EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
A SINGLE MIND
RICK AMOR
22 March – 13 July 2008
Education Kit
PART A: Background Information, Glossary and
Key Artworks
Rick Amor
Self portrait with postcard of Greco Roman bust 2003
oil on canvas
97.0 x 130.0 cm
Collection of The University of Queensland
Purchased 2005
© Rick Amor
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A single mind: Rick Amor
RICK AMOR’S BIOGRAPHY
1948
On 3 March 1948 Richard Amor is born at Frankston, Victoria, the second child of
Irma (née Morris) and Robert Amor, a primary school teacher, amateur artist and
woodworker.
1950s
Amor is raised near the beach on Long Island, Frankston. He attends the Frankston
Primary School and his parents encourage his early talent for drawing and painting.
His sister Elizabeth (born 1939), an art student in the late 1950s, introduces him to
books on modernist art, and the Italian metaphysical artist Giorgio de Chirico
makes a strong impression.
1960–63
Amor attends Frankston Technical School, enjoying art lessons from his teacher
John Anson but becoming increasingly unhappy at this sport-orientated school. His
mother dies suddenly in August 1961 and Amor and his father move in with his
Aunt Jean Amor. Although an extremely unsettled time, Amor begins to paint
regularly and takes weekly art classes at the local Peninsula Art Society.
1964–65
Bob Amor builds a house with a studio at Erica Street, Frankston, where Amor lives
with his father until 1970. In 1964 Amor enrols in the Certificate of Art course at
Caulfield Institute of Technology. The first year is spent at Frankston Technical
School, where he is taught by Bruce Fletcher. His second year is based at the
Caulfield campus under Fred Cress and Warwick Armstrong. Amor plays guitar and
joins an art school jugband.
1966
Amor enrols in an Associate Diploma of Painting at the National Gallery Art School
in Melbourne under the tutelage of John Brack, Ian Armstrong, Murray Walker and
Marc Clark. Brack in particular is a formative figure, encouraging his students to
choose a career as a professional artist but stressing the difficulty of such a life.
Amor wins the School’s Hugh Ramsay Portrait Prize.
1967
Amor views an exhibition by former gallery student Jeffrey Bren at Melbourne’s
Tolarno Galleries, and Bren becomes a major influence. Amor is awarded equal first
prize in the National Gallery Society Drawing Prize judged by Clifton Pugh.
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1968
Amor registers for National Service but is balloted out. He is awarded the last in a
long tradition of National Gallery School Travelling Scholarships however, as the
stipend is modest, chooses to remain in Victoria and paint full-time.
1969
Amor supplements the Scholarship payments by labouring on a friend’s poultry
farm in Mount Eliza. He shows his paintings to Melbourne art dealer Georges Mora
who, although not willing to exhibit his work, is very encouraging.
1970
Amor rejoins his old jugband as a guitarist and meets Tina Schifferle,1 the
washboard player. In September he moves in with Tina in a shared house in
Hawthorn and begins full-time employment at the Public Works Department’s
survey section as a field assistant. Amor and Schifferle marry on 27 November.
1971
The Amors move into another shared house in Prospect Hill Road, Surrey Hills, and
their first child Lliam is born on 15 May. Amor continues to paint at night and on
weekends. John Brack introduces him to Melbourne art dealer Joseph Brown, who
purchases two of Amor’s paintings, enabling the family to rent a flat in Burke Road,
Balwyn.
1972
Brown commissions Amor to paint his portrait (Portrait of the art dealer Joseph
Brown, 1972) and in the course of the sittings suggests that Clifton Pugh could
house the family at his artists’ colony Dunmoochin in Cottles Bridge, Victoria. In
December the family move to Dunmoochin to house-sit while Pugh is travelling.
After Pugh prevails on Brown to support Amor, he offers the artist a modest but
welcome retainer: $250 per month for one portrait commission and a choice of
four paintings.
1973
By arrangement through Brown, the Amor family move into the housekeeper’s
cottage at Sir Daryl and Joan Lindsay’s residence, ‘Mulberry Hill’, in Baxter, Victoria.
Amor assists with the general upkeep of the property in return for the cottage,
which he also uses as a studio. He begins work for his first solo show.
1974
Amor holds his first solo exhibition at the Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne (25
February – 8 March). The Amors’ second child, Zoe, is born on 23 March.
1
In 1983 Tina Amor (née Schifferle) changed the spelling of her name to Teana.
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1975–76
Amor’s professional relationship with Brown ends abruptly. Amor finds work
illustrating five English educational comics for Macmillan Publishing Company,
which he compiles with his wife Tina, and receives a Visual Arts Board Grant from
the Australia Council. The dismissal of the Whitlam government in November marks
the commencement of his involvement with the Australian Labour Party and the
Trade Union movement.
1977–81
Amor produces many posters, cartoons, banners and drawings for the Trade Union,
as well as book illustrations, leaving little time for painting. In 1977 he is selected
for the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for his portrait of Joan
Lindsay (Portrait of Joan Lindsay, 1976, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra). In
1980 he receives a further Visual Arts Board Grant from the Australia Council and
is appointed official artist in residence at Trades Hall. Around 1981 Amor starts to
teach life drawing classes at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and
Pentridge Gaol. He forms a firm friendship with artist Andrew Southall and they
often accompany each other on plein air painting expeditions. Amor also meets
Stephen Murray-Smith, the founder and editor of the literary journal Overland. The
magazine becomes an important outlet for his illustrations and he joins the
magazine’s Board, serving until 1998.
1982
Amor reaches an important turning point in his work, producing Nightmare (1982),
and he begins to distance himself from politics to concentrate on painting.
Following a difficult period, Amor and his wife separate in September. He meets art
dealer William Nuttall at Niagara Galleries who agrees to represent him. Amor
starts to produce woodcut prints.
1983
Amor creates his first ‘running man’ images based on memories of the Frankston
Pier. He illustrates Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven for Gryphon Press, and produces
linocut images for the novel These are my People by Alan Marshall. After his initial
solo show at Niagara Galleries (28 July – 2 August), he goes on to exhibit with the
gallery annually.
1984
Continues plein air painting excursions with Andrew Southall and meets artist
Genny Haasz. She accompanies Amor on drawing trips around the Melbourne
docklands and encourages him to ‘free up’ his technique. Amor’s father dies in
June. Two months later he meets Megan Williams, his future partner.
