E.176 The ruin 2015

• I. 1st state of 5, 2015

  

  Drypoint and burnishing. An industrial ruin of a tall concrete structure dominates the scene. In front of the ruin, at the lower left, stands a man who points towards it with outstretched arm. He stands in a muddy space between three pools of water; immediately behind the pool on the right is a smoking fire. All essential details of the composition are present but the drypoint is sketchily scored in the central area of the structure.

  Impression on wove Somerset paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1’; lower centre: ‘The Ruin’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 15’.

• II. 2nd state of 5, 2015

  

  Much drypoint has been added throughout but it is especially noticeable on the structure. At the same time, the subject has been carefully burnished to clarify and to model its details. Rising billows of smoke have been burnished into the fire.

  Carefully 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: ‘1-2’; lower centre: ‘The Ruin’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’15’.

   

   

• III. 3rd state of 5, 2015

  

  The smoke has been burnished further and now rises even higher, obscuring the lower right of the building.

  Impression with faint plate tone in the background, on wove Hahnemühle 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 Ruin’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 15’.

• IV. 4th state of 5, 2015

  

  Further burnishing has been applied to the smoke, and the left side of the figure has also been burnished.

  Selectively wiped impression with plate tone and rich burr, 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: ‘The Ruin’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 15’.

   

• V. 5th and final state, 2015

  The sloping area with rocks below the structure at left has been burnished.

  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’; lower centre: ‘The Ruin’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 15’.

• Edition, 2016

  Edition of twenty-five numbered impressions, on wove Somerset paper, printed by Deanna Hitti at the Baldessin Press, St Andrews. The edition included a bon à tirer impression (on Hahnemühle paper) and an artist’s proof (AP 2/3). Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 25]/25’; lower centre: ‘The Ruin’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 15’.

  Edition sheet size: 760 x 560 mm

  Although the edition was printed in 2016, Amor dated its impressions to 2015, this being the year in which he completed work on all states of this print, and printed the bon à tirer impression and artist’s proof.

• Bon à tirer impression, dated 2015 (edition, 2016; impression of 5th and final state)

  

  The sloping area with rocks below the structure at left has been burnished.

• Artist’s proof (from edition, 2016; impression of 5th and final state) (Featured Image)

  

• Comment

  The subject’s original antecedent is a plein-air painting done around 2002 in the environs of Broken Hill, a mining town in outback western New South Wales. However, in its present form the work is a composite picture, its lower half based on the rusted industrial detritus found around the disused mines and mining plants of Broken Hill, and its upper section – the ruin itself – on a photograph, taken by Amor, of parts of a broken ship.

  The drypoint belongs to a group of variant images of the subject painted around 2015­–16 in oils and watercolour. One of these variants, Ruin II (painted between December 2015 and July 2016 and not exhibited as of April 2017), was made after the drypoint and is oriented in the same direction.

  The progression of the drypoint through its five states is straightforward, beginning with a generally resolved first state, through a series of tonal refinements, to the brooding final state. The image, with its tiny figure pointing towards the ruin, refers directly to the passing of time, the vanity of earthly things, and their inevitable end in decay and death.

  The fantastic decrepit structure, the pointing man and the smoking fire all indicate Amor’s familiarity, and underlying affinity, with the spirit of Piranesi.