Artists · Printmaking and mezzotint
Yozo Hamaguchi
Japan · 1909–2000
Artist profile
Biography and career
A pivotal Japanese artist in the twentieth-century revival of mezzotint. He developed exceptionally precise and sensitive work in both black and white and colour.
Printmaking
Style, subjects and techniques
His celebrated images of cherries, fruit and other isolated objects reveal extraordinary attention to light, visual stillness and the depth of dark backgrounds.
Artistic context
The mezzotint technique
Mezzotint is an intaglio printmaking technique capable of producing deep blacks and smooth gradations of light. The surface of a metal plate is worked to create different tonal values. Each artist’s relationship to the technique must be assessed individually.
To learn more about the tools and methods involved, visit the sections on the history and the mezzotint process.