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1985
In February Amor makes his first visit to the UK to exhibit in Four Australian Artists
with Clifton Pugh, David Rankin and Andrew Southall. The exhibition is organised by
Adriane Strampp at Crane Kalman Galleries, London (21 March – 13 April). Amor
travels to Paris and Amsterdam and visits Somerset in England, where he paints
with Pugh. Returning to Australia in May, Pugh offers Amor a house at Dunmoochin,
which he renovates to add a large studio.
1986
Amor makes frequent outdoor painting trips with Southall and Pugh. His studies of
Williamstown and areas around the port fuel a period of sustained painting in the
studio.
1987
Amor and Southall exhibit recent paintings in the joint exhibition, Williamstown: The
Bay, The Port, at Niagara Galleries and United Artists Gallery, Melbourne (6 – 23
May). Amor travels to north-west New South Wales and western Queensland with
Pugh and others, following the track of Australian explorers Burke and Wills. He is
selected for the Archibald Prize for his portrait of Malcolm Turnbull, the beginning of
his regular involvement with this prize.
1988
Amor wins the National Australia Bank Art Prize, providing him with his first period
of financial security. He visits south-west Queensland and north-west New South
Wales on painting trips. Port Jackson Press commission him to contribute to a print
portfolio in memory of Overland editor Stephen Murray-Smith, prompting his return
to etching.
1989
Amor produces his first sculptures. He and Williams travel to London, Paris, Giverny
and south-west England. They visit Combe Sydenham, once his mother’s family
estate in Somerset, and he makes numerous sketches and watercolours of the
area.
1990
In March a survey exhibition, Rick Amor: Paintings and Drawings 1983–1990, is
organised by the Warrnambool Art Gallery and tours Victoria until 1991. Williams
moves in with Amor at Dunmoochin. Clifton Pugh dies in October.
1991
Amor is awarded the Visual Arts/Craft Board (VACB) Barcelona Studio in Spain from
July to November. During the residency he takes side trips to the Pyrenees and the
Costa Brava. He and Williams also travel to Paris and Normandy and return home
via London and New York.
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1992–93
Paintings based on studies from Spain are shown in Amor’s annual solo exhibition
at Niagara Galleries (26 April – 16 May 1992). In October Rick Amor & the Graphic
Arts: Selected Prints 1968–1991, opens at Bendigo Art Gallery and tours Victoria
and Tasmania until 1994. Amor travels in China and on his return to Australia
purchases a property with Williams in Alphington.
1994
Amor and Williams move to Alphington. He begins informal outdoor painting
excursions with friends every Friday morning.
1995
Amor holds his first solo exhibition of sculpture at Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney (4 –
22 July).
1996
Amor is commissioned by Maudie Palmer, then Director of the Museum of Modern
Art at Heide, to produce a large sculpture of the running man for the Sculpture Park
(Running man, 1996–2003, Heide Museum of Modern Art Collection). Amor is
awarded the VACB Greene Street Studio in New York and travels there with
Williams via Los Angeles and San Francisco. A large number of studies are made
for future paintings. He and Williams return to Australia via London, Edinburgh and
Venice.
1997
A series of paintings from impressions of New York are exhibited at Tony Palmer
Fine Art, Sydney (10 – 26 October).
1998
Amor undertakes an artist’s residency at the College of Fine Arts, University of New
South Wales in Sydney.
1999
Amor and Williams spend January in New York and attend Allen Ginsberg’s last
public performance at St Mark’s Church. A Jasper Johns exhibition makes an
impression and Amor discovers the art of the late American painter Edwin
Dickinson. John Brack dies in February. In September, Amor is appointed by the
Australian War Memorial as an official war artist to cover the peacekeeping mission
in East Timor. He flies to Dili, via Canberra and Darwin, and travels in East Timor,
recording daily army life and scenes of conflict.
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2000
In March Rick Amor: Official War Artist in East Timor opens at the Australian War
Memorial, Canberra (2 March – 2 April). Amor is awarded the VACB London Studio
in England from March to June. He and Williams also travel to Scotland, Ireland,
France and Italy, and visit Arezzo and Monterchi to view frescoes by early
Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca.
2001
The Solitary Watcher: Rick Amor and his Art, a monograph written by the poet and
art critic Gary Catalano, is published by The Miegunyah Press.
2002
Rick Amor and Sculpture, a survey of Amor’s sculpture, is mounted by the Benalla
Art Gallery, Victoria (16 March – 8 May). In September Rick Amor: The sea opens at
the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria, reviewing Amor’s interest in
marine painting (24 September – 27 October). The National Portrait Gallery
commission him to paint a portrait of Nobel Prize winner Peter Dougherty.
2003
Amor holds his twentieth anniversary exhibition with Niagara Galleries. He and
Williams house-sit for friend and fellow Australian artist Jeffrey Smart in Tuscany.
They travel extensively in the region to view frescoes by early Renaissance painters
and visit Orvieto and Urbino in Umbria, then Rome. To mark the tenth anniversary
of the Friday painting group that Amor initiated in 1993, 500 Fridays: contemporary
‘plein air’ painting opens at the Geelong Art Gallery in February and tours Victoria
until 2004.
2004
A review of Amor’s self portraiture, along with that of artists Peter Churcher, Lewis
Miller, Stewart MacFarlane and Kevin Lincoln, is presented in The Painted Self at
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria (13 July – 29 August). Following a
brief period of ill health, Amor is diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS),
a disease of the red blood cells.
2005
Amor begins treatment at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre in March. In May Rick
Amor: Standing in the Shadows opens at the McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park,
Victoria, surveying his painting and sculpture (8 May – 26 June). Amor undergoes a
successful bone marrow transplant in June and is discharged from hospital only six
weeks later. He begins painting immediately and is commissioned by the National
Portrait Gallery to paint General Peter Cosgrove, head of INTERFET in East Timor
while Amor was a war artist.
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2006
Amor travels to New York to celebrate the end of an arduous year, visiting a Samuel
Palmer exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the refurbished Museum
of Modern Art. He undertakes a portrait commission of former High Court Judge
and Governor-General of Australia Sir Ninian Stephen.
