Watermelon 西瓜

Hamaguchi is known of his works in color mezzotint. The traditional mezzotint process, which originated in west, once went out use. Kiyoshi Hasegawa revived it in 20th century. Hamaguchi developed it further and invented his own color mezzotint process. Most of his work are still lifes depicting grapes, walnuts, Chinese cabbages, watermelons, asparagus, etc. Generally, the mass of the objects is tangibly expressed within a simple composition with large blank spaces, in a way possible only with his unique process. Although he has also produced many excellent works in monochrome with subtle shades of black, it is his works in color that are truly unique because they embody his original use of colors and technical innovation. This work, in a horizontal composition, portrays a slice of watermelon in bright red, with the black on the scattered seeds rhythmically accentuating it. Some of his works, like the one which depicts a single walnut on a vast background, have a symbolic atmosphere, which makes us think about the mystery of existence.