01 Jun

Posted at 09:24h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1984
20.9 x 14.8cm, 1pp. Two drawings of the dovecote at Little Sparta (by John Tetley) are shown without any text or explanation or even attribution. The second drawing is a detail of the bullding that appears to show a gun barrel sticking out of the double doors of the former dovecot. In truth the drawing isn't very clear in close up and this work seems somewhat out of place with Finlay's usual aesthetic apart from the general feeling that Little Sparta needed to be militarised after the initial raid by Strathclyde region. IN some sense the building has become an immobile tank.
Murray places this card at 1984 but out of order in his list (it is in the middle of a number of other cards published in 1983) and another version of the image with a drawing by Mark Stewart was also printed in mid 1983.. The exact date cannot be ascertained for sure so we have allocated this to 1983 for the proceeding reasons. VG+.

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30 May

Posted at 09:31h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983
20.7 x 10cm, 1pp. A cut-out drawing by Ron Costley of a republican army drum such as played by the martyred Viala. The boy's name is incorporated into the diagonal patterning around the sides - the name having letter shapes that match that well. VIVE LA REPUBLIQUIE!

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20 May

Posted at 17:53h in Letters + Documents

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. c. 1982.
21 x 18cm, 1pp printed letterhead - red and green on white. Finlay created a number of different stationery for Little Sparta and used them (as far as we can tell) indiscriminately for his correspondence. This unused example has across the top "SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ARTS AGAINST THE ARTS COUNCIL". And at the bottom "When I hear the words 'Arts Council' I reach for my water pistol". Fine. ...

20 May

Posted at 16:52h in Artist's Books

Edinburgh: Graeme Murray Gallery, 1983
20.2 x 12.7cm, 96pp and white wrappers and printed cream dust jacket
Artist's book with images of 20 small table top sculptures by Finlay along with quotations that explain the works. VG+.

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15 May

Posted at 10:01h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983
20 x 8.8cm, 4pp. A folding card with Finlay's poem overprinted on a camouflage pattern in green on light brown. The poem links various body parts and tree parts to others. The first half of the poem link the head to the fingers via other parts, the second the roots to the blossom on the twigs. The final line is "and fruit" which can be allocated both to the hand and the twig (a human can hold fruit). On the back of the card Trump cites both a book on Physiognomy - the habit of judging traits from structures and also Strathclyde Region's Schedule of Poinding Assessments Payable to the Strathclyde Regional Council (1982) in which Finlay would have been included because of his dispute over the Garden temple.
A dryad of course is a mythical spirit that is found within a tree - the metaphor of "tree - human" here is hinted at as being enough to allow judgement about that person, tree or even farm.

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07 May

Posted at 14:12h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983
15.2 x 15.4cm , 1pp black on white artist's card. A text by Geoffrey Scott discusses Finlay's metaphors on architectural elements (from Lexical Diversions of Ian Hamilton Finlay) alongside a drawing of a Corinthian capital by Mark Stewart. VG+.

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07 May

Posted at 13:46h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983
20.5 x 15.5cm , 1pp black on white card. The typographically designed card has two "translations:" which are poetic rather than accurate:
Ferme ornee
armoured farm
and
Arroisir
evening arrow
Hence 'ornate farm' becomes an 'armoured farm' and "watering can" becomes "evening arrow" both of which suggest the militarisation of the grounds. A reaction to Finlay's worries about his enemies coming to Little Sparta and stealing his assets as had happened in March of the same year as publication. VG+.

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06 May

Posted at 10:29h in Artist's Postcards

Leeds: New Arcadians Press, 1983
11 x 16cm, printed purple envelope with title and publication information content of two cards.
The first card is:
2 PROSPECTS.
8.3 x 10.9cm 6pp (asymmetric folds). A folding card which has two drawings by Ian Gardner which reflect the shape of each other. The first is a slope on a battle ship's deck, the second a slope on a hill with a house and a tree. The "elevation" of the guns to the deck and the "elevation" of the house to the tree are mathematically compared to each other in the diagram.
Two quotes one by Horace Walpole and the other John James note the evolution of "Ha! Ha!s" in gardening - places where the ground drops away suddenly and allows unimpeded access to the grounds. On a battleship the slope in front of a gun allows the missile to be projected without opposition.
The card may be a typical Finlay work bringing attention to a comparison or metaphor between two things but given the on-going feeling of conflict and being under attack at Little Sparta at this time - the card is also a threat to those attacking the elevations of the grounds.

The second card is
THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO
10 x 13cm, 2pp and a duotone photograph of the the Temple of Apollo (aka Garden Temple) - the building that Finlay disputed the rating value of and the heart of the dispute between him and the Regional Council.
Both cards are VG+.
Murray's flawed catalogue raisonne only notes the first card and does not note it was part of a pair or that it was published by someone other that the Wild Hawthorn Press. it appears these cards were published at the same time as an exhibition at Southhampton Art Gallery.

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02 May

Posted at 10:40h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983 20.5 x 10.4cm, 4pp (folding from the top). A cut-out drawing by Nicholas Sloan of a section of a tree trunk with an arrow piercing the wood allowing a three-dimensional paper sculpture to be made. The final image reminds one of Saint Sebastian martyred because of his supposed defence of early Christians. The attacks on Finlay at this time probably made him feel like a martyr but this image could also be read as a symbol of the garden of Little Spartas as being under attack. The title of the card is not included and the title here we have taken from Murray's catalogue raisonne although there is no reason to be sure it is correct. VG+.

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01 May

Posted at 10:49h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983
19.7 x 12.7cm (closed size), 4pp gatefold. A mail art work by Finlay which opens up to read "SHOCK TROPES FