E.046 Sleeping woman 1991; reworked 1993

• I. 1st state of 13, 1991

  

  Soft-ground etching. The head and shoulders of a sleeping woman; she faces right, her head resting on a large pillow. She wears a thick sweater and has a scarf around her head, and she sleeps with one arm tucked under her chin, the other under her head.

  Impression on wove Fabriano paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

• II. 2nd state of 13, 1991

  Line etching has been added. There is now cross-hatching in the upper left background, and oblique hatching on the pillow beneath the head; oblique lines have also been added in the lower right corner. Etched lines have been added to the hair, and diagonal hatching to areas of the face including the upper lip and under the nose.

  Impression on wove Fabriano paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

• III. 3rd state of 13, 1991

  The right contour of the face has been strengthened and the shadowed area of the face darkened; the folds in the sweater have also been strengthened. Further hatching has been added to the pillow near the face.

  Impression on wove Fabriano paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

• IV. 4th state of 13, 1991

  The bridge of the nose, as well as the forehead at right, has been burnished. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove Fabriano paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.
  2. Impression with plate tone, on wove Fabriano paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘5 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’. Although inscribed ‘5’, this is an impression of the fourth state.

• V. 5th state of 13, 1991

  The right contour of the face and the lower left contour of the scarf have been darkened with more etching.

  Impression on wove Fabriano paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘6 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’. Although inscribed ‘6’, this is the fifth state.

• VI. 6th state of 13, 1991

  

  Drypoint accents have been added to the folds in the sweater, to the facial contour on the right side, and to the lower area of the background at left.

  Impression in sepia ink, on cream wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘7 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’. Although inscribed ‘7’, this is the sixth state.

• VII. 7th state of 13, 1991

  

  Most of the drypoint accents added in the previous state have been burnished, with new ones introduced in the area of folds below the face.

  Impression in sepia ink, on cream wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘8 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’. Although inscribed ‘8’, this is the seventh state.

• VIII. 8th state of 13, 1991

  Oblique drypoint hatching has been added to the left sleeve, and to the right sleeve where it meets the left one.

  Impression in sepia ink, on cream wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘9 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’. Although inscribed ‘9’, this is the eighth state.

• IX. 9th state of 13, 1991

  Further diagonal drypoint hatching has been added at the junction of the sleeves. There are four variant impressions of this state, including a maculature.

  1. Cleanly wiped impression in sepia ink, on cream wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.
  2. Selectively wiped impression in sepia ink, on buff wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.
  3. Impression with rich burr and plate tone, in sepia ink, on buff wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.
  4. Maculature on cream wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1/1’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

• IX.b. Artist’s proof of 9th state of 13, 1991, printed in sepia ink on buff paper

  

  Further diagonal drypoint hatching has been added at the junction of the sleeves. There are four variant impressions of this state, including a maculature.

• X. 10th state of 13, 1993

  Drypoint has been added throughout the plate: to the bottom of the right sleeve; to the pillow, at the lower right and near the head; to the hair; to the scarf, at its lower left and its upper contour; and to the left shoulder. Etched lines have been added to the hairline at left. The area to the left of the shadow below the nose appears to have been burnished.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘1’, this is the tenth state.

• XI. 11th state of 13, 1993 (Featured Image)

  

  Oblique drypoint strokes have been added in the upper left background; curved lines appear at the elbow of the right arm, and elsewhere on the right sleeve.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘2’, this is the eleventh state.

• XII. 12th state of 13, 1993

  Touches of drypoint have been added to the area just above the cuff of the right sleeve.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘3’, this is the twelfth state.

• XIII. 13th and final state, 1993

  The contour of the nose now continues to the upper lip. There are seven variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘4’, this is an impression of the thirteenth and final state.
  2. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘5’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘5’, this is an impression of the thirteenth and final state.
  3. Dry impression on wove Arches paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘6’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘6’, this is an impression of the thirteenth and final state.
  4. Rich impression with emphatic burr, on wove Arches paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘7 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Sleeping Woman’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘7’, this is an impression of the thirteenth and final state.
  5. Cleanly wiped impression on wove Arches paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.
  6. Impression with rich burr, on wove Arches paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.
  7. Dark impression with rich burr and much plate tone, on wove Arches paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.

• No edition

• Comment

  This etching is based closely on a pencil drawing in the 1991–92 sketchbook, in which Amor depicts his partner, the artist Meg Williams, asleep. In the drawing, dated 11 March 1991, Amor focused on capturing the sleeping pose and the details of the face, while leaving the background blank, and barely articulating the pillow. In the etching, in which the pose is reversed, he was concerned more with establishing mood through modelling and tone, while also giving close attention to the accurate rendering of the folds of the sweater and the complicated position of the arms.

  In 1991, despite having persisted through nine states of the etching, and numerous refinements of tone, Amor was not prepared to print an edition. He resumed work on the plate two years later, in 1993. Once again, however, although he took E.046 through another four states and several variant printings, he decided against printing an edition.