Bouteilles et noix
- Date:
- 1961
- Medium:
- Source:
- Victoria and Albert Museum
$2,000–$15,000. Common subjects: $2,000–$5,000. Key value factors: Hamaguchi is regarded as one of the greatest mezzotint artists of the 20th century. His fruit and butterfly still lifes are most iconic and command the highest prices.
Bouteilles et noix (Bottles and Nuts) dates to 1961 and depicts glass bottles arranged with nuts—walnuts, chestnuts, or similar hard-shelled varieties—on a spare, darkened ground. The pairing of transparent glass with the matte, faceted surfaces of nuts gave Hamaguchi an opportunity to contrast two distinct optical behaviors: the reflective, light-passing quality of glass and the dense, shadowed surfaces of nuts. By 1961 Hamaguchi had refined his intaglio technique sufficiently to render these material differences through controlled burnishing of the mezzotint ground. The French title reflects his long residence in Paris, where this still-life language was also practiced by his contemporaries in the Parisian print milieu, though his approach to light and darkness remained distinctly his own.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Bouteilles et noix was created by Yozo Hamaguchi (浜口陽三) in 1961.
Bouteilles et noix depicts still life and food & drink.
