E.067 Sea structure 1992

• I. 1st state of 4

  Drypoint. A railed platform stands in the sea, with the horizon visible in the far distance. On the platform are various navigational instruments. The sky is blank. The image is scored entirely in drypoint. There are three variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with rich burr, on wove Fabriano paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.
  2. Impression with plate tone, on wove Fabriano paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘2’, this is an impression of the first state.
  3. Impression with heavy plate tone and prominent horizontal wiping marks, on wove Fabriano paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘3’, this is an impression of the first state.

• I.a. 1st state of 4

  

  Drypoint. A railed platform stands in the sea, with the horizon visible in the far distance. On the platform are various navigational instruments. The sky is blank. The image is scored entirely in drypoint. There are three variant impressions of this state.

• II. 2nd state of 4

  More waves have been added to the sea. A stray scratch has been burnished away from above the inverted ‘U’-shape of the railing at left.

  Cleanly wiped impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘4’, this is the second state.

• III. 3rd state of 4

  Still more waves have been added to the sea, and tonal shading with roulette has been introduced to the structure. There are three variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘Bon à tirer’; lower centre: ‘Sea Structure’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. This impression of the third state is also a bon à tirer impression and forms part of the first edition.
  2. Impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I’; lower centre: ‘Sea Structure’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.
  3. More cleanly wiped impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Sea Structure’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. (Featured Image)

• III.a. 3rd state of 4 (bon à tirer impression)

  

  Still more waves have been added to the sea, and tonal shading with roulette has been introduced to the structure. There are three variant impressions of this state.

• III.c. Artist’s proof of 3rd state of 4 (Featured Image)

  

• First edition, 1992

  Nominal edition of ten, but only two impressions were printed and numbered (according to Amor’s intaglio record books). These are on wove paper and were printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Neither impression has been sighted and their whereabouts are unknown. The edition included a bon à tirer impression (described under ‘III. 3rd state of 4’, above).

• Second edition, 1992

  Variable edition of seven numbered impressions, on wove Arches paper (two sheets have a watermark), printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. The plate has been wiped differently for each impression. Each is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[1 through 7]/7’; lower centre: ‘Sea Structure’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.

  Edition sheet size: 380 x 284 mm

• IV. 4th and final state

  Much new work in drypoint has been added to the sky, giving it greater substance; large clouds have been introduced at the right. More waves have been added to the water, to suggest a choppy sea. New work with roulette has been added to the structure and to the dark shadow beneath it. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with rich burr, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘5’; lower centre: ‘Sea Structure’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘5’, this is an impression of the fourth and final state.
  2. Cleanly wiped impression with little burr, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III’; lower centre: ‘Sea Structure’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.

• Third edition, 1992

  Variable edition of eight numbered impressions, on wove Arches paper (one impression has a watermark), printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. The plate has been wiped differently for each impression. Each is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[1 through 8]/8’; lower centre: ‘Sea Structure’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.

  Edition sheet size: 377 x 286 mm

• Comment

  A drawing excursion down the Yarra River, taken by Amor and three of his artist friends on 20 February 1992, resulted in several drawings from which Amor later made prints; this drypoint is one of them. It is based on a quick, precisely dated pencil sketch of a structure that stood in the middle of the river at its mouth. It is difficult to identify the nature and purpose of this structure from the rough sketch, although Amor says that the function of the platform and its equipment was navigational. However, E.067 clearly shows that the artist was more interested in the geometric design of the structure than in describing its mechanisms. He depicts it standing in strict silhouette profile, looking like some kind of apparatus in outer space, but here firmly anchored in water.

  There are two distinct versions of the image in this print, with these corresponding to the third and fourth states of the drypoint, and thus to the second and third editions, respectively. The first version shows the subject with a blank sky and relatively still water; in the second, the sky is filled with clouds, and the sea is choppy. While E.067 was taken through only four states, Amor printed many variant impressions, both within the states and within the three editions of the print – with each of these impressions being differently wiped, whether slightly or considerably.

  E.067 was made on the verso of the copper plate used for the drypoint AS (Andrew Southall), 1992 (cat. no. E.061).

  The other intaglio prints that resulted from Amor’s drawing excursion on the Yarra in February 1992 are River marker, 1992 (cat. no. E.065), and Sea structures, 1992 (cat. no. E.069).