2007
With artists Philip Davey and Kevin Lincoln, Amor visits Tasmania to paint. The
Australian Print Workshop invites him to work at the Venice Print Workshop in Italy.
He undertakes a three-week residency in June alongside artists Jon Cattapan, Jan
Senbergs and Louise Weaver. The prints are later exhibited at the Australian Print
Workshop in Fondamenti Nove (24 November 2007 – 2 February 2008). In
November Amor wins the McClelland Award for Sculpture.
Further reading
Gary Catalano, The Solitary Watcher: Rick Amor and his Art, The Miegunyah Press,
Melbourne, 2001
Gavin Fry, Rick Amor, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 2008
A full exhibition history and bibliography is available at: www.niagara-galleries.com.au
Chronology taken from: Linda Short, A single mind: Rick Amor, exh. cat., Heide Museum of
Modern Art, Melbourne, 2008, pp. 136–147.
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EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
A SINGLE MIND: RICK AMOR
Introduction
Over a period of forty years Melbourne artist Rick Amor (b. 1948) has established a
reputation as one of Australia’s most significant contemporary figurative artists.
This survey of Amor’s paintings and works on paper reveals the motivating forces
behind his art, examining the evolution of themes and images arising from his
deeply personal and singular vision of the surrounding world.
Almost from the moment Amor began his professional career he showed a
reluctance to modify his ideas and purpose to suit prevailing artistic trends or
movements. Instead he sought a path that would largely be the progress of his own
making.
A single mind charts the development of Amor’s imagery from the 1960s to
today, surveying his urban and coastal landscapes, portraits and self portraits. A
less familiar aspect of Amor’s oeuvre is also presented in his formative works of the
1960s and 1970s, many of which are on public display for the first time. In this
period the artist began to define his signature modes of subject and style, which he
has continued to expand in his work to date.
1960s and 1970s
As a student of Melbourne’s National Gallery School from 1966 to 1968 Amor
began to determine his personal style. While many of his contemporaries pursued
international modes of abstraction, or pop-inspired figuration, Amor responded to
other interests. A spectrum of sources from the history of art assisted his search for
a unique artistic voice. Influences at this time included early European, American
and British modernists such as Pablo Picasso, Stuart Davis and William Roberts,
and the imprint of Amor’s teacher John Brack was also strong.
The subjects that Amor explored in his student and post art school paintings
established important themes that have endured in his work, most notably the
belief that art should deal with life. However, as is true for many artists, it was
during this period that Amor experimented most spontaneously with ideas and
techniques. Works from the 1960s and 1970s reveal an essential process of
discovery and change that led Amor to his mature vision.
1980s
For Amor the 1980s heralded an important period of artistic growth. Many of the
paintings he produced during this decade register transformative points in his
working methods and approach to subject matter. Inspired to make works of a
symbolic and monumental nature, Amor’s preoccupations at this time shifted from
a study of the external realm to an inner, psychological scrutiny. He began to draw
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on imagery from personal experience and memory, and the emotional landscape of
his childhood emerges as a dominant theme. A freedom and dynamism also
materialised in Amor’s technique as he searched for a suitable mode of artistic
expression to articulate these new concerns. He replaced the high-keyed colour
and lively collage effects of his earlier works with a darker palette, looser brushwork
and unsettling mood.
1990s to today
Amor’s tendency to revisit and extend a subject has persisted throughout his
career. The repertoire of themes and motifs that evolved in his early works, from
the 1960s to the mid-1980s, find their fullest expression in his later imagery.
Among Amor’s foremost and continuing concerns are the expressive
possibilities of the landscape and urban life. Isolated coastal settings and desolate
cityscapes inhabited by solitary figures are recurrent subjects in his paintings from
the 1990s onwards. These scenes are translated into dramatic and poetic images
that are capable of suggesting complex emotional states or encouraging
philosophical contemplation of the human condition. As Amor’s imagery has
increased in formal and psychological complexity, the motivations behind the
people or occurrences that he presents have become progressively ambiguous. His
scenarios resonate evocatively with potential meaning, yet there is no fixed reading
of these images. Instead Amor encourages speculation, weaving open-ended
narratives that are loaded with suggestion, anxiety and mystery.
Self portraits and portraits
Amor has shown a long engagement with portraiture and the intriguing realm of
self-representation. The self portraits on display present a chronological record of
his shifting conceptions of selfhood, ranging from the intimate and personal to
public declarations of his own position as a professional artist. With increasing
artistic confidence Amor has examined his own image as both a valuable exercise
in the straightforward documentation of physical appearance, and as a complex
search for self-identification. In the artist’s own words, self-study has provided him
with ‘a handy model’ that in turn allows for ‘fixing a time [in life] and answering
questions, like, “Who are you?”’
Amor’s ability to capture naturalistic likeness is also evident in his
accomplished role as a portraitist, having undertaken many important formal
commissions since the 1970s. Alongside his portraits of significant Australian
public figures, Amor’s subjects have frequently included his family and friends. His
interest in the creative representation of human character is revealed by his
ongoing fascination with the painted portrait.
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Drawings and prints
Drawing and printmaking play a central role in Amor’s art and have been integral to
the development of his painting since the 1960s. The selection of prints and
drawings on display derive from the large number of works on paper that he
produces both in the studio and directly from nature, or en plein air.
Amor’s skill as a draughtsman underpins the technical precision of his larger
oil paintings, which are executed from a synthesis of smaller sketches and
preparatory works. These graphic investigations range from pencil and pen and ink
documentations recorded in sketchbooks to detailed preliminary studies and
expressive, large-scale charcoal drawings.
Often describing himself as a ‘painter-printmaker’, Amor has pursued most
printmaking techniques and to date has produced almost three hundred editions.
Encompassing all of his major subjects, his prints are used as ‘a way into paintings’
and his painting as ‘a way into prints’. Printmaking allows Amor to distil his
conception of a painting, refining his compositions through a careful reworking of
the process. As demonstrated by the examples shown here, the most monumental
of Amor’s imagery operates just as effectively on an intimate scale.
Overview written by Linda Short, assistant curator, Heide Museum of Modern Art, for the
exhibition A single mind: Rick Amor, 22 March – 13 July 2008.
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GLOSSARY OF ART TERMINOLOGY
Allegory: Subject matter presented as a narrative in which the characters, symbols
and/or events signify a deeper, hidden meaning or tale.
