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Yozo Hamaguchi is among the world's most celebrated mezzotint printmakers. He is credited for the resurgence of interest in copperplate prints in the mid-20th century. Born to a well-established family, Hamaguchi studied painting and sculpture in art school. While on a trip abroad in France, Hamaguchi befriended the famed poet e. e. cummings, who suggested his designs may best be suited for prints and gifted Hamaguchi his first intaglio tools. Hamaguchi's newfound artistic inspiration in Paris was interrupted by the start of World War II in 1939, and he subsequently returned to Japan, producing a handful of designs. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Hamaguchi further refined his mezzotint style and was deemed a pioneer of the medium. The art world's enthusiasm for Hamaguchi's prints resulted in his first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 1951.

Hamaguchi returned to France in 1953 to market his prints in the Parisian art scene. By then, the majority of his new works were monochrome copperplate etchings executed in gray, black, and white. The year 1955 was a pivotal year in Hamaguchi's career as he revitalized mezzotint as a modern art medium and developed his signature style, inserting vibrant colors into his mezzotint designs that imbued them with an energetic liveliness. Moreover, he transformed his recognizable subjects of still-life and city scenes into simplified, abstract forms that took on entirely new visual meanings. By the start of the 1960s, Hamaguchi, alongside other Japanese print artists, was recognized in various international art competitions for their revolutionary printing techniques and the strength of their designs. Hamaguchi's international success enshrined him as an icon of Contemporary Japanese prints. 

Rooftops of Paris was one of Hamaguchi's first colored mezzotints and is considered among his most important designs. The work depicts the city of Paris seen at a distance. The innovativeness of the artist's style is evident in the windowless rectangular and trapezoidal buildings that appear stacked or positioned in seemingly infinite rows. Hamaguchi employed non-localized colors as chimneys and edges of the roofs are depicted in blue, white, and light brown hues over blackened structures. Every building appears to emerge from a blackened void emanating a soft ethereal luminescence that consolidates the sublime with the surreal, a fitting tribute to the famed City of Light.

Connoisseur's Note

This print is one of two designs the artist produced depicting the city of Paris. Both works were among the artist's first colored mezzotints produced during Hamaguchi's second extended stay in Paris. This design was entirely self-directed and printed by Hamaguchi's hand. The design was executed in a very limited run of 50 impressions and is considered among the artist's most successful and sought-after works. This particular print is an exceedingly fine state of preservation with sharp and vivid colors.