Rick Amor
- Date of birth
- 1948
- Notes
- Rick Amor is a painter, printmaker and cartoonist who was born and grew up in the bayside suburb of Frankston, Victoria. Encouraged by his father and aunt, Amor was painting in oils by the age of 12 and completed his Certificate of Art at Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1965. He then enrolled at National Gallery School where he studied with John Brack in 1966-68, winning the 1968 NGV Travelling Scholarship. Amor became a full=time professional artist in 1972 but did not return to etching for 20 years. Amor moved into left-wing politics, joining the Australian Labor Party and working as poster-maker, illustrator and cartoonist. He drew cartoons for the Labor Star, the official journal of the Victorian branch of the ALP (from 1975), and for the Tribune, the Communist Party organ (from 1962). Malcolm Fraser was a favourite subject. Amor had a solo exhibition at the Melbourne Trades Hall in 1978 and became its first artist-in-residence in 1980. He painted in factories and taught painting at Pentridge Gaol. He drew for Trade Union magazines such as Locomotive Journal and the Meat Employees’ Journal. Rick Amor has been the subject of a number of public exhibitions, including “Rick Amor: Contemporary Romantic”, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2017); and “Rick Amor: 21 Portraits”, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2014). In 1999 Amor was appointed the official war artist to East Timor by the Australian War Memorial, the first such appointment since the Vietnam War. He is the subject of two major publications: “The Solitary Watcher: Rick Amor”, by Gary Catalano (2001) and “Rick Amor”, by Gavin Fry (2008). Rick Amor lives and works in Melbourne. Source: https://www.daao.org.au/ https://niagaragalleries.com.au/
