
Drypoint. A head and shoulders self portrait, with beard, moustache and spectacles. The lines that indicate the top of Amor’s bald head are not connected, leaving a blank space. Overall, the portrait is sparsely drawn, mostly with lightly burred drypoint lines. There is minimal cross-hatching, which is present primarily on the nose, around the moustache, and on the right check turned slightly away from the viewer. The left eye and spectacle lens are noticeably darker than the right. The right shoulder is significantly darker than the left.
The pupils of each eye have now been evened, and both eyes have a defined iris and pupil. The artist has burnished back the marks around the top of the head, and has largely burnished back his right ear in order to redo it with lighter marks. Overall, the drypoint burr has been scrapped off over the entire face. Amor’s hatching and cross-hatching detailing his facial features now appear more delicate. Drypoint has been added to the shadows on Amor’s neck, which now features patches of rich burr marks. His jumper has been worked to include a dark outline, and further hatching to achieve a rich black, which subsequently makes the white of Amor’s collar stand out.
An edition of this state was printed by Rosalind Atkins at Kate Herd’s studio in 2018, but was later destroyed.
The plate has been extensively burnished and re-etched. Marks on Amor’s face, ears, neck, and the marks in the background of the plate have been removed and are now only faintly visible. The artist’s jumper has also been burnished and scraped back. On the left side of Amor’s head there are a few brief etching marks distinguishing a new outline, these have been placed further left than the previous marks. The creases in the artist’s forehead are now indicated in small, slanted marks, while the past markings are still discernible beneath. Amor’s left eyebrow has been emphasised with a few marks on the arch, whereas his right eyebrow has been more significantly redrawn, with a prominent underline and hatching over the semi-erased marks. Amor’s eyes are now indicated with concise lines showing the lid, his iris is subtly outlined while the pupil is present only in the right eye. The artist’s spectacles have been lightly rerendered, with the right arm mainly indicated in outline only. The shadows on Amor’s face are shown in hatching and cross-hatching over the existing marks, most prominently under his eyebrows, on the bridge and tip of this nose, under his eyes, under his left cheekbone, under his nose and around his cheeks. Amor’s beard and moustache is indicated with some sparse lines drawn over the remnant burnished marks.
Significant drypoint burr has been applied to both eyebrows, particularly the right. Amor’s eyelid and beneath the eye has dark drypoint marks outlining the eye, and the right pupil is now a rich black. The artist’s spectacles have been darkened around the lenses. More drypoint burr has been added to Amor’s jumper.
- Catalogue Number
- E.179
- Title and Date
- SP at 70 2018
- Description of Featured Image
- A head and shoulders self portrait positioned at the left of the plate. Amor, who has a beard and moustache and wears spectacles, is turned slighted to the right and looks straight ahead.
- Where Made
- Alphington, Melbourne
- Medium Category and Technique
- Intaglio Print: Etching, drypoint and burnishing on copper plate
- Support
- Wove paper. Identified papers: BFK Rives paper with watermark: ‘BFK RIVES / FRANCE’ with infinity symbol; Hanhnemühle paper; Somerset paper.
- Dimensions
-
Image size: 101 x 149 mm
Matrix size: 101 x 149 mm - Artist’s Record Number
- RAE.226
- Printer(s) and Workshop(s)
- States I through IV printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. First edition, 2018 (later destroyed), printed by Rosalind Atkins at Kate Herd’s studio, Alphington, 2018. States V through VIII and second edition, 2018, printed by Rosalind Atkins at Kate Herd’s studio, Alphington, 2018.
- Summary Edition Information
- Eight states. Two editions. First edition, 2018 (destroyed). Second edition of ten numbered impressions, 2018.
- Comment
This self portrait was begun in 2018, marking the artist’s seventieth year. The top of the head lacks a defining contour, giving the appearance of a portrait that is dematerialising into the background; this feature is emphasised as the work progressed through its various states. The majority of the artist’s marks are concentrated on the central space between Amor’s naturally arched eyebrows and his chin; Amor’s first five states were devoted to detailing and darkening this area in fine, sketchy lines. In his fifth state, the artist burnished most of the detail on the face, and etched over the remaining drypoint lines. The result of this process meant the eyebrows, eyes, spectacles, nose, cheeks, mouth and facial hair were drawn with more defined, graphic lines. The earlier, finer drypoint lines are still fainty present in the final edition, as a ghostly shadow that adds richness and contour to the image.
The self portrait was a pure drypoint up to the fifth state. Until that point, the only tools Amor used apart from the drypoint needle was a burnisher and scraper to remove drypoint burr. An edition was printed of this state but later destroyed. From the fifth state onwards the image was drastically burnished back and largely rerendered as an etching. This self image was worked directly on the plate, without the use of preparatory studies.
- Keywords
- Self portrait
- URL
- https://catalogue.rickamor.com.au/works/intaglio/sp-at-70/
Record last updated 18/12/2024