Architecture: The design or style of a building.
Aquatint: An intaglio method of printmaking, producing tone that imitates the
washes of watercolour. A metal plate of copper, zinc or steel is covered with a finely
grained resist of resin dust, which is shaken over the plate and then fused by heat.
This creates a rough surface texture so that the plate holds ink. The artist
repeatedly immerses the plate in an acid bath to corrode different areas,
progressively ‘stopping out’ (protecting from acid) any areas that have achieved the
desired tonality, usually with varnish. A light tone requires a short time in the bath
and a darker tone a longer period. The remaining ground is then cleaned off the
plate. The plate is inked and then wiped back so that only the etched lines contain
ink. The plate is then printed on moistened paper through a high-pressure press.
Chiaroscuro: An Italian term that translates as ‘light-dark’ in English. It refers to the
technique of modelling form by gradations of light and shade in a drawing, painting
or sculpture. It is most commonly discussed when the artist has used strong tonal
contrast.
Composition: The way that objects and/or visual elements are arranged within an
artwork.
Conté: A drawing medium made of compressed powdered graphite or charcoal
mixed with a wax or clay base.
Charcoal: A black drawing medium created by burning sticks of wood (usually willow
or linden) without the presence of oxygen. Charcoal smudges easily and is often
adhered to paper through a sprayed fixative. Charcoal is used in both sketches and
finished works.
Draughtsmanship: The ability to draw competently. It usually refers to skilled
handling of drawing media and realistic depiction of objects.
Edition: In printmaking, the number of prints taken from one plate. Most artists
produce a limited edition of prints, normally signed and numbered to indicate the
unique number and totality of prints respectively, e.g. 43/100.
Etching: An intaglio method of printmaking that produces lines. A metal plate of
copper, zinc or steel is covered with a waxy ground that is resistant to acid, such as
bitumen. Using a pointed etching needle the ground is scratched off where a line is
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to appear in the finished piece, exposing the bare metal. A strong acid is used to
corrode unprotected parts of the metal surface after the plate is cut. The remaining
ground is then cleaned off the plate. The plate is inked and then wiped so that only
the etched lines contain ink. The plate is then printed on moistened paper through
a high-pressure press.
En plein air: A French expression meaning ‘in the open air’; used to describe the act
of painting in the outside environment rather than indoors.
Focal point: The point of interest or area to which the eye is drawn or focused in a
work of art.
Figurative: Art that represents the human figure. It can also mean art that is
representational.
Formal elements/qualities: The visual elements in an artwork, such as colour, line,
shape, size, tone, texture, composition and scale.
Formalism: The aesthetic or interpretive emphasis on form (as opposed to content)
in art.
Golden section: Also called the golden ratio, golden mean or divine proportion. A
compositional device based on traditional proportion where a fixed length is divided
in two so that the ratio of the shorter portion to the longer portion equals the ratio
of the longer portion to the entire length. It is not able to be expressed as a finite
number but, mathematically, it is approximately 1.618 or 8:13, and expressed as
the ratio b/a = a/(a+b). The golden section occurs frequently in geometry and
nature and, as such, is said to possess beauty and harmony.
Image sourced from: local.wasp.uwa.edu.au/~pbourke/other/miscnumbers
Grisaille: A monochromatic painting in shades of grey, with the addition of another
colour (usually brown/sepia). Grisaille was originally used by Renaissance artists to
depict or imitate relief sculpture in paintings.
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Impasto: Thickly applied paint.
Intaglio: Any form of printmaking in which the image is produced by incising into the
printing plate. The incised line or area retains the ink and creates the printed
image. Intaglio methods include etching and aquatint.
Motif: A dominant feature or theme in a work of art (often recurrent).
Media: The materials used to create an artwork.
Mezzotint: An intaglio printmaking process that means ‘half-tone’ in Italian. The
surface of a metal plate is roughened by a spur-like tool called a ‘rocker’. When
inked, this surface prints a rich, velvety black. The image is created by smoothing
areas through burnishing and scraping to produce lighter tones (as the plate holds
less ink).
Monochromatic: One colour with the addition of black and/or white.
Narrative: A story. In art it may be the representation of a story or events that take
place over time (but may appear compressed into a single image).
Neo-Classicism: A revivalist art movement of the eighteenth century that looked
toward the values and style of ancient Greek and Roman civilisations. It privileged
proportion, order, symmetry, serenity and beauty.
Oeuvre: An artist’s entire body of work.
Portrait: An image of a person that interprets their appearance and/or personality.
Perspective: A system for representing three-dimensional space in a twodimensional artwork. Linear perspective or depth is achieved by making parallel
lines appear to meet at a horizon line, or by making objects appear smaller and
less detailed as they ‘recede’ into the ‘distance’.
Relief print: An image created through a printmaking process (such as woodcut),
where the raised surface/original face is that which holds the ink and is printed,
with the carved areas retaining the colour of the printed surface/paper.
Representational: Art that has recognisable subject matter, usually based on ‘real
life’.
Romanticism: An art movement that was popular in the eighteenth century. It
privileged emotion and imagination over rationalism, realism and order. The
sublime in landscape was prominent subject matter.
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Realism: An art movement that originated in mid nineteenth-century France. It was
pioneered by the painters Gustave Courbet and Jean Francois Millet. In its original
sense, it implied an interest in everyday subject matter (rather than religious
themes) as well as the accurate depiction of nature. Naturalism is the more
accurate term used to describe the illusion of reality in art. Often these words are
used interchangeably.
Sublime: Nature’s ability to inspire awe, humility and terror, usually conveyed
through infinite scale, e.g. imposing mountains juxtaposed with a small human
figure.
Subject matter: The objects, forms or events represented in a work of art.
Technique: The way an artist uses media (art materials).
Tone: Darkness and lightness in colour.
Woodcut: A relief printing technique in which an image is carved into the surface of
a block of wood with a knife or chisel. The raised or ‘un-carved’ areas are those that
hold the ink, with the carved areas remaining the colour of the printed surface.
