HAMANISHI KATSUNORI

Born in 1949 in Hokkaido, Hamanishi Katsunori is a highly respected contemporary Japanese printmaker, celebrated for his exceptional mastery of the mezzotint technique. A graduate of Tokai University, Hamanishi has gained international acclaim for his intricate and richly textured prints that reflect both technical excellence and minimalist beauty.

Original prints by Hamanishi Katsunori are housed in leading institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the British Museum in London, the Library of Congress in Washington, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Osaka National Museum of Art, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, among many others. In 2004, he was featured alongside mezzotint master Hamaguchi Yozo in a major exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum.

Hamanishi is one of a group of Japanese artists who have revived and expanded the old European mezzotint process. Often considered the most demanding of all printmaking techniques, mezzotint allows for rich, dark tonal effects and remarkable depth. His early subjects—twigs, rice stalks, branches, and rope—are rendered with striking three-dimensional realism. Each image is carefully hand-burnished onto the plate, not derived from photographs. This painstaking process results in tactile, luminous prints with powerful visual impact.

While much of Hamanishi’s early work is monochromatic, his more recent compositions explore colour, Japanese architecture, and natural landscapes. These new pieces incorporate metal plates, gold, and silver leaf, creating a dynamic contrast between traditional techniques and contemporary design.