E.155 Road 2008; reworked and retitled 2009 (as Winter), reworked and retitled 2018 (as The Road), reworked and retitled 2018 (as The Road II), reworked and retitled 2020 (as Winter II)

• I. 1st state of 19, 2008

  Etching. A segment of a raised roadway, viewed in profile, traverses the entire plate. The roadway is supported on three piers, with an oblique buttress at the right. In the foreground is a rocky bank, with a creek visible beside a curving dirt road at the lower right. Between the piers, in the distant background, can be seen a row of bushy trees. The subject is lightly etched and printed very faintly.

  Cleanly wiped, faint impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.

• II. 2nd state of 19, 2008

  

  The plate has been etched with hatching and cross-hatching to better define the subject. This layer of etching stands out black against the faint grey of the first state.

  Impression on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-2’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.

• III. 3rd state of 19, 2008

  More etching has been added throughout the plate, including to the clouds in the sky. Little of the initial faint grey image remains visible. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-3’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  2. Fainter impression on wove Hahnemühle paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-4’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Although inscribed ‘1-4’, this is an impression of the third state.

• III.a. 3rd state of 19, 2008

  

  More etching has been added throughout the plate, including to the clouds in the sky. Little of the initial faint grey image remains visible. There are two variant impressions of this state.

• IV. 4th state of 19, 2008

  Hatching has been added to the columns and roadway, and reflections have been added to the pool of water at left. The light, un-etched area in the left distance has been shaded with horizontal hatching. The whole subject is now more tonally defined.

  Impression on buff wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-5’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Although inscribed ‘1-5’, this is the fourth state.

• V. 5th state of 19, 2008

  

  A regular mesh of hatching and cross-hatching has been added throughout the foreground. The upper clouds are now more clearly defined, darker and more threatening. The plate has again been re-etched and the contrast between the light and the dark areas is now more emphatic.

  Impression on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-6’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Although inscribed ‘1-6’, this is the fifth state.

• VI. 6th state of 19, 2008

  The plate has again been worked tonally, but this time with a burnisher, which has been used to tone down the deep blacks and insert highlights in the clouds, the rocks in the foreground, and the concrete structure. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-7’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Although inscribed ‘1-7’, this is an impression of the sixth state.
  2. Impression with plate tone, on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2-7’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Although inscribed ‘2-7’, this is an impression of the sixth state.

• VII. 7th state of 10, 2008

  The concrete blocks in the lower right foreground have been burnished, adding depth to the foreground and thus to the whole.

  Impression on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-8’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Although inscribed ‘1-8’, this is the seventh state.

• VIII. 8th state of 19, 2008

  Drypoint has been added to many of the contours of the roadway structure and to the foreground. There are three variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I/III’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  2. Dark impression with plate tone, on wove Hahnemühle paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II/III’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.
  3. Dark, selectively wiped impression with plate tone, on wove Hahnemühle paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III/III’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’.

• VIII.a. 8th state of 19, 2008

  

  Drypoint has been added to many of the contours of the roadway structure and to the foreground. There are three variant impressions of this state.

• First edition, 2008

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, on wove Velin Arches paper, printed by Rosalind Atkins at the Australian Print Workshop, Fitzroy (Melbourne), November 2008. The edition was uniformly printed with plate tone, and selectively wiped, leaving a film of ink on the concrete structure, the hatched areas in the foreground and the clouds. It included a bon à tirer impression, an artist’s proof and two APW workshop proofs. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 08’. Chop mark embossed in lower right corner: ‘APW [within a horizontal rectangle]’.

   

  Edition sheet size: 280 x 380 mm

• Edition impression (first edition, 2008) (Featured Image)

  

• IX. 9th state of 19, 2009, as Winter

  

  The plate was substantially reworked in 2009 and the title was changed to Winter. Much of the foreground has been burnished and only the two largest openings beneath the roadway have views onto the landscape beyond. A leafless sapling tree has been inserted at the left. Drypoint has been added to the sky, to the roadway structure, and to places in the foreground. An irregular veil of etched vertical lines, indicating rain, may be seen beneath the roadway.

  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: ‘1-1’; lower centre: ‘Winter’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 09’.

• X. 10th state of 19, 2009, as Winter

  Drypoint accents have been added to the upper right of the roadway and to the sky. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower centre: ‘Winter’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 09’.
  2. More cleanly wiped impression, with light plate tone around the edges of the plate, but wiped more cleanly in the two large openings under the roadway, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Winter’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 09’.