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AMOR’S INFLUENCES AND REFERENCES
Amor finds visual inspiration in classical and modern art. In particular, he studies
the formal elements of individual artist’s work, such as Vilhelm Hammershøi’s
colour palette or Nicolas Poussin’s classical style of composition. Some of the
artists whose work he admires include:
Visual Artists
Australian
John Brack
Albert Tucker
European
Michael Andrews
Francis Bacon
Edgar Degas
Piero della Francesca
Alberto Giacometti
Francesco Goya
David Hockney
Vilhelm Hammershøi
Fernand Léger
Giorgio Morandi
Pablo Picasso
Nicolas Poussin
James Pryde
Auguste Rodin
Jacques Villon
Rick Amor often draws inspiration for the subject matter and mood of his paintings
from literature and film. Common themes that Amor responds to include alienation,
disquiet, suspense, turbulence, myth, existentialism and ruminations on the human
condition. The following texts and films have been key influences:
Literature
TS Eliot: The Wasteland (1922); Prufrock (1917)
WB Yeats’ poetry
WH Auden’s poetry
Percy Bysshe Shelley: Osymandias (1818)
Franz Kafka: The Trial (1924); The Castle (1926)
George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
Ancient mythology
Film
Orson Welles: The Trial (1962)
David Lynch: Lost Highway (1997); Mulholland Drive (2001)
Roman Polanski: The Tenant (1976)
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ARTWORKS
Rick Amor
Morning train 1968
oil on canvas on composition board
80.2 x 101.0 cm
VCA Art Collection
University of Melbourne
Gift of the artist 2002
© Rick Amor
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Rick Amor
Tina ironing 1973
oil on canvas
122.0 x 97.0 cm
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
Purchased 1974
© Rick Amor
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Rick Amor
The runner 1988
oil on canvas
76.0 x 110.3 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
Courtesy Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Rick Amor
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Rick Amor
Running man 1996–2003
bronze
180.0 x 175.0 x 65.0 cm
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by an anonymous donor and Christine Collingwood
1995
Photographer: John Gollings, 2008
© Rick Amor
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Rick Amor
Morning in the outlying districts 2003
oil on canvas
176.8 x 196.4 cm
TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria
Gift of Eva and Marc Besen 2006
© Rick Amor
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Rick Amor
Self portrait with postcard of Greco Roman bust 2003
oil on canvas
97.0 x 130.0 cm
Collection of The University of Queensland
Purchased 2005
© Rick Amor
22
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Rick Amor
Studio with a covered painting 2006
oil on canvas
117.0 x 130.0 cm
Private collection, Melbourne
Courtesy Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
© Rick Amor
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
22 March – 13 July 2008
Written by Stephanie Karavasilis, Education Officer, Heide Museum of Modern Art
© Heide Museum of Modern Art, the artist and authors
23
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
A SINGLE MIND
RICK AMOR
22 March – 13 July 2008
Education Kit
PART B: VELS Art Activities – Levels 3–6
Rick Amor
Self portrait with postcard of Greco Roman bust 2003
oil on canvas
97.0 x 130.0 cm
Collection of The University of Queensland
Purchased 2005
© Rick Amor
1
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
JUNIOR PRIMARY ART ACTIVITIES – VELS LEVEL 3
EXPLORING AND RESPONDING
Artwork analysis: Morning train (1968), oil on canvas on board
List everything that you can see in Morning train (1968).
How many people can you see in the painting? ________________________
List the three shapes that Amor has used the most.
What kinds of colours has Amor used? (Circle)
Bright
Dull
Light
Dark
Write down the three main colours Amor has used.
What texture is the paint? (Circle)
Smooth
Rough
Bumpy
Do the objects look realistic? (Circle)
Yes
No
Where do you think the train is taking the people? Why?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Why do you think the men are wearing neck ties?
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What is the most interesting part of the artwork? Why?
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Imagine you are one of the people in Morning train (1968). Use the details of the
painting to write a story that describes the characters and where they are going.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Artwork analysis: The runner (1988), oil on canvas
Write a detailed description of what you can see in The runner (1988).
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How does this painting make you feel? Why?
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What kinds of colours has Amor used? (Circle)
Bright
Dull
Light
Dark
Write down the three main colours Amor has used.
What texture is the paint? (Circle)
Smooth
Rough
Bumpy
Do the objects look realistic? (Circle)
Yes
No
What time of day do you think it is? Why?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Describe the pose of the man.
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Do you think the man is running towards or away from something? Give reasons for
your answer.
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Do you like this artwork? Give reasons for your answer.
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Write a story called The runner inspired by Amor’s painting.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Compare
Compare Morning train (1968) and The runner (1988) using the table below. List
the similarities and differences between the two works.
Qualities unique to
Morning train (1968)
Qualities unique to
The runner (1988)
Similarities between the
two artworks
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
MIDDLE YEARS ART ACTIVITIES – VELS LEVEL 4 & 5
EXPLORING AND RESPONDING
Artwork analysis: Morning train (1968), oil on canvas on board
Shade the Art Elements bar graph relative to Morning train (1968).
Show the individual importance of each of the art elements in the artwork’s overall
composition (1 = Low importance, 10 = High importance).
Art Elements
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Space
Texture
Scale
Pattern
Colour
Shape
Form
Tone
Line
1
In the boxes provided use adjectives to describe Morning train (1968).
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Use your list of adjectives to assist you in writing a description of what you see,
think and feel when you observe this work.
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Describe Amor’s technique. How has he applied the paint to the canvas?
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What mood is captured in Morning train (1968)? Explain your answer by referring to
the imagery, style and colour.
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What is the focal point of Morning train (1968)? How does Amor direct your
attention to this part of the painting?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
What do you think this artwork is about?
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Artwork analysis: Self portrait with postcard of Greco Roman bust
(2003), oil on canvas
Shade the Art Elements bar graph relative to Self portrait with postcard of Greco
Roman bust (2003).
Show the individual importance of each of the art elements in the artwork’s overall
composition (1 = Low importance, 10 = High importance).
Art Elements
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Space
Texture
Scale
Pattern
Colour
Shape
Form
Tone
Line
1
9
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
In the boxes provided use adjectives to describe Self portrait with postcard of
Greco Roman bust (2003).
Use your list of adjectives to assist you in writing a description of what you see,
think and feel when you observe this work.
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Describe Amor’s technique. How has he applied the paint to the canvas?
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What clues are there that this work is a portrait of an artist?
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What type of person has Amor presented himself as?
