Study for Afternoon in an Arcade 1993

RICK AMOR born 1948

Study for Afternoon in an Arcade 1993

oil on canvas
101.5 x 162.0 cm; 106.0 x 166.5 cm (framed)
signed and dated lower right: RICK AMOR 93
dated and inscribed verso: STUDY FOR AFTERNOON/ IN AN ARCADE/ 162 X 101.5/ MAY JUNE '93

Provenance:
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne (label attached verso, stock no.21909V)
Private collection, Melbourne

Exhibited:
Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Victoria, 8 May - 26 June 2005, cat.42 (illus. exhibition catalogue, p.55)

Related Works:
The World of Men 1993, woodcut, 63.5 x 45.0 cm, edition of 6, an example of this work is held in the National Gallery of Victoria collection, MelbourneThe Arcade 1993, screenprint, 29.0 x 60.0 cm, edition of 6The Arcade 1995, charcoal on paper, 70.2 x 100.1 cm, National Gallery of Victoria collection, MelbourneThe Quiet Days 1998-99, oil on canvas, 116.0 x 162.0 cm, private collectionThe Quiet Days 2002, lithograph, 30.0 x 38.5 cm, edition of 30, an example of this work is held in the National Gallery of Victoria collection, Melbourne

Estimate: $50000 - 70000

Result Hammer: $50000

Vacancy and a sense of disquiet are common tropes used throughout Rick Amor’s 1990s Melbourne works. Art historian Gary Catalano suggests that this is because Amor was painting the city in a time of severe economic contraction, so it is hardly surprising that the shops, factories and public spaces are represented as lonely and quiet.1 The Empty Shop 1990, Empty Shop in Arcade 1994, The End of the Arcade 1995, and The Quiet Days 1998-99 all depict deserted spaces that once would have been bustling with economic activity. Their ‘immaculate emptiness identifies [them] as sites of failed hopes and expectations,’2 thus adding to the ever-present sense of melancholy for which Amor is known.

On first impression the scene in Study for Afternoon in an Arcade 1993 appears desolate, until our eyes adjust to its depths, and we see a white-haired man in a suit standing to the left, ostensibly viewing the natural history exhibit opposite. On further inspection however, he appears to be standing within an identical glass case, suggesting he is part of an exhibit himself. This is a characteristic note of ambiguity from Amor.

When Amor does choose to include a figure in these 90s Melbourne city works, they are typically alone and shrouded in darkness, such as in The Waiter 1996 and our present painting. Hence the appositely titled exhibition at McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, Standing in the Shadows, in which this painting was shown. This semi-concealment of the figures means they can ‘operate as a symbol for the everyman’ as their individuality has been eliminated. Amor has acknowledged the difficulty of portraying figures in contemporary art, their poses and faces often seeming artificial and distracting from the journey within the painting.3

Study for Afternoon in an Arcade belongs to a number of paintings inspired by different museums. Savage World 1997 is loosely based on the Rockefeller Wing of Oceanic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, while The Quiet Days 1998-99 and Study for Afternoon in an Arcade 1993, are set in the Melbourne Museum when it was located on Swanston Street, before its move to Carlton Gardens in 2000.4 Both paintings depict a giant mammoth skull, the ancient and bizarre object from the natural world, now sanitised and relegated to status of historical curiosity. The sheer age of the mammoth skull placed in the contemporary context of the museum’s glass cabinet, points to the unstoppable passage of time, a favourite motif of Amor’s. In his own words, ‘one of the main themes of my work seems to be the passing of time and the vanity of human wishes. Things pass, decay and fall apart. This theme seems to have emotional resonance for me. I keep returning to it.’5

A perception that certain spaces are off-limits or out of bounds is also prevalent throughout Amor’s Melbourne paintings. Whether it is the cavities of a decommissioned factory, the lonely corridors of an office building, or in this case, the closed galleries of a museum, we get a sense that we should not be here. Through these depictions Amor is probing the distinction between public and private space and how this was changing at the close of the 20th century. The stifling darkness in Study for Afternoon in an Arcade suggests that it is nighttime, and we are in the museum after hours, however the title asserts that it is afternoon. The title also indicates that Amor was intending to complete another final depiction of this composition, however that never eventuated. The painting stands alone as an emblem of Amor’s early, moody Melbourne interiors, which propelled him into the centre of the Australian art world. The deep shadows seem to hold secrets, and one can almost hear the hushed silence of the sacred museum space. It is an exemplary painting by Amor: cryptic, nostalgic and timeless.

Footnotes

1. Catalano, G., The Solitary Watcher: Rick Amor and his Art, The Miegunyah Press at Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2001, p.153
2. Ibid.
3. Lindsay, R., ‘Rick Amor – Standing in the Shadows’, Rick Amor: Standing in the Shadows, McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, Victoria, 2005, p.6
4. Ibid.
5. Rick Amor quoted in Fry, G., Rick Amor, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 2008, p.166

Asta Cameron

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