E.020 Western suburb 1990

• I. 1st state of 7

  

  Etching. A suburban view from a street on the crest of a hill, looking towards the West Gate Bridge, one of whose tall pillars is at the centre of the composition. The trees planted along the street are bare. There is a light pole at right and a telegraph pole in the left distance. The subject is etched in a loose, sketchy manner.

  Impression with even film of light grey plate tone, on wove BFK Rives paper (according to Amor’s intaglio record books), printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’.

• II. 2nd state of 7

  

  Areas of open-bite etching have been added to many elements of the composition, including the pillar of the West Gate Bridge seen at the centre of the image, the trees, the distant shore, and the sky, which is now filled with sketchily etched clouds. A band of horizontal lines has been added above the horizon.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’.

• III. 3rd state of 7

  The open-bite etching has been burnished in places, in order to tone down its blackness.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’.

• IV. 4th state of 7

  Open-bite etching now covers the lower part of the sky, with the tonal gradient becoming lighter towards the top of the image.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’.

• V. 5th state of 7

  There is now a band of loosely etched lines on the ground at the lower right, and irregular loops of etched lines have been added throughout the sky, to suggest billowing clouds. 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: ‘5 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’.
  2. Selectively wiped impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘6 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’. Although inscribed ‘6’, this is an impression of the fifth state. 

• VI. 6th state of 7

  

  Burnishing has been applied in the left centre area of the sky, and immediately above and below the dark horizon.                 

  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: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’. Although inscribed ‘7’, this is the sixth state.

• VII. 7th and final state (Featured Image)

  

  The entire plate has been scraped back and burnished to remove the open-bite etching applied in earlier states, and the image is now considerably lighter.

  Impression on wove Fabriano paper (according to Amor’s intaglio record books), printed by Rick Amor in his Dunmoochin studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘A/P’; lower centre: ‘Western Suburb’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor ’90’.

• No edition

• Comment

  The inner western suburbs of Melbourne have traditionally been one of the main working-class areas of the city, dominated by manufacturing industries. Amor has always been drawn to these often bleak, unbeautiful areas, partly because he is interested in the whole variety of landscapes close to him, and partly for the artistic challenge they present. In taking up this neglected subject matter, he has provided an unusual record of some of the fast-changing, or disappearing, suburban landscapes of Melbourne.

  While his plein-air drawings, watercolours and paintings are accurate depictions of the view before him, Amor usually takes liberties with his etchings, which, however, are accurate in describing the spirit of a place, if not always its exact appearance. In the case of E.020, though, the etching closely follows a pencil drawing done on the spot on 3 August 1989, but the view is reversed in the print.

  E.020 depicts an area in Footscray (some five kilometres west of Melbourne’s city centre), with the West Gate Bridge in the middle distance.

  Although Amor’s intaglio record books refer to an edition of ten for this print, the plate was never in fact editioned.