I. 1st state of 5
III.a. 3rd state of 5
IV.a. 4th state of 5
V. 5th and final state (Featured Image)
E.094 The long sea 1995
I. 1st state of 5
Drypoint. A large ship, depicted frontally, looms above a low horizon, close to shore. A path curves from the middle distance into the lower left corner of the image. To the right of the path, prominent in the foreground, is a timber post, which stands on a narrow strip of land with water to its right. Beyond the post, in the middle distance, is a light pole, and there is a tall chimney in the far right distance. The subject is scored summarily in drypoint and, although the main outlines of the composition are complete, the sea below the great ship has been left blank.
Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘The Long Sea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 95’.
III.a. 3rd state of 5
The bow of the ship has been darkened at the right, so as to accentuate its curve. Horizontal drypoint lines have been added at the right of the hull, obscuring the light pole at that location. The ship’s reflection in the water has been extended to the left. More light drypoint hatching has been added to the sky at the upper right, and grass has been added in the foreground. There are five variant impressions of this state.
IV.a. 4th state of 5
The drypoint burr has been scraped away and the drypoint composition has been replaced with an etched one. A small dark circle has been etched into the pointed end of the ship’s prow. There are two variant impressions of this state.
V. 5th and final state (Featured Image)
The grassy bank at left and the stump in the foreground have been burnished, so that these elements now stand out more clearly. Burnishing has also been applied just above the horizon at right.
Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘6’ [circled]; lower centre: ‘The Long Sea’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’95’. Although inscribed ‘6’, this is the fifth and final state.
Drypoint. A large ship, depicted frontally, looms above a low horizon, close to shore. A path curves from the middle distance into the lower left corner of the image. To the right of the path, prominent in the foreground, is a timber post, which stands on a narrow strip of land with water to its right. Beyond the post, in the middle distance, is a light pole, and there is a tall chimney in the far right distance. The subject is scored summarily in drypoint and, although the main outlines of the composition are complete, the sea below the great ship has been left blank.
The bow of the ship has been darkened at the right, so as to accentuate its curve. Horizontal drypoint lines have been added at the right of the hull, obscuring the light pole at that location. The ship’s reflection in the water has been extended to the left. More light drypoint hatching has been added to the sky at the upper right, and grass has been added in the foreground. There are five variant impressions of this state.
The drypoint burr has been scraped away and the drypoint composition has been replaced with an etched one. A small dark circle has been etched into the pointed end of the ship’s prow. There are two variant impressions of this state.
The grassy bank at left and the stump in the foreground have been burnished, so that these elements now stand out more clearly. Burnishing has also been applied just above the horizon at right.
- Catalogue Number
- E.094
- Title and Date
- The long sea 1995
- Description of Featured Image
- A large ship, depicted frontally, looms above a low horizon, close to shore. A path curves from the middle distance into the lower left corner of the image. To the right of the path, prominent in the foreground, is a timber post, which stands on a narrow strip of land with water to its right. Beyond the post, in the middle distance, is a light pole, and there is a tall chimney in the far right distance. Although inscribed ‘6’, this is actually the fifth and final state of this print.
- Where Made
- Alphington, Melbourne
- Medium Category and Technique
- Intaglio Print: Drypoint, etching and burnishing on copper
- Support
- Wove paper. Identified papers: No papers identified.
- Dimensions
-
Image size: 157 x 203 mm
Matrix size: 160 x 204 mm - Artist’s Record Number
- RAE.96
- Printer(s) and Workshop(s)
- All impressions printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio.
- Summary Edition Information
- Five states. Edition of ten numbered impressions, 1995.
- Exhibitions
- Niagara Galleries 1995: Niagara Galleries, Richmond (Melbourne), Rick Amor, 5–30 September 1995, no. 33, ed. 7/10.
- Niagara Galleries at IWOP 1997: Niagara Galleries at the International Works on Paper Fair, Mitchell Galleries, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, 17–20 July 1997, ed. 6/10.
- Literature
- For an illustration and discussion of the gouache By the long sea, 1995, see Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows (exh. cat.), McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Langwarrin, Victoria, 2005, p. 9, illus. p. 25 (incorrectly given as oil on canvas).
- For illustrations of the two charcoal drawings titled Study for ‘By the long sea’, 1995, see Gavin Fry, Rick Amor, Beagle Press, Roseville, NSW, 2008, p. 62.
- Collections
- State Library of Victoria, Melbourne: five state impressions, numbered 1 through 5; AP II.
- Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide: ed. 7/10 (20155G145).
- Comment
This work is based on two closely related charcoal drawings, both made in 1995, both being principally studies for a painting, and both having the title Study for ‘By the long sea’ (Fry 2008). The drawings, and the painting that followed them, show the ship to the right of centre, while E.094 depicts the subject in the reverse orientation. A woodcut of 1995, also titled The long sea, was made after the present work.
The print went through three states as a drypoint before the matrix was scraped back, in the fourth state, and the image rendered as an etching. The change was prompted for Amor by the need to give mass to the hulk’s looming presence, and emphasis to its dark, oneiric quality. The artist also experimented with wiping the plate in different ways in order to evoke different moods.
The location depicted in E.094 is imaginary, the composition having been assembled from a number of disparate subjects: the ship has its source in a plein-air painting, while the landscape and structures surrounding the vessel are from a drawing that Amor made at Fishermans Bend, Melbourne.
Robert Lindsay has written of the subject of E.094, in relation to its treatment in a gouache of 1995, as a ‘pictorial culmination of the marine ship genre’ (Lindsay 2005). This observation, however, does not take into account such later works as the etching The ship, 2003 (cat. no. E.129), and a group of related works in other media.
- Keywords
- Docks, Industrial, Port, Sea, Ship
- URL
- https://catalogue.rickamor.com.au/works/intaglio/the-long-sea/
Record last updated 15/02/2021