E.097 Outlying district 1995

• I. 1st state of 2

  Etching. A flat, bleak landscape with a low horizon and with a road receding into the distance. The road is lined with telegraph poles on the left, and tall posts on the right. There is a shallow pool of water at the right, and a cluster of tall city buildings can be seen in the far right distance. This state is executed in pure etching. There are eight variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with light plate tone, on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  2. Cleanly wiped impression on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’. Although inscribed ‘2’, this is an impression of the first state.
  3. Selectively wiped impression with light plate tone in the lower part of the composition, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 95’. Although inscribed ‘3’, this is an impression of the first state.
  4. Cleanly wiped impression with the lightly etched lines not printing clearly, on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’. Although inscribed ‘4’, this is an impression of the first state.
  5. Cleanly wiped impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  6. Strong yet delicate impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  7. Impression with much speckled plate tone and distinct wiping marks, especially at the lower right, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  8. Cleanly wiped impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP IV’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.

• I.c. 1st state of 2

  

  Etching. A flat, bleak landscape with a low horizon and with a road receding into the distance. The road is lined with telegraph poles on the left, and tall posts on the right. There is a shallow pool of water at the right, and a cluster of tall city buildings can be seen in the far right distance. This state is executed in pure etching. There are eight variant impressions of this state.

• II. 2nd and final state

  Drypoint has been applied throughout the composition. A small bird is now depicted sitting on the wire of the closest telegraph pole. A V-shaped scratch adjacent to the tallest building in the right distance has been burnished away. There are seven variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with rich burr, on buff wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘5 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’. Although inscribed ‘5’, this is an impression of the second and final state. (Featured Image)
  2. Selectively wiped impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP V’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  3. Impression with rich burr, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP VI’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  4. More cleanly wiped impression than II.c, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP VII’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  5. Clean impression with burr, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP VIII’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  6. Impression with rich burr and light plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP IX’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.
  7. Selectively wiped impression with rich burr and light plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP X’; lower centre: ‘Outlying District’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’.

• II.a. 2nd and final state, on buff paper (Featured Image)

  

  Drypoint has been applied throughout the composition. A small bird is now depicted sitting on the wire of the closest telegraph pole. A V-shaped scratch adjacent to the tallest building in the right distance has been burnished away. There are seven variant impressions of this state.

• No edition

• Comment

  This etching is based on a drawing done on the spot in the inner western suburb of Port Melbourne. Near Lorimer Street and Williamstown Road, in the vicinity of Webb Dock, the location at which Amor made his drawing is no longer accessible, as the area is now being developed as part of the expansion of the port.

  There are two versions of E.097, corresponding to its two states: the first was executed in pure etching, while the second was extensively worked with drypoint. It is clear from the number of variant impressions that Amor printed, and from the fact that there was no edition of this work, that the artist had difficulty in obtaining the effect he wanted. The uniformly light etching of the first state was inadequate to the task of conveying spatial recession. This prompted extensive revisions in drypoint, but this major change brought its own challenges, as it meant that the printing process was not easy to control.