• Second edition, 2009, as Winter

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, on wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Andrew Gunnell at Chrysalis Publishing Studio, East Melbourne. The edition impressions were uniformly printed with light plate tone on the outer edges of the plate, and more cleanly wiped at the centre of the image. The edition included two artist’s proofs, two printer’s proofs, and an hors commerce impression. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Winter’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor 09’.

   

  Edition sheet size: 280 x 380 mm

• Edition impression (second edition, 2009), as Winter

  

  Drypoint accents have been added to the upper right of the roadway and to the sky.

• XI – XIV. 11th to 14th state of 19, 2018, as The Road

  As The Road this etching went through four states, which were destroyed by the artist, as he notes that he was never satisfied with this version of the print. The image was then printed in a third edition, of which impressions 5/10, 6/10 and 7/10 were also destroyed.

• Third edition, 2018, as The Road

  Burnishing, etching and drypoint. In 2018, Amor changed the composition of this image significantly by burnishing the third pier on the right of the image, beneath the roadway. The space under the roadway is now defined by two main spaces, one is square and the other a pointed trapezium shape, caused by the oblique buttress. Amor has re-etched and added drypoint to significantly darken this image, raising the contrast between the areas beneath the roadway and the rest of the image. The two main spaces beneath the roadway now appear as two ‘windows’ to the landscape behind.

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, on wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Simon White at the Australian Print Workshop, Fitzroy (Melbourne), 2018. Impressions 5/10, 6/10 and 7/10 were destroyed. The edition included a Bon à tirer’ proof [destroyed by the artist], one artist’s proof, and a printer’s proof. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘The Road’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor 18’. Chop mark embossed in lower right corner: ‘APW [within horizontal rectangle]’.

   

  Edition sheet size: 280 x 406 mm

• Edition impression (third edition, 2018), as The Road 

  

• XV. 15th state of 19, 2018, as The Road II

  

  Amor significantly burnished the plate used for The Road, particularly on the roadway, the shadows cast by the roadway, the rocky bank in the foreground, the row of bushy trees in the distant background, and the overcast sky. Amor has also burnished the base of the sapling to the left of the image, so that it appears to grow from a new position, directly behind where it was initially planted, but on the slight incline. After burnishing, Amor added new etched lines in the underside of the roadway and in the sky above the roadway. The artist has then used a drypoint tool to emphasise areas of shadow throughout the image.

  Impression on wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1/1’, lower centre: ‘The Road II; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor ‘18’.

• XVI. 16th state of 19, 2018, as The Road II

  Amor has burnished back dark areas on the roadway and on the supporting piers and buttress. On the underside of the roadway Amor has re-etched crosshatching marks, giving the area a more even appearance. In the space underneath the buttress and across the foreground of the plate, the artist has used drypoint to even out the shadows, giving less focus to individual shadows and conveying a more uniform effect of darkness. The split in the trunk of the sapling has been repaired with a few vertical drypoint lines, whereas the rocky bank behind the sapling has been etched and enhanced with drypoint to add more definition to each of the rocks. The creek at the lower right has had sparse, etched lines added to emphasise the movement of the water.

  Impression with plate tone on wove BFK Rives paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1/2’, lower centre: ‘The Road II; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor ‘18’.

• XVII. 17th state of 19, 2018, as The Road II

  

  In this state Amor has reinforced the trunk of the sapling with drypoint marks. The rocky bank behind the sapling has been burnished so that the area directly behind the trunk is cleaner, offering more contrast to the trunk. The buttress has been burnished on the side facing the viewer, while the space beneath the buttress has also been burnished. A vertical concrete join in the roadway centre left has been drawn over in drypoint to add a rich burr, while shadows under the roadway on each of the piers have also been deepened with drypoint. More significantly, Amor has greatly darkened the lower left corner of the image with rich, dark drypoint burr, so that no individual marks are discernible here.

  Impression with plate tone, selectively wiped, on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1/3’; lower centre: ‘The Road II’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor ‘18’.

• XVIII. 18th state of 19, 2018, as The Road II

  

  On the roadway, Amor has removed drypoint burr with a scraper on the concrete join centre right, on the left pier and on the lower left corner. On the upper section of the buttress the artist has burnished back some of the shadows, while in the space beneath the buttress, shadows have been burnished to lower contrast. Drypoint has been used to significantly alter the top of the buttress, where it meets the underside of the roadway. Amor has reshaped this point and removed a vertical plane. A small amount of vertical drypoint marks have been added on the roadway directly above this section.

  Impression with plate tone on wove BFK Rives ‘Arches’ paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1/4’; lower centre: ‘The Road II’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor ‘18’.

• Fourth edition, 2018, as The Road II

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, with plate tone on wove Somerset paper with watermark, printed by Rosalind Atkins at Kate Herd’s studio, Alphington, 2018. The edition included a Bon à tirer’ proof, a hors commerce impression, and an artist’s proof. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: The Road II; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor ‘18’.

