Etching. A man, seen from behind, sits facing a window in a large room; at his right is his reflection or the shadowy outline of another seated person. The room is reminiscent of a storage area in an old museum, with air conditioning ducts in the ceiling, and water or sewerage pipes at the lower right. In the left foreground stands a plinth supporting a large sculpture of an ancient Egyptian head viewed from the rear. There are two variant impressions of this state.
Further burnishing has been applied throughout the plate, including at the lower left of the sculpture and on its right side, making its volume now more apparent; burnishing is also prominent on the right wall and in the area of light around the seated man, whose outline now appears to dissolve.
The outline of the man’s head has been restored and the dark shadows on the right wall have been strengthened with additional etching. There are four variant impressions of this state.
According to Amor, additional burnished modelling was applied to the sculpture in this state, although this is difficult to see, due to the presence of plate tone on the state impression and on the impressions of the second edition.
- Catalogue Number
- E.131
- Title and Date
- Solitary life
2004; reworked 2005
- Description of Featured Image
- A man, seen from behind, sits facing a window in a large room. The room is reminiscent of a storage area in an old museum, with air conditioning ducts on the walls and ceiling, and water or sewerage pipes at the lower right. In the left foreground stands a plinth with a large sculpture of an ancient head, viewed from the rear.
- Where Made
- Alphington, Melbourne
- Medium Category and Technique
- Intaglio Print: Etching and burnishing on copper
- Support
- Wove paper. Identified papers: BFK Rives paper with watermark: ‘BFK RIVES / FRANCE’ with infinity symbol; Magnani paper with watermark: Romanesque ‘M’ with cross above.
- Dimensions
-
Image size: 150 x 200 mm
Matrix size: 150 x 200 mm - Artist’s Record Number
- RAE.156
- Printer(s) and Workshop(s)
- States I through IV printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. First edition, state V, and second edition, printed by Rosalind Atkins at the Australian Print Workshop, Fitzroy (Melbourne).
- Summary Edition Information
- Five states. Two editions. First edition: edition of twenty numbered impressions, 2004, as Lonely life. Second edition: edition of ten numbered impressions, 2005.
- Exhibitions
- University of Melbourne 2014: Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Parkville (Melbourne), The Piranesi Effect, 20 February – 25 May 2014, no. 45.
- Literature
- For an illustration of the painting Study for ‘Interview’, 2002, see Niagara Galleries, Rick Amor (exh. cat.), Niagara Galleries, Richmond, Victoria, 2004, cat. no. 4.
- Collections
- State Library of Victoria, Melbourne: nine state impressions, numbered 1-1 through 1-4, 2-1, 2-2, 2-4, 3-4, 4-4, all dated 2004 (as Lonely life); AP 1/2, dated 2004 (as Lonely life); AP, dated 2005 (as Solitary life).
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne: ed. 3/10, dated 2005 (as Solitary life) (2012.419).
- Comment
A version of the subject of E.131, set in an anonymous bureaucratic space, first appeared in Amor’s work in the painting Study for ‘Interview’, 2002 (Niagara Galleries 2004). This painting was succeeded in 2003 by Study for ‘Solitary life’, a small oil showing a composition similar to that in Study for ‘Interview’ but incorporating a rear view of an ancient sculpture, thereby making it clear that the setting depicted was a museum. The present etching is based closely on this small study, but is in reverse orientation.
The architectural features of the setting have been drawn from several locations. The central window comes from the Nicholas Building (built 1926), on the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane, Melbourne, and the details of the wall at right are from the old Victoria Brewery, East Melbourne (built 1882). The sculpture on the plinth at left, seen from the rear, is an Egyptian sculpture at the British Museum, London.
The etching was commissioned as a fundraiser for the Australian Print Workshop. Although he inscribed all of the state impressions of 2004 with the title ‘Solitary Life’, Amor decided to change the print’s title for the 2004 fundraising edition, and he retitled the work Lonely life. The edition, of twenty impressions, sold out. In 2005 the etching was taken through a fifth and final state and a second edition, of ten impressions; it now reverted to its original title, Solitary life.
The close cross-hatching used to define the image in the first state gave way in the second and third states to progressive lightening with a burnishing tool. Despite this, the first edition of E.131 (2004) was printed with dark plate tone and selective wiping. Although the final state involved further burnishing, the second edition (2005) was also printed with plate tone.
- Keywords
- Building interior, Museum subject
- URL
- https://catalogue.rickamor.com.au/works/intaglio/solitary-life/
Record last updated 16/02/2021