
Etching and burnishing. A large rock formation dominates the plate, finishing near the left margin; below the rock is a narrow strip of choppy sea. Behind the principal rock is another, taller one with a crevice at the upper right, through which the sky is visible. There are dark clouds along the left edge that are lightly burnished in several places.
The outline and contours of both rock formations have been substantially darkened and thickened with drypoint, particularly along the upper horizontal of the front formation and at its topmost left peak. The clouds along the left have been further lightened with a burnisher. Dark accents have been added to the waves in two places at the lower right.
- Catalogue Number
- E.118
- Title and Date
- Dark coast 1998
- Description of Featured Image
- Two large rock formations, one in front of the other, together form an irregular rectangle of cliffs that dominates the composition, finishing near the left margin; below is a narrow strip of choppy sea. The further section of rock has a deep crevice at the upper right through which the sky is visible.
- Where Made
- Alphington, Melbourne
- Medium Category and Technique
- Intaglio Print: Etching, burnishing and drypoint on copper
- Support
- Wove paper. Identified papers: No papers identified.
- Dimensions
-
Image size: 88 x 114 mm
Matrix size: 88 x 114 mm - Artist’s Record Number
- EX.8. Amor’s intaglio record books do not contain an entry for this work.
- Printer(s) and Workshop(s)
- All impressions printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio.
- Summary Edition Information
- Four states. Nominal edition of ten, but only three impressions printed and numbered, 1998.
- Collections
- State Library of Victoria, Melbourne: three state impressions, numbered 1 through 3; bon à tirer impression; ed. 2/10.
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra: ed. 1/10 (2007.620).
- Comment
Dark coast, with its pronounced abstract quality, is based on a painting of the ocean cliffs and the sea that Amor made on site at Port Campbell, Victoria. He adapted the painted view to the smaller format of the etching plate by focusing on the cliffs, to the exclusion of their ocean setting, and by shifting the horizon downward and allowing the dark, irregular rectangle of rock to occupy virtually the entire pictorial space. The cliffs’ surfaces are depicted in a cubistic manner, with areas of parallel hatching going in various directions, suggesting not only form but weight.
Throughout his work on the plate, and especially from the second state onwards, as he began to burnish back areas of sky, Amor kept his focus on the cliffs, and wiped the state impressions cleanly. Only in the artist’s proofs printed as part of the edition did he experiment with plate tone. This experimentation survived into the edition, which, though tiny, is variably printed.
- Keywords
- Port Campbell, Victoria
- URL
- https://catalogue.rickamor.com.au/works/intaglio/dark-coast/
Record last updated 16/02/2021