Encounters with copperplate prints (about 1954 to 1960)
After graduating from Tokyo Fine Arts School, Fukazawa took his father-in-law’s advice and set up an atelier in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture in 1950. He also worked as an art teacher at a local high school. Initially, his medium was oil painting, and his works were exhibited at the JIYU BIJUTSU “Free Art” exhibition. The following year, however, he suddenly suffered tuberculous arthritis, the result of an injury received in the bombing of Tokyo. He was forced to live with his right knee in a corset for the next six years. Fukazawa reluctantly abandoned the creation of large-scale oil paintings and began producing copperplate prints in 1954. These prints were smaller and allowed him to make use of metal engraving techniques he had learned during his college days.
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/骨疾E-212x300.jpg)
Bone Sickness, 1955
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/ブルネット・ラティーニ-245x300.jpg)
Brunetto Latini “The Divine Comedy” - "the Inferno” by Dante, 1956
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/笑いの底-246x300.jpg)
Bottom of Smile, 1961
Encounters with Mexico(about 1962-1970)
In 1962, after receiving the Excellence Award in the Print Division of the 5th Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition, he was invited by the Mexico International Culture Promotion Association to spend more than 3 months in Mexico City teaching the skills required to produce copperplate prints. Fukazawa's training and demonstrations, all strikingly original, had a great impact on the Mexican copperplate print industry, which had previously known only etching and aquatint. During his stay, Fukazawa was thrilled by the ancient civilizations of the Maya and Aztecs and stimulated by the vibrant land of Mexico. After returning to Japan, he began to work energetically to introduce a new style of prints. Instead of the delicate monochrome world of the past, his new works conveyed the energy of the people in a powerful style combining abstract figures and symbolic colors, bold cutting of copper plates, and color printing techniques.
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/青い假面-188x300.jpg)
Blue Masque, 1964
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/楯-192x300.jpg)
Shield, 1967
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/窓-213x300.jpg)
Window, 1972
Revisiting Mexico(about 1974 to 1980)
Fukazawa returned to Mexico for the first time in 11 years to hold a solo exhibition in 1974. On this revisit, Fukazawa enthusiastically explored the ruins of the ancient Mayan civilization and Indio villages, and began frequent use of "shadow" in his titles. Here “shadow” refers to the darkness of the Spanish aggression that still stains Mexican culture.
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/海の火花-247x300.jpg)
Sparks of the Sea, 1974
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/影(メヒコ)A-203x300.jpg)
Shadow (Mexico) A, 1974
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/地母神A-300x203.jpg)
Mother Goddess, 1978
Late to Last Years(about 1980-2010)
In the 1980s, Fukuzawa’s style changed again. His motifs changed from the distant history of Mexico to familiar objects surrounding the artist himself, and the human being abstracted in the virtual space of his prints was depicted as something humorous. The mezzotint technique that produces a smooth matière became his turn-to. Since around 1991, however, the mezzotint technique was concealed, and a variety of techniques developed through trial and error experiments were comprehensively integrated in his work.
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/城郭の中の人-175x300.jpg)
Men in the Castle, 1983
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/紫煙-217x300.jpg)
Purple Smoke, 1993
![](https://lsm-ichihara.jp/en/images/2021/05/青い林檎-156x300.jpg)
Blue Apple, 2006