Assignment 8: Modern Print

"Round About Midnight No.7" (1977) by, MARUYAMA Hiroshi

Edition 7/50

Woodblock print

19 1/4 x 25 3/8

MARUYAMA Hiroshi was born in Tochigi prefecture in 1953. He graduated from Tokyo School of Fine Arts. The artist works in abstract style, playing with different forms. Merritt and Yamada wrote of his work, "prints of the 1970's featured wide bands of deftly printed color undulating across dark backgrounds". 

This print is called "Round About Midnight No. 7". It appears to have been named after Miles Davis' 1956 album, Round About Midnight". At the time of this print's production, Japan was one of the most responsive cultures to American music. Kissaten (or Japanese style coffee shops) were dispersed around the cities. They played popular jazz music on great stereos; these were great places for people to just hang out. MARUYAMI Hiroshi was one of the youths that were very much involved in this movement and loved jazz.

This piece is a woodblock print piece. The colored bands that gradate form two trumpet bells.  One could look at this piece and think that is all to it, but there was a lot more thought and time that must have gone through this piece.  The way the colors blend so seamlessly into the the black background must have took a lot of time and technique.  The choice of colors seem thought out nicely.  The blues and greens over the black give this print a sense of quiescence but also how the colors sweep up and down give it a sense of motion.  There are also warm colors (red, orange, and yellow) that are spiked between the blues and greens giving the image a little punch.  The white down the middle is interesting because in the midst of the blacks and blues it stands out and draws the viewer in initially; afterwards, it lets the viewers make out the shape of the two trumpets and start getting a sense of what the print may try to convey.

When I first saw this piece, I did not know the background of the piece and just tried to look at it and figure out how I felt.  I didn't even know it was a woodblock print because it was so different from typical woodblock styles.  I felt very peaceful looking at the piece, but thought that the white had a interesting, almost violent affect on the piece.  It didn't ruin the piece, but it was a nice sharp contrast compared to the calm waves of color.  After learning of the background information of this piece, I felt I understood what MARUYAMA was trying to portray.  The ways the bold bands are arranged and based on the color choices, it seems that MARUYAMA may have been trying to render a sense of sound or movement.  The way the colors form valleys and the shading make it seem like the colors are angled toward the viewer, so it's almost as if the colors are coming at you.  After listening to Miles Davis' album, I could get a sense of why he chose the particular color combination he used.  The instruments used were played very soothingly but there would be times in the song where the instruments would crescendo and play with a bang, or there would be times the music would pause and then play with a bang.  What I got from this print is that when the artist listened to jazz, they felt a sense of serenity but also felt a little festive and fun.  It seems like he is trying to show the essence of jazz.