E.051 Cypresses, Barcelona 1991

• I. 1st state of 5

  

  Etching. View onto a city square, with a low, winding wall at the right; at the end of this wall is an equestrian statue of a ruler, facing right. In the centre foreground stands a cypress, and there are four other cypresses in the distance. To the left is a wall, of irregular profile, with conspicuous protrusions. Most elements of the subject have been rendered with an even mesh of thin cross-hatching.

  Impression on cream wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Cypresses Barcelona’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

• II. 2nd state of 5

  The building at left, the trees and the monument have been worked over with etched modelling, and are now darker. The top of the zigzag wall and the blank area around the steps are now covered with scattered and irregular etched strokes. The outer edge of the silhouetted buildings in the distance has been burnished to soften it, and burnishing areas occur also at the left of the plate.

  Impression on cream wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Cypresses Barcelona’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 91’.

• III. 3rd state of 5

  

  The plate has been extensively burnished in order to lighten the overall tone. In the foreground, the area just to the left of the zigzag wall, and the small triangular section of the right side of the wall have been re-etched. The ramp to the left of the steps has been given additional small etched strokes. Touches of drypoint have been added to the upper contour of the horse, to the two low bushes at left and to the cypress at the far left.

  Impression on cream wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Cypresses Barcelona’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 91’.

• IV. 4th state of 5

  More burnishing has been applied to the left side of the zigzag wall, to the circular plot beneath the central tree and to the ground surrounding it.

  Impression on cream wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Cypresses Barcelona’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

• V. 5th and final state

  The plate has been further burnished in order to lighten and subdue the overall tonal pitch of the image. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Cleanly wiped impression on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP’; lower centre: ‘Cypresses Barcelona’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’. (Featured Image)
  2. Selectively wiped impression with plate tone, on wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP’; lower centre: ‘Cypresses Barcelona’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

• V.a. Artist’s proof of 5th and final state (Featured Image)

  

  The plate has been further burnished in order to lighten and subdue the overall tonal pitch of the image. There are two variant impressions of this state.

• Edition, 1991

  Nominal edition of ten, but only seven impressions were printed and numbered. These are on wove BFK Rives paper and were printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[1 through 7]/10’; lower centre: ‘Cypresses Barcelona’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’91’.

  Edition sheet size: 280 x 285 mm

• Comment

  This etching depicts the same subject as that seen in Plaça Ramon Berenguer el Gran, Barcelona (cat. no. E.050), but is in reverse direction and is highly finished. Cypresses, Barcelona is based on Amor’s oil painting Plaça Ramon Berenguer el Gran, 1991 (Catalano 2001), for which the artist made a preparatory study in gouache, dated 8 July 1991 and painted in Barcelona (Art Gallery of Ballarat, inv. no. 2008.53).

  From its first state, E.051 was rendered tonally through an even mesh of cross-hatching. In the second state, the subject’s details, and the spatial clarity of the composition, were enhanced with etching, while in the following three states Amor used etching, drypoint and burnishing to calibrate the tonal aspects of the image. To establish the correct range of tones, he closely followed his painting, with its non-naturalistic colours – its yellows, creams, olive greens, and bleached light brown, create an effect that is virtually monochromatic.

  For Amor’s other intaglio prints depicting Barcelona subjects, see cat. nos E.050, E.052 and E.060.