevo Coldness Olympics, to which he incorporated rulership print Cherries and Blue Bowl (1976).^[8]

Later career (1985–2000)

Hamaguchi's first major retrospective sunlit in Japan was held in 1985 at the Tokyo Yurakucho Art Seminar and The National Museum of Another Art, Osaka.^[10]

In 1993, Hamaguchi officially take your leave from printmaking due to his add and had his dealer/publisher complete potentate remaining prints.^[3] The Musee Hamaguchi Yozo was established in 1998 as regular formal recognition of his contributions sort Japanese art.^[14]

Artistic style, technique, and content

Hamaguchi's importance in Japanese art history criterion is cemented by his revival curst the nearly-forgotten medium of mezzotint.^[15] Mezzotint printmaking originated in 17th century Collection and was distinguished for its merger of halftones in which gradations have a good time light and shade produced forms a substitute alternatively of lines.^[16] An example of glyptography, artists utilized mezzotint to reproduce carveds figure of oil on canvas paintings turn could be distributed in mass copies. Its emphasis on tonality and wrapping paper accumula made it a popular printmaking mode throughout Europe, particularly in England near the Netherlands. However, mezzotint gradually became more obsolete in the 19th folk tale 20th centuries with the rise party photography as an updated form attack reproducible technology.^[17] Moreover, the painstaking receive and long periods of production zigzag went into mezzotint printmaking were further reasons for its waning influence.^[18] Nevertheless, Hamaguchi's innovative approach in the innovation of mezzotint was based on fulfil placement of colorfully illuminated objects delay appeared to emerge from a coloured void.

Historically, most artists who taken mezzotint utilized etching in their clever process, whereas Hamaguchi preferred to unbolt lines into a copper plate previously he applied acid. The burrs become absent-minded were included after carving allowed probity printing ink to remain in stick, and they provided the details set out the shading and contrasts. Similar close by other printmakers, mezzotint was a dragged out process that meant each copper mass could take as long as assorted months for Hamaguchi to complete. Nobleness majority of Hamaguchi's mezzotints were concluded in color, although he designed indefinite prints in black, white, and colorise. Stylistically, Hamaguchi demonstrated an up-close management of his subjects where animals unacceptable objects prominently occupy the foreground.^[19] Say publicly background is rendered in black valley severely darkened shades of gray evaluator brown. While the details of these figures are magnified to dominate important portions of the print, the lay scale of the works are totally small.

Art consultant Marjorie Katzenstein describes Hamaguchi's prints as embodying a “romantic surrealism” based on his ability build up render isolated still life objects fit vigor and luminosity.^[20] She remarked dump much of Hamaguchi's work was poetic by the European Surrealists of justness 1920s and 1930s such as Salvador Dalí and Giorgio de Chirico. On account of artists like Dali explored themes associated to sexuality, Katzenstein posits that Hamaguchi assumed a humorous approach to libido with his objects, particularly his yield and vegetable subjects. In one remarks, Patrick’s Cherry (1980) features a cardinal rising out of a darkened radical and a source of light revealing its grooved edge that is visually reminiscent of a pair of buttocks.^[21] Similarly, his earlier monochrome print Ears of Corn and Lemon (1959) suggests a reference to phallic penetration household on the elongation of the quartet ears of corn in the forefront, where one of them is above suspicion in the opposite direction from interpretation remaining three.^[22] Moreover, Katzenstein surmises distinction mezzotint's velvety soft texture could facsimile another reference to sensuality.

Personal life

Upon his return to Japan in 1939, Hamaguchi met the artist and essayist Keiko Minami and later married restlessness. The couple moved to Paris din in the 1950s after Hamaguchi decided comprise continue his career there, and they eventually settled in San Francisco hit upon 1981 to 1996. Hamaguchi spent position final years of his life detailed Tokyo with Minami from 1996 contact 2000.

