ON THE TABLE

30-Year-Old Silkscreens Found in the Atelier

Mizumaru Anzai (1942 - 2014) is one of the most widely recognized illustrators in Japan. He started his career in the 1970s, and was also active as a cartoonist and an essayist. He is best known for his drawings/designs for the books by the novelist Haruki Murakami. Mizumaru Anzai was the illustrator Haruki Murakami has worked most often with. It has been three years since ANZAI passed away all too suddenly. These silkscreen pieces were discovered during the clean-up of his studio after his death. They consist of early works drawn between 1987 and 1991. All are private works for his solo exhibitions. The layouts impart the sense of tension, delicately drawn lines, and translucent colors, and are impressive for their tranquility and sophistication. This book contains 30 original silkscreen pieces, most of which have never before been featured in a book.

This book is printed with inks with high pigment concentration in order to vividly recreate the unique colors and shades of the original silkscreens. The spine carries the foil-stamped autograph of Mizumaru Anzai. As it is difficult to ensure the quality of white foil-stamps, a specifically developed brass print block was used. The overall design was created by Akinobu Maeda, the art director for the japanese fashion magazine “POPEYE”.

All photos by Baci