E.146 Building by a canal, Venice 2007

• I. 1st state of 2

  

  Etching. An ancient dilapidated turret with a pointed roof sits atop a wooden sluice gate; the structure is set into the corner of two adjoining buildings made of bricks and with peeling render. The subject is etched in all its essential details.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Martin King at the Venice Printmaking Studio, Venice. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 07’.

• II. 2nd and final state

  Drypoint accents have been added across many areas of the plate, to provide tonal contrast and to give the architectural details greater definition. There are three variant impressions of this state.

  1. Cleanly wiped impression with strong burr, on wove paper, printed by Martin King at the Venice Printmaking Studio, Venice. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-2’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 07’.
  2. Impression with plate tone, on wove Hahnemühle paper with watermark, printed by Martin King at the Venice Printmaking Studio, Venice. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2-2’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 07’.
  3. Impression with dark plate tone, on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Martin King at the Venice Printmaking Studio, Venice. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3-2’; lower centre: ‘Building by a Canal Venice’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 07’.

• II.a. 2nd and final state

  

  Drypoint accents have been added across many areas of the plate, to provide tonal contrast and to give the architectural details greater definition. There are three variant impressions of this state.

• Edition, 2007

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, on wove Velin Arches paper, uniformly printed with a light, even film of plate tone, by Rosalind Atkins at the Australian Print Workshop, Fitzroy (Melbourne). The edition included a bon à tirer impression, an artist’s proof, two APW workshop proofs, and one presentation proof. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Building by a Canal Venice’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 07’. Chop mark embossed in lower right corner: ‘APW [within rectangle]’.

• Edition impression, 2007 (Featured Image)

  

• Comment

  This is one of four Venice etchings that Amor drew directly onto the copper plate, in front of the subject; the drypoint accents were added later. The ancient architecture depicted in this print is reminiscent of some of the buildings and architectural fragments seen in Charles Meryon’s engravings of medieval Paris.

  The etching was substantially resolved in the first state. In the second state, however, Amor used drypoint additions to clarify architectural details and to achieve a livelier tonal modulation of the surface. He also experimented with plate tone and decided upon having the edition printed with a light film of plate tone. The resulting effect was in keeping with the decrepitude of the subject matter, and consistent with Amor’s response to the Venetian environment as a whole: ‘all darkness and death’, in his view.