E.079 Path in the gardens 1993

• I. 1st state of 2

  

  Drypoint. A path curves uphill from the lower left, through a garden with large trees. On the crest of the hill is a tall street lamp, with another beyond it at its right. The crowns of several trees are visible over the crest of the hill. In the foreground at right, a figure walks along a forking path. The sky is blank. The composition is scored in drypoint.

  Impression with plate tone, on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Path in the Gardens’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.

• II. 2nd and final state

  Much new work in drypoint has been added across the plate. The composition now includes a second figure, who is seen walking along the central path, in the middle distance. Clouds have been added to the sky.

  Impression on wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘Bon à tirer’; lower centre: ‘Path in the Gardens’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’. This the second and final state is also a bon à tirer impression and forms part of the edition.

• Edition, 1993

  Nominal edition of ten, but only two impressions were printed and numbered. These are on wove BFK Rives paper and were printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. The edition included a bon à tirer impression (described under ‘II. 2nd and final state’, above) and one artist’s proof. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 or 2]/10’; lower centre: ‘Path in the Gardens’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’93’.

  Edition sheet size: 380 x 286 mm

• Edition impression, 1993 (Featured Image)

  

  Much new work in drypoint has been added across the plate. The composition now includes a second figure, who is seen walking along the central path, in the middle distance. Clouds have been added to the sky.

• Comment

  Amor recalls that this drypoint was based on a drawing, now lost, of the Fitzroy Gardens, a public park on the edge of central Melbourne. The drawing served also as the model for a woodcut, In the gardens, 1993, which depicts the same rise in the Fitzroy Gardens, but from a slightly different perspective.

  In making these two prints, Amor has in each case harnessed the expressive potential of the particular technique used: in the drypoint, there has been an expressive, graphic scoring of the copper plate, and, in the woodcut, an energetic, angular cutting of the block.

  For other intaglio prints by Amor that depict Fitzroy Gardens subjects, see cat. nos E.007, E.071 and E.136.