E.063 Tokyo at night 1992

• I. 1st state of 5

  

  Mezzotint. An outlook, from a high viewpoint, onto a dense city at night. The predominantly tall buildings are illuminated by the faint glow of reflected light, by visible lights, and by other, unseen lights. The composition has been roughed out with the burnisher, and the irregular burnishing marks are still apparent.

  Impression on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.

• II. 2nd state of 5

  The plate has been burnished further, and all areas of light have been brightened; the building at the centre left has been given greater definition. Lines of radiance have been added to the rectangular light source in the lower right corner. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove Moulin du Gué paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.
  2. Impression with plate tone, on wove Moulin du Gué paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. This impression has been wiped in such a way as to cause the building at the centre left to disappear. Although inscribed ‘3’, this is an impression of the second state.

• III. 3rd state of 5

  Delicate burnishing has been applied to the light areas at the lower left and to the glow of lights at the upper left and centre. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove Moulin du Gué paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘4’, this is an impression of the third state.
  2. Impression on wove Moulin du Gué paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. This impression has been drawn over by Amor, in pencil, with ruled perspectival lines, in preparation for transfer to a canvas (which was never painted). Although inscribed ‘4’, this is an impression of the third state.

• IV. 4th state of 5

  Lines of radiance have been added to the single light at left. The areas of reflected light around the buildings at the upper left and the centre have been lightly burnished. There are four variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘6 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘6’, this is an impression of the fourth state.
  2. More cleanly wiped and slightly brighter impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘7 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘7’, this is an impression of the fourth state.
  3. Dark impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘8 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. This impression is so dark that light has almost been eliminated from the building. Although inscribed ‘8’, this is an impression of the fourth state.
  4. Very dark impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘9 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. The details of the building at the centre left are shrouded in plate tone. Although inscribed ‘9’, this is an impression of the fourth state.

• V. 5th and final state

  Increased burnishing to the building at the lower centre has given it greater definition, and the upper right quadrant of the image is now lighter in tone, again as a result of burnishing. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘11 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. Although inscribed ‘11’, this is an impression of the fifth and final state.
  2. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’. (Featured Image)

• V.b. Artist’s proof of 5th and final state (Featured Image)

  

  Increased burnishing to the building at the lower centre has given it greater definition, and the upper right quadrant of the image is now lighter in tone, again as a result of burnishing. There are two variant impressions of this state.

• Edition, 1992

  Edition of ten numbered impressions, on white and cream wove papers, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. The edition included two artist’s proofs; AP I is hand-coloured with watercolour by the artist. Edition impressions 8/10 and 9/10 are also hand-coloured. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Tokyo at Night’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’92’.

  Edition sheet size: 382 x 280 mm

• Comment

  In September 1989, Amor and his partner, the artist Meg Williams, travelled to the UK via Tokyo, where they spent a few days. This mezzotint is based closely on a pencil drawing, dated 3 September 1989 and inscribed ‘view from Hotel’, that Amor made of the view from the window of the hotel where he and Williams were staying. (Amor does not remember the name of the hotel.)

  The drawing is not linear but tonally worked in pencil, and, although Amor did not conceive it as a preparatory work, it is a sufficiently accurate tonal record to have allowed for its later translation into mezzotint. When, in 1996, Amor came to make a view of New York comparable to that seen in E.063, he drew the view in linear outline and accompanied the drawing, Windowless building, NYC (Perry 2013), with colour notes, but this preparatory work did not result in a mezzotint.

  While E.063 is not as elongated as the 1989 drawing, it is, in other ways, a faithful record of the scene depicted there. The five states of the mezzotint record a clear progression towards an accurate and moody evocation of a city at night, and demonstrate Amor’s progressive mastery of the mezzotint technique, which he had first worked with two years earlier when he made North Devon, 1990 (cat. no. E.024).