   

  NB: Impression 1/10 and 10/10 were mis-inscribed by the artist as ‘The Road’ instead of ‘The Road II’.

   

  Edition sheet size: 288 x 378 mm

• Edition impression (forth edition, 2018), as The Road II

  

  On the far-left pier a supportive buttress has been shifted to the left, so that it now rests in the centre of the pier. This has been done with scraping and drypoint. The central pier, which featured a long, curving supportive buttress, has been burnished back and is now a simple, neat triangular shape. Drypoint accents have been added to these new, small buttress forms coming off the two piers.

• XIX. 19th and final state, 2020, as Winter II

  Amor has burnished the two supporting buttresses on each of the piers and completely removed them. In their place, he has richly cross-hatched the piers in drypoint lines. Etching lines have been added to the underside of the roadway, deepening the black in this section. On the right, centre edge of the plate there is a triangular form jutting into the image, which Amor has defined with etching to create a more three-dimensional shape. Amor has also used drypoint to slightly alter the profile of the sapling, to thicken the top of its trunk and extend the length of its branches. Drypoint has also been applied to the crowns of the bushy trees in the distant background. Sections of the foreground have also been drawn over with drypoint, specfically the rocky back section in the lower centre of the image, and on a diagonal rectangle form on the small path at the lower-right edge of the plate.

  Impression with plate tone on wove Somerset paper with watermark, printed by Rosalind Atkins at Kate Herd’s studio, Alphington. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1–1’; lower centre: ‘Winter II’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor ‘20’.

• Fifth Edition, 2020, as Winter II

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, with plate tone on wove Somerset paper with watermark, printed by Rosalind Atkins at Kate Herd’s studio, Alphington, 2018. The edition included a Bon à tirer’ proof and an artist’s proof. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Winter II’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R. Amor ‘20’.

   

  Edition sheet size: 288 x 378 mm

• Comment

  This etching is loosely based on a painting by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), Winter, or The flood, 1660–64 (Louvre, Paris) (Rosenberg & Christiansen 2008), and the print, in turn, became the model for Amor’s oil painting Winter, 2008 (Niagara Galleries 2009). Amor’s reference to Poussin is subtle, and more obvious in the painting than in the print: there are allusions to pictorial structure, atmospheric effects, and mood, rather than to specific details, and, unlike Poussin’s orchestrated wilderness, Amor’s setting is urban. The roadway in E.155 is not based on a particular construction, however, but is invented, and reinterpreted in the spirit of the compositional cadences found in Poussin’s painting.

  Amor’s longstanding interest in the paintings of Poussin was rekindled with the publication of Poussin and Nature: Arcadian Visions (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008), an exhibition catalogue by Pierre Rosenberg, Keith Christiansen and others. In 2008 Amor made one other reinterpretation of a painting by Poussin. Summer, 2008 (Niagara Galleries 2009), is based on Poussin’s painting of the same title, which, like his Winter, is one of the works in the late series The Four Seasons.

  E.155 was editioned for the first time in November 2008, after the completion of the eighth state, and was the last intaglio print that Amor made in that year. When he resumed work on it, in 2009, he reworked the plate so as to give the image a distinctly wintry appearance, and altered the title of the etching from Road to Winter. The plate underwent two state changes in 2009 before the second edition was printed.

  In 2018 Amor revisited this plate, and this state was retitled The Road, turning the image towards to its initial title (Road, 2008). In The Road, Amor has amended the supporting structures for the roadway, removing one of the three piers. This amendment gives the structure a simpler profile and opens up the space underneath the roadway. Four states were made as The Road, and the fourth state was printed in a third edition.

  Soon after Amor completed the edition for The Road, the artist returned to the plate and the resulting states were retitled The Road II. Amor significantly burnished the plate, reducing the appearance of shadows across the image. Throughout four additional states, Amor redrew over the burnished plate, to recreate the sharp geometry of the concrete roadway and its supports.

  Amor returned to this plate two years after The Road II in 2020, and the work’s nineteenth state was retitled Winter II, reflecting the title of an earlier version of the print (Winter, 2009). The major change in this version is the removal of two supporting buttresses on each of the piers. This continues Amor’s amendments to The Road II, which sought to simplify the geometry of the roadway structure. In this version the roadway piers are now plain, rectangular forms, unsupported by additional buttresses. Similar to when the earlier version The Road (2008) was amended to Winter (2009), Amor again darkened the clouds and deepened shadows, particular beneath the roadway, and over the entire rocky bank in the foreground.