Rick Amor by Gavin Fry

sunday · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 3995 Location: Victoria

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the book launch of "Rick Amor" by Gavin Fry; and I bought home my own signed copy which I read well into the night Smile

I counted 123 large colour plates of familiar works that I love including “Town by the Sea”, “Artist’s House, Long Island”, “Memory of the Burnt Boy” and “Sister Patricia”, as well as many exciting works that are new to my eyes, like “Four Trees”, “On the Beach”, “The Bay at Evening”, “Cypresses (A Town by the Sea”, “Afternoon by the Sea” and “River and Sea”. I particularly love “The Playground” and “The Fort” and I am so pleased that Amor chose to hold onto “The Fort”.

In addition to the beautifully reprinted full colour plates, there are also numerous photographs of sculptures and glorious charcoal works such as “Study for Child in a Cypress Hedge,” one of my favorites from Rick Amor’s exhibition at Niagara Galleries last year. As if that couldn’t possibly be enough to satisfy fans of Amor’s work, Gavin Fry is very generous in the insights he offers into the life and work of this thought provoking artist.

I enjoyed reading of the Frankston of Amor’s childhood, of his time at Caulfield Tech, and of early days compounded by the struggle to generate income to support a family whilst also pursuing the need to create. Two chapters of the book stand out as my favorites. “The Role of Drawing” offers a satisfying glimpse into some of the working process of this gifted artist. This is further complemented by one of the final pages where Rick Amor graciously describes his palette and method. “The Artist in the Twenty-First Century” is also a winner as a final chapter. I did not attend Amor’s 2005 exhibition at Niagara Galleries but Gavin Fry provides a tantalizing description of the exhibited works which should be immensely pleasing to any lover of Amor’s work.

The book is a little on the pricey side at $120, but there is so much there to treat collectors, artists and art lovers, it far exceeded my expectations.

PS Redsy, you'll love this one, it has so much more in it than "Solitary Watcher"