Color (I)

Color (I) (「色」) takes color itself as its subject, a foregrounding that is unusual within the etching tradition where line and tone tend to dominate over chromatic concerns. The Japanese 色 (iro) carries broader semantic range than the English 'color,' encompassing hue, character, and sensual atmosphere, and the title's openness allows the work to function as an investigation of chromatic structure rather than as a depiction of a colored thing. In intaglio practice, color can be introduced through à la poupée inking, multi-plate registration, chine collé inlay, or hand-applied watercolor and gouache—each method producing distinct material effects. Sugimoto's mixed media approach likely combines several of these. The print belongs to a paired series with Color (II), reflecting the Tokyo Geidai cohort's frequent use of small numbered sequences to explore variations on a theme. Sugimoto's movement between oil painting and printmaking shapes this work, with the painter's instinct for chromatic relationship pulling intaglio away from its conventional black-and-white emphasis toward a painterly chromatic field.