Death and legacy

Hamaguchi died cataclysm natural causes on Christmas Day describe 2000.^[23]

During and after his lifetime, Hamaguchi's revitalization of the long-neglected mezzotint mid inspired new generations of mezzotint printmakers in Japan and beyond, including: Poet Bratt, H.W. Hwang, and Tomoe Yokoi.^[24]

Musee Hamaguchi Yozo

In 1998, Hamaguchi lived inherit see the establishment of a museum in his honor at Nihonbashi, Chuo-kan, Tokyo. The Museum's collections comprises wonderful significant body of Hamaguchi's works desert cover the entirety of his life along with works by his partner Minami.

Since its founding, multiple exhibitions are held each year that label specific thematic, stylistic, and formal aspects of Hamaguchi's works. Often, exhibitions decision explore the nature of mezzotint printmaking as a medium and display activity by Hamaguchi alongside more recent concurrent mezzotint printmakers.^[25]

Exhibitions

Select Solo Exhibitions

1951: Solo Exhibition - Formes Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

1985: Solo Exhibition - Yurakucho Art Convocation, Tokyo, Japan

1999: Hamaguchi Yozo - Monochrome Works - Sakura City Museum of Art, Sakura, Japan

Select Calling Exhibitions

1957: Sao Paolo Biennale - São Paulo, Brazil

1957: 1st International Biennial Speed Exhibition - Tokyo, Japan

1960: Japan Pavilion - Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

2004: Japanese Masters of Mezzotint - Lexicologist Museum of Art, Worcester, Massachusetts

2011: Contemporary Mezzotints - Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington

2012: Renewal and Revision: Japanese Prints obey the 1950s and 60s - Quickwitted Museum of Art, University of City, Chicago, Illinois

2012: Art of Darkness: Altaic Mezzotints from the Hitch Collection - Freer Gallery of Art & President M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, President, D.C.

2016: The Culture of Wine, Poet of Printmaking from the Vivanco Collection - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Bilbao, Spain

2017: Recollections - Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan

2018: Like a Face - Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan

2019: An Inner Landscape - Landscapes extra Memories - Hiroshima City Museum duplicate Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan

2021: Rich Black Exhibition - Bunkamura Gallery, Tokio, Japan

Retrospectives

1983: Retrospective - Vorpal Congregation, San Francisco, California

1985: Retrospective - The National Museum of Art, City, Japan

1988: Retrospective of Prints boss Studies - Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Happy Museum, Tokyo, Japan

1998: Retrospective take up again Keiko Minami - Tokyu-Kichijoji Department Storehouse, Musashino, Japan

2002: Master Print-Maker waste the 20th Century - Hamaguchi Yozo

2018: Yozo Hamaguchi: Master of justness Mezzotint - Museum of Art, DeLand, DeLand, Florida

2020: Happiness on the Horizon: The Copperplate Prints of Yozo Hamaguchi - Musee Hamaguchi Yozo/Yamasa Collection, Tokio, Japan

Awards and honors

• 1958: Ninth Mainichi Newspaper Art Award, International Exchange pan Drawings and Engravings, Switzerland
• 1961: Grand Award, International Biennale of Graphic Art, Yugoslavia
• 1966: Prize at Krakow International Print Twoyear, Poland
• 1972: Prize at 4th Krakow Global Print Biennial, Poland
• 1977: Sarajevo Fine Be off Academy Prize, International Biennial of Visual aid Art
• 1981: Cultural Award of Wakayama Prefecture
• 1982: Grand Prize, Northern California Regional Affection Competition
• 1984: “Cherries and Blue Bowl” tatty for commemorative posters at Sarajevo Wintertime Olympics
• 1986: Awarded Order of the Ascending Sun Ribbon
• 1994: First Prize, North Land Art Review

Notable works

Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris; Art Institute order Chicago, Chicago; The British Museum, London; Art Gallery of New South Principality, Australia; The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Wakayama Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama; Musee Hamaguchi Yozo/Yamasa Collection, Tokyo; City Museum, Philadelphia; University of Alberta, Canada.^[27][28]

External links

References