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10
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
SECONDARY ART ACTIVITIES – VELS LEVEL 6
EXPLORING AND RESPONDING
Artwork analysis: Morning train (1968), oil on canvas on board
Shade the Art Elements bar graph relative to Morning train (1968).
Show the individual importance of each of the art elements in the artwork’s overall
composition (1 = Low importance, 10 = High importance).
Art Elements
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Space
Texture
Scale
Pattern
Colour
Shape
Form
Tone
Line
1
Describe Amor’s technique. How has he applied the paint to the canvas?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
____________________________________________________________
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Describe the composition of Morning train (1968). How have the elements been
arranged?
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What is the focal point of the artwork? How does Amor direct your attention to this
part of the painting?
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Amor painted Morning train (1968) when he was still a student. He was influenced
by his teacher, the artist John Brack. Research the work of Brack and compare his
painting Collins St, 5pm (1955) with Amor’s Morning train (1968). Write an analysis
that outlines the similarities and differences in style, technique and subject matter
between these two paintings.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
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What do you think Amor is communicating about modern life in Morning train
(1968)? Answer with reference to elements in the work.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Artwork analysis: The runner (1988), oil on canvas
Shade the Art Elements bar graph relative to The runner (1988).
Show the individual importance of each of the art elements in the artwork’s overall
composition (1 = Low importance, 10 = High importance).
Art Elements
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Space
Texture
Scale
Pattern
Colour
Shape
Form
Tone
Line
1
What mood is captured in The runner (1988)? Explain your answer by referring to
the imagery and colour.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Describe Amor’s technique. How has he applied the paint to the canvas?
____________________________________________________________
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Describe the composition of The runner (1988). How have the elements been
arranged?
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What is the focal point of the artwork? How does Amor direct your attention to this
part of the painting?
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The running man figure first appeared in Amor’s work in 1983, and he has
developed the motif throughout his career. (Amor’s bronze Running man (1996–
2005) is on permanent display in the Connie Kimberley Sculpture Park, Heide
Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne.) What do you think the running man might
symbolise?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
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Amor returns to images of the pier and sea, which are inspired by his memories of
the beach at Long Island, Frankston, where he grew up. Amor also admits to
dreaming about the sea frequently. Look closely at Amor’s depiction of the sea in
The runner (1988). Why do you think he has painted it this way? What might be the
significance of this approach?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Artwork analysis: Morning in the outlying districts (2003), oil on canvas
Shade the Art Elements bar graph relative to Morning in the outlying districts
(2003).
Show the individual importance of each of the art elements in the artwork’s overall
composition (1 = Low importance, 10 = High importance).
Art Elements
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Space
Texture
Scale
Pattern
Colour
Shape
Form
Tone
Line
1
Describe the composition of Morning in the outlying districts (2003). How have the
elements been arranged?
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17
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
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What is the focal point of the artwork? How does Amor direct your attention to this
part of the painting?
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What do you think Morning in the outlying districts (2003) is about? Consider
Amor’s use of scale, architecture and tone.
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Why do you think Amor depicted the figures so small in relation to the buildings?
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18
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Look closely at the various studies for Morning in the outlying districts (2003).
Write down the process Amor uses in working toward a large-scale painting, stepby-step.
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What variations occur as Amor develops the work from a pencil sketch to a
charcoal drawing to an oil painting?
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Why do you think Amor works so methodically when composing a work?
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19
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Post-visit: CREATING AND MAKING ACTIVITIES
•
In his early career Amor was influenced by his teacher, the artist John Brack.
Choose an artist whose work you admire and create a work in their style,
using your own interests as subject matter.
•
In the 1970s Amor made many paintings of his family. Use your family
members as subject matter for a series of paintings. You may wish to work
in an abstract or representational style.
•
Use an unsettling dream as the basis of a painting. Focus on psychological
or unusual imagery so as to create an eerie atmosphere. Keep your palette
dark to enhance the mood.
•
Create a self portrait that focuses on capturing your unique qualities and
variations in tone. Use a mirror or photograph to observe facial features.
•
Create an artwork that gives the feeling of a narrative. You may wish to use
events in your own life or those from a book as starting points.
•
Choose one of Amor’s central motifs (listed below) and present your own
interpretation of the subject’s qualities. You may like to brainstorm these
qualities in a concept map first and/or collect images from newspapers as
reference. Use this motif as the basis of a series of works created in a range
of traditional materials: pencil, charcoal, lino print and paint.
- businessman
- fugitive
- waiter
- dog
•
Amor often uses memories of his past as the basis of his imagery. Use a
memory from your past – such as your first holiday or teacher – as subject
matter for a painting.
•
Amor often looks to film and literature for inspiration. Use the characters or
mood of your favourite movie or book as the basis of an artwork.
•
In the last decade, Amor has used classical architecture to structure his
paintings. Find or take a photograph of a traditional building, like a museum
or Victorian office building, and use an unusual or dramatic angle as the
basis of a large-scale painting or drawing.
20
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
•
Amor often combines his memories and observations of places and people
(both from photographs and from real life) to create his paintings. Create a
hybrid landscape with a solitary figure using this process.
•
Amor works methodically on his artworks. His working drawings and notes
are usually made in sketchbooks, and he often trials his composition and
images in a series of sketches, prints and tonal studies. Use this process to
create a folio of work based on a specific theme.
•
Amor often composes his paintings using the golden section, and grids up
his sketches on canvas before painting. Research these processes and
create a painting using these methods.
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
22 March – 13 July 2008
Written by Stephanie Karavasilis, Education Officer, Heide Museum of Modern Art
© Heide Museum of Modern Art, the artist and authors
21
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
A SINGLE MIND
RICK AMOR
22 March – 13 July 2008
Education Kit
PART C: VCE Art Activities
Rick Amor
Self portrait with postcard of Greco Roman bust 2003
oil on canvas
97.0 x 130.0 cm
Collection of The University of Queensland
Purchased 2005
© Rick Amor
1
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
VCE ART ACTIVITIES
UNIT 1, Area of Study 1: Developing ideas and skills
UNIT 3, Area of Study 1: Investigation and interpretation
Investigation and trialling of materials, techniques, working methods
and themes
Rick Amor works methodically on his artworks. He compiles most of his working
drawings and notations in notebooks and sketchbooks, and often trials his
compositions and images in a series of sketches, prints and tonal studies,
adjusting and refining the images at each stage. Amor researches and records the
palettes and compositions of works by artists who he admires, and uses a
combination of memory, photographs and plein air sketches to develop ideas for
his paintings. He sometimes brainstorms titles for his paintings in lists, which help
to inspire his imagery. Amor often returns to themes and motifs, but re-works them
to produce new compositions and images.
