I. 1st state of 6, 2011
II. 2nd state of 6, 2011
IV. 4th state of 6, 2012 (Featured Image)
V.a. 5th state of 6, 2012, as Terminal
Edition impression, 2013, as Terminal
E.167 The wall 2011–12; reworked and retitled 2012; reworked 2013
I. 1st state of 6, 2011
Etching. Receding in three-quarter view is a large barrel-shaped structure, with external ribs. It stands on a rise below which is a stone wall; beside the wall, at the lower left, walks a stooping man.
Dry impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1’; lower centre: ‘The Wall’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.
II. 2nd state of 6, 2011
The plate has been re-etched, and hatched shading has been added to sections of the wall.
Clear, dark impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-2’; lower centre: ‘The Wall’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’11’.
IV. 4th state of 6, 2012 (Featured Image)
Irregular oblique lines have been etched in the previously empty, low triangular space above the wall at left, to suggest irregular terrain. The far wall, which blocked out the view at the lower right, has been burnished away, revealing a view towards the horizon.
Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-4’; lower centre: ‘The Wall’; lower right: signed and dated ‘R Amor ’12’.
V.a. 5th state of 6, 2012, as Terminal
The title of the work has been changed to Terminal. The walking man and most of the wall have been burnished away and replaced, at the lower left, with a large ramp leading from the ground to the raised building. The view onto the horizon at right has been reworked to indicate the sea. There are three variant impressions of this state.
Edition impression, 2013, as Terminal
The ramp has been changed into a sloping buttress, and the wall has disappeared altogether and has been replaced by raised earth. The base of the building is now thicker. Three oblique strokes have been added in the right distance to indicate posts in the ground.
Etching. Receding in three-quarter view is a large barrel-shaped structure, with external ribs. It stands on a rise below which is a stone wall; beside the wall, at the lower left, walks a stooping man.
The plate has been re-etched, and hatched shading has been added to sections of the wall.
Irregular oblique lines have been etched in the previously empty, low triangular space above the wall at left, to suggest irregular terrain. The far wall, which blocked out the view at the lower right, has been burnished away, revealing a view towards the horizon.
The title of the work has been changed to Terminal. The walking man and most of the wall have been burnished away and replaced, at the lower left, with a large ramp leading from the ground to the raised building. The view onto the horizon at right has been reworked to indicate the sea. There are three variant impressions of this state.
The ramp has been changed into a sloping buttress, and the wall has disappeared altogether and has been replaced by raised earth. The base of the building is now thicker. Three oblique strokes have been added in the right distance to indicate posts in the ground.
- Catalogue Number
- E.167
- Title and Date
- The wall
2011–12; reworked and retitled 2012; reworked 2013
- Subsequent Title(s)
- Terminal
- Description of Featured Image
- Receding sharply in three-quarter view is a large structure, with a curved body and external ribs. It stands on a rise, atop raised earth. In the left foreground is a buttress.
- Where Made
- Alphington, Melbourne
- Medium Category and Technique
- Intaglio Print: Etching and drypoint on copper
- Support
- Wove paper. Identified papers: Somerset paper with watermark: ‘somerset / ENGLAND’; Hahnemühle paper with watermark: ‘HAHNEMÜHLE’.
- Dimensions
-
Image size: 90 x 112 mm
Matrix size: 90 x 114 mm - Artist’s Record Number
- RAE.204 (2011), RAE.211 (2012)
- Printer(s) and Workshop(s)
- All state impressions printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Edition printed by Rosalind Atkins at Kate Herd’s studio, Alphington.
- Summary Edition Information
- Six states. Edition of ten numbered impressions, 2013 (Terminal).
- Collections
- State Library of Victoria, Melbourne: four state impressions, numbered 1-1 through 1-3, 2-3, all dated 2011 (The wall); four state impressions, numbered 1-4 through 1-6, 2-6, all dated 2012 (Terminal); three state impressions, numbered 1-7 through 3-7, all dated 2013 (Terminal); bon à tirer impression, dated 2013 (Terminal); ed. 2/10, dated 2013 (Terminal).
- Comment
The image in E.167 is loosely based on an earlier intaglio print depicting an imagined colossal structure – Terminal, 2010 (cat. no. E.161) – though in that work the structure is viewed from the opposite direction. In states I through IV (2011–12) of the present etching, the subject included the figure of a stooping man, shown walking beside a stone wall. The figure was burnished away in the fifth state (2012), and the section of wall in the foreground was removed, to be replaced by a huge ramp-like construction; with this alteration, the title of the etching was changed from The wall to Terminal. In the sixth and final state (2013), the ramp was narrowed and became a buttress. With the removal of the human presence, and the other changes made to the image in the final states, the giant structure came to appear larger and more mysterious.
This print is another example of Amor taking up the challenge of depicting monumentality within constrained dimensions.
- URL
- https://catalogue.rickamor.com.au/works/intaglio/the-wall/
Record last updated 17/02/2021