E.084 Structure with vapour trails 1993; reworked 1995

• I. 1st state of 6, 1993

  Etching. A platform raised on tall wooden columns stands in the shallow waters of a river, near its mouth. At the left are steps with a metal railing, and on the right is a flat-topped building. In the distance are industrial cranes. Vapour trails from a passing aeroplane are visible in the sky at the upper right, while smoke billows from the tallest of three chimneys at the left. The subject has been lightly etched. There are two 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: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Structure with Vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.
  2. Impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Structure with Vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘2’, this is an impression of the first state.

• I.a. 1st state of 6, 1993

  

  Etching. A platform raised on tall wooden columns stands in the shallow waters of a river, near its mouth. At the left are steps with a metal railing, and on the right is a flat-topped building. In the distance are industrial cranes. Vapour trails from a passing aeroplane are visible in the sky at the upper right, while smoke billows from the tallest of three chimneys at the left. The subject has been lightly etched. There are two variant impressions of this state.

• II. 2nd state of 6, 1993

  Cross-hatching has been added to many areas of the image. The billows of smoke from the chimney at left have been more precisely modelled with etching. The reflection of the flat-topped building, in the lower right corner, has been extended with vertical etched lines.

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

• III. 3rd state of 6, 1993

  The columns of the central structure, together with the short side of its roof, have received additional hatching, so that the structure now has greater clarity. Several strokes of drypoint have been added to the rocks at right. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Structure with Vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘4’, this is an impression of the third state.
  2. Cleanly wiped impression with plate tone, on wove Arches paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘5 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Structure with Vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. Although inscribed ‘5’, this is an impression of the third state.

• III.a. 3rd state of 6, 1993

  

  The columns of the central structure, together with the short side of its roof, have received additional hatching, so that the structure now has greater clarity. Several strokes of drypoint have been added to the rocks at right. There are two variant impressions of this state.

• IV. 4th state of 6, 1993

  Drypoint has been added to the building at right. The impression has been extensively reworked in pen and indian ink.

  Impression on wove paper, printed, and extensively touched with pen and ink, by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower centre: ‘Structure with vapour trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.

• IV. 4th state of 6, 1993, extensively touched with pen and ink

  

  Drypoint has been added to the building at right. The impression has been extensively reworked in pen and indian ink.

• V. 5th state of 6, 1993

  

  Following the pen and ink amendments of the fourth state, many contours of individual compositional elements have been strengthened and clarified with etching and drypoint, but some of the proposed changes, including those to the steps in the lower left corner, and those to the sky, have not been carried. The clouds at the upper left have been partially burnished.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Structure with Vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.

• VI. 6th and final state, 1995

  The plate has been extensively reworked in drypoint, following the pen and ink changes made in the fourth state. The building at the right now has a low addition, which juts out to the left. Vertical and oblique strokes, suggesting a rainstorm, have been added to the sky at the upper left. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower centre: ‘Structure with Vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  2. Impression on buff wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Structure with vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’. (Featured Image)

• VI.b. Artist’s proof of 6th and final state, 1995, on buff paper (Featured Image)

  

  The plate has been extensively reworked in drypoint, following the pen and ink changes made in the fourth state. The building at the right now has a low addition, which juts out to the left. Vertical and oblique strokes, suggesting a rainstorm, have been added to the sky at the upper left. There are two variant impressions of this state.

• Edition, 1995

  Nominal edition of ten, but only two impressions were printed and numbered. These are on wove paper and were printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[1 or 2]/10’; lower centre: ‘Structure with Vapour Trails’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.

  Edition sheet size: 284 x 380 mm

• Comment

  This subject recurs, with variations, in several of Amor’s works, including a charcoal drawing from 1994, Structure under Westgate Bridge (Niagara Galleries 1997), and the etching Yarraville, 1994 (cat. no. E.089). The earliest version is a woodcut, Westgate, 1987, which is in reverse direction to E.084 and does not include the vapour trails.

  While it is not absolutely topographically accurate, the view depicted in the etching shows the lower reaches of Melbourne’s Yarra River, near its mouth; in the distance at left is the suburb of Yarraville, its incinerator smoking. The flat-topped structure at the centre of the image is a remnant from the building of the West Gate Bridge, which was completed in 1978.

  The charcoal drawing Structure under Westgate Bridge appears to have been made after Amor had completed work on his initial version of E.084, in 1993. It was the dark and moody tones of the drawing that in 1995 prompted the artist to return to the print. He then created a sixth and final state of this work, liberally adding drypoint throughout the plate as he carried changes he had proposed in 1993 by means of pen and ink amendments at the fourth state.