Case Study: Morning in the outlying districts (2003), oil on canvas
Amor’s artistic process is a useful way to approach the development of a VCE folio.
Using Morning in the outlying districts (2003) as a case study, undertake these
activities to prepare for the creation of your own folio.
Theory
1. Look closely at the various studies for Morning in the outlying districts
(2003) in Amor’s sketchbooks and the canvasses on display. Write down the
step-by-step process Amor uses when he is planning a large-scale painting.
2. What variations occur as Amor develops the work from ink sketches to a
charcoal drawing to the grisaille and oil paintings?
3. Why do you think Amor works so methodically?
4. What formal elements does Amor concentrate on in Morning in the outlying
districts (2003)?
5. What materials and processes might you adopt from Amor’s practice for
your own folio? Why?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
Practice
1. Explore the characteristics of a range of black and white media, such as
pen, pencil, conté, charcoal, ink, pastel and paint. Practice depicting tone by
trialling a range of techniques, such as cross-hatching, rendering, smudging
and pointillism.
2. Investigate the qualities of a range of painting media on different grounds,
such as oil, acrylic, gouache and watercolour on canvas, paper, hessian,
glass and cardboard. Record the outcomes and processes in your
sketchbook.
3. Investigate the golden section and use these principles to compose a range
of urban landscape drawings or paintings.
4. Collect reproductions of classical or neo-classical architecture and, using
cropping, sketch a range of dramatic viewpoints.
5. Choose an interesting building and take photographs of it at different times
of day, focusing on the variations in shadows. Use this as the basis of a
painting, working from sketches to tonal studies, to a completed painting in
a style similar to that of Amor.
6. Use the inherent geometry in buildings as the basis of a series of abstract
studies.
7. Produce a series of studies that explore the idea of distorted scale.
8. Use the idea of looming shapes and strong contrasts in tone as the basis of
a series of studies.
9. Use the idea of narrative as a theme. You may wish to use events in your
own life or those from a book as starting points.
10. Create a series of hybrid landscapes with a solitary figure by combining your
own memories and observations.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
UNIT 3, Area of Study 2: Interpreting art
Using the artworks in the exhibition and those reproduced in Part A of this
Education Kit, answer the questions below. Use the commentaries to assist you.
Formal interpretation framework
1. Compare the style and technique of one of Amor’s early works, Tina ironing
(1973), with the more recent Studio with a covered painting (2006).
2. In his early career Amor was influenced by his teacher, the artist John Brack.
Research the work of Brack and compare his paintings with Amor’s 1970s
works. Write an analysis that outlines the similarities and differences in
style, technique and subject matter between the two artists.
3. Describe Amor’s use of colour, tone and space in The runner (1988). How
does this contribute to the mood and meaning of the artwork?
4. Describe the composition of Morning in the outlying districts (2003). How
have the elements been arranged? What is the focal point of the artwork?
How does Amor direct your attention to this part of the painting?
5. Describe Amor’s use of scale in Morning in the outlying districts (2003).
How does this contribute to the mood and meaning of the artwork?
6. What Romantic and classical elements are evident in Morning in the
outlying districts (2003)? Why would Amor have chosen to reference these
styles?
7. Describe the formal shifts that have occurred in Amor’s works between the
1970s and now. Focus on style, technique colour and composition.
8. How do the formal elements of Amor’s work ‘suggest that behind prosaic
realities something else is lurking’? Use at least two artworks to support
your point of view.
COMMENTARIES
‘While many of his contemporaries pursued international modes of abstraction, or
pop-inspired figuration, [Amor’s] own interests reflected less current trends,
emulating artists whose outlooks he felt coincided with his own. His teacher John
Brack was a formative figure.’
Linda Short, ‘“A single statement of a single mind”’ in A single mind: Rick Amor, exh. cat., Heide
Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2008.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
‘The initial concept or field sketch is first overlaid with a grid of 90° and 45° lines,
then copied and enlarged into one or more secondary drawings before being again
grid-transferred to canvas. From this first small painting (the modello of academic
practice), Amor then works the picture up, occasionally via a mid-size version, to the
large, final, finished work. At every stage of this process the composition, the tonal
and chromatic balance is re-worked, adjusted, refined.’
David Hansen, ‘Vacant Possession’ in A single mind: Rick Amor, exh. cat., Heide Museum of Modern
Art, Melbourne, 2008.
Each element is carefully selected for its formal qualities and its ability to
contribute to the emotional readings of the work, then carefully and formally
arranged, often following traditional principles such as the “golden mean” to build
both subliminal and conscious responses to the work.’
Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, exh. cat., McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park,
Langwarrin, Victoria, 2005.
‘I take photographs, make drawings, bring them back [to the studio], combine
them, pull them apart.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Chris Beck, ‘Master works’, The Age, 26 July 2003.
‘Rick Amor often uses a combination of images from his photo albums, each
element selected for its ability to add to the emotional and visual resonance of the
final composition.’
Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, exh. cat., McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park,
Langwarrin, Victoria, 2005.
‘Rick Amor locates his art within a Romantic tradition of painting, but with an
inherent dichotomy, for his approach to the formalist construction of his works
reflects a Classicist cerebral allegiance to structure and technique.’
Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, exh. cat., McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park,
Langwarrin, Victoria, 2005.
Psychoanalysis framework
1. Discuss the ways in which Amor’s childhood in Long Island, Frankston is
reflected in his work. What themes and emotions does Amor tend to focus
on? What could be the reasons for this?
2. The central figure in Amor’s work Tina Ironing (1973) depicts his first wife
Tina. What do you think Amor is communicating about his domestic situation
in this artwork?
3. Where is there evidence of Amor’s use of dreams in his artworks? Reference
two works in your response.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
4. What mood is evident in The runner (1988)? Discuss with reference to
Amor’s preoccupations and influences as referenced in the commentaries.
