# Yozo Hamaguchi artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/yozo-hamaguchi/
Profile generated: 2026-05-03T16:57:17.377Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1909-04-05
- Nationality: Japanese
- Movements: 20th-century Japanese printmaking; mezzotint revival
- Common media: mezzotint (copper-plate engraving), color intaglio print

## About Yozo Hamaguchi

Yozo Hamaguchi (1909–2000) was a Japanese printmaker widely regarded as the leading modern exponent of copper-plate mezzotint. Born in Japan and active in Paris from the early 1930s, Hamaguchi devoted his career to perfecting a technique that had fallen out of widespread use, transforming it into a vehicle for richly colored still-life compositions. His prints pair precisely rendered fruit, butterflies, and other small subjects against deep, velvety black grounds, creating a luminous contrast that became his signature. Over a prolific career he produced hundreds of editions, and his work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Collectors encounter Hamaguchi's prints frequently at auction, where his distinctive mezzotints remain among the most recognizable works in the modern Japanese print category.

## Common works and media

Hamaguchi worked almost exclusively in color mezzotint on copper plates. His typical output consists of small-to-medium editioned prints depicting still-life subjects: butterflies, cherries, sliced papaya, watermelon, apples, snails, and other natural objects rendered in saturated color against a characteristic black background. He also produced occasional intaglio prints and portfolios. His prints are generally pencil-signed and numbered in small editions.

## Market and appraisal context

Yozo Hamaguchi's prints have a deep and well-documented auction history spanning 551 recorded lots from 1991 through April 2026, with 323 carrying realized prices. His work trades regularly at top-tier houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Swann Auction Galleries, as well as specialist dealers such as Floating World Auctions, RoGallery, and Rachel Davis Fine Arts. The price distribution is wide: the interquartile range runs from roughly $560 to $3,200 USD, with a median near $1,250. Smaller mezzotints in common subjects (butterflies, single fruit) typically sell between $300 and $1,000 at regional houses, while larger or earlier compositions in signed, numbered editions from the 1950s–1960s can reach $700–$2,500 at mainstream auctioneers. Liquidity is steady—10 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months versus 11 in the prior period—indicating consistent but not speculative demand. The category is firmly established in Prints & Multiples and Modern Japanese Prints.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Yozo Hamaguchi's prints have a deep and well-documented auction history spanning 551 recorded lots from 1991 through April 2026, with 323 carrying realized prices. His work trades regularly at top-tier houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Swann Auction Galleries, as well as specialist dealers such as Floating World Auctions, RoGallery, and Rachel Davis Fine Arts. The price distribution is wide: the interquartile range runs from roughly $560 to $3,200 USD, with a median near $1,250. Smaller mezzotints in common subjects (butterflies, single fruit) typically sell between $300 and $1,000 at regional houses, while larger or earlier compositions in signed, numbered editions from the 1950s–1960s can reach $700–$2,500 at mainstream auctioneers. Liquidity is steady—10 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months versus 11 in the prior period—indicating consistent but not speculative demand. The category is firmly established in Prints & Multiples and Modern Japanese Prints.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal of a Hamaguchi print would cross-reference the artist's 551-lot auction record to identify comparable sales by subject, plate size, edition number, and date of execution. The appraiser would verify medium (color mezzotint on copper), confirm the plate dimensions against catalogue raisonné entries, check pencil signature and edition numbering, and assess condition with particular attention to the velvety black mezzotint ground—surface abrasion, foxing, or light fading materially affect value. Provenance history, gallery labels, and any portfolio or series context (e.g., Olympic poster commissions) would be documented. Price guidance would be anchored to the median and interquartile range observed in the auction-record data, adjusted upward for rare or early compositions and downward for condition issues or unsigned impressions.

### Valuation factors

- Edition size and plate dimensions: smaller editions and larger plates generally command higher prices; many Hamaguchi prints are editioned at 50 or fewer
- Subject matter: butterfly, sliced fruit, and snail compositions tend to generate the strongest demand; atypical subjects like landscapes (e.g., Roofs of Paris) can perform differently
- Period of execution: early mezzotints from the 1950s and 1960s are scarcer and more sought-after than later works
- Signature and numbering: pencil-signed and numbered impressions carry a premium over unsigned or unnumbered examples
- Condition: mezzotint grounds are fragile—surface abrasion, foxing, light fading, or acid migration from mats can significantly reduce value
- Currency and market: Hamaguchi sells in USD, EUR, GBP, and JPY; cross-currency comparison requires normalization to assess true price level
- Auction house tier: results from Christie's and Sotheby's tend to set higher benchmarks than regional houses, reflecting buyer competition and cataloguing quality

### Collector notes

- Hamaguchi prints appear frequently enough at auction (roughly 10–11 lots per year) that collectors can be selective about subject, condition, and price point. The $300–$1,000 range at regional auctioneers offers accessible entry points for smaller or later mezzotints, while works at Christie's or Sotheby's in the $1,000–$3,000+ range tend to be earlier, larger, or more iconic compositions. Bidders should verify that JPY-denominated results from Japanese houses are correctly converted before comparison. Provenance from notable galleries or collections can add modest premiums. Framing with archival materials is especially important for mezzotints to preserve the delicate burr and deep black ground.

### Market caveats

- The reported maximum price of $3,600,000 likely reflects a JPY-denominated lot that was not currency-normalized; most individual Hamaguchi mezzotints sell well below $10,000 USD. Treat the upper tail of the distribution with caution.
- Price distribution statistics (min, p25, median, p75, max) are computed across mixed-currency lots (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY) and may not represent pure USD equivalents without normalization.
- Some recent lots lacked realized prices (passed or unsold), which are excluded from the median and quartile calculations but may indicate soft demand for certain subjects or estimates set above market.
- Auction categories were not consistently populated across all lots; the category assignments above are derived from the existing profile and observed auction-house cataloguing conventions.
- Appraisily auction signals are derived from public auction feed aggregation; individual lot details should be verified against the originating auction house's catalogue notes.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/yozo-hamaguchi/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yozo-hamaguchi-japanese-1909-2000-259-c-b724586a6a

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum records, library authority files, and scholarly references with available auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots. For Yozo Hamaguchi, identity data is grounded in MoMA's collection records, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, VIAF, Wikidata, and the Library of Congress authority file.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11557582
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yozo_Hamaguchi
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/22414387/
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2472
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/35582
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500032149
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50023248