5. How has Amor presented himself in Self portrait with postcard of Greco
Roman bust (2003)? What emotion is evident? What is the significance of
the white shirt and postcard?
6. What do you think Amor is saying about his role as an artist in Studio with a
covered painting (2006)? What is the significance of the covered canvas?
COMMENTARIES
‘I dream about the sea all the time. It’s always dramatic. There’s [sic] dark clouds
and rough seas and the feeling that something is about to happen. There is a
perceived threat.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Chris Johnston, ‘Secrets of the sea’, The Age, 27 September 2002.
‘[In 1982] I began to paint subjects that I found personal significance in, especially
the sea. I rediscovered my childhood.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Chris Johnston, ‘Secrets of the sea’, The Age, 27 September 2002.
‘I invent places that I like to see, sort of strange places. It’s a bit like a dream – but
off to one side.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Chris Beck, ‘Master works’, The Age, 26 July 2003.
‘A man or woman’s life should be there in the face without enhancement from me.
If the portrait shows psychological depth it’s a bonus, but not something I
consciously paint in.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Dimity Goldie, ‘A meeting of great minds…’, Portrait.4, Winter 2002.
‘Rick Amor’s painted world is like a dream – or a nightmare. It draws you in but
leaves you feeling strangely detached. Like a dream, you wake up before the image
gives you answers.’
Scott Bevan, ‘Disquieting tales of the unexpected’, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August 2004.
‘I’ve always thought that behind the façade of buildings all sorts of mysterious
things go on. I suppose it’s from my childhood and reading Kafka. I like to suggest
that behind prosaic realities something else is lurking.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Gary Catalano, The Solitary Watcher: Rick Amor and his Art, The Miegunyah
Press, Melbourne, 2001.
‘I don’t dwell on the mother thing [Amor’s mother died when he was 13], or the
suggestion that my work echoes a sense of loss, voids and empty spaces. I was a
kid with a nice dad, who gave me his paints and let me be an artist.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Louise Bellamy, ‘In search of beauty’, The Age, 18 September 2004.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
‘A number of Amor’s works [from the 1990s] are steeped in autobiographical
significance and take as their subject specific memories of personalities and
locations from his adolescence. In keeping with the romantic tenor of much of his
later painting the monumental scale of the brooding clouds and turbulent sea [in
The beach (1995)] impart a sense of threat and ominous presence.’
Linda Short, ‘“A single statement of a single mind”’ in A single mind: Rick Amor, exh. cat., Heide
Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2008.
‘Rick Amor imbues his works with an emotional tone of anxiety and apprehension.
These emotions are amplified in nature by dark storm clouds, dramatic long
shadows and encroaching twilight, and within his cityscapes by grandiose
impersonal spaces with dark corners and high windows from which sentinels of the
state, both real and imagined, observe.’
Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, exh. cat., McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park,
Langwarrin, Victoria, 2005.
‘Doorway (2004), painted during Amor's battle with leukaemia, has no such
ambiguity. It is the sarcophagus-door to Hades, its black interior almost as solid as
the monolith in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.’
David Hansen, ‘Vacant Possession’ in A single mind: Rick Amor, exh. cat., Heide Museum of Modern
Art, Melbourne, 2008.
Symbolism framework
1. What recurring motifs appear in Amor’s work? Analyse one early and one
later work to outline the stylistic changes that Amor made to these motifs
over time and their possible meanings.
2. The running man figure first appeared in Amor’s work in 1983, and he has
developed the motif throughout his career. (Amor’s bronze Running man
(1996–2005) is on permanent display in the Connie Kimberley Sculpture
Park, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne.) What do you think the
running man might symbolise? Using Amor’s The runner (1988), interpret
the symbolism of the running man.
3. Amor returns to images of the pier and sea, which are inspired by his
memories of the beach at Long Island, Frankston, where he grew up. Amor
also admits to dreaming about the sea frequently. Look closely at Amor’s
depiction of the sea in The runner (1988). Why do you think he has painted
it this way? What might be the significance of this approach?
4. What is the significance of the postcard in Amor’s Self portrait with postcard
of Greco Roman bust (2003)?
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
5. What is the significance of the covered canvas in Amor’s Studio with a
covered painting (2006)?
COMMENTARIES
’All artists paint the same picture with half a dozen themes and variations on those
themes.’
Rick Amor, quoted in Louise Bellamy, ‘In search of beauty’, The Age, 18 September 2004.
‘Amor’s figures operate as a symbol for the Everyman and his elimination of the
individuality of the figure through maintaining a back view, echoes the
compositional devices of the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich.’
Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, exh. cat., McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park,
Langwarrin, Victoria, 2005.
‘A major recurring motif in Amor’s work from the late 1980s to the 1990s is the
figure of the running man – poised on one leg, in flight from an unseen threatened
menace.’
Robert Lindsay, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, exh. cat., McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park,
Langwarrin, Victoria, 2005.
‘The industrial wastelands that predominate in his recent imagery deliberately
depict the point where the advance of the man-made world meets the natural
environment.’
Linda Short, ‘“A single statement of a single mind”’ in A single mind: Rick Amor, exh. cat., Heide
Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2008.
Extended responses
1. Compare and contrast Amor’s early works (from the 1960s or 1970s) with
his most recent paintings.
2. Compare and contrast two of Amor’s self portraits.
3. Compare and contrast two of Amor’s ‘pier’ or ‘sea’ paintings.
4. Compare and contrast Amor’s woodcut, Runner (1984) with his painting,
The runner (1988).
5. Interpret the meanings and messages of Morning in the outlying districts
(2003) or Self portrait with postcard of Greco Roman bust (2003) using
either the Psychoanalysis or Symbolism framework.
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
6. Choose one of the following works and write a formal interpretation of it:
• Tina ironing (1973)
• The runner (1988)
• Morning in the outlying districts (2003)
• Studio with a covered painting (2006)
Plan your response by completing the table overleaf:
EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
22 March – 13 July 2008
Written by Stephanie Karavasilis, Education Officer, Heide Museum of Modern Art
© Heide Museum of Modern Art, the artist and authors
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EDUCATION KIT
A single mind: Rick Amor
VCE ART – FORMAL INTERPRETATION OF AN ARTWORK
Visual Analysis
Style
Technique
Artist:
Tile:
Date:
Medium:
Dimensions:
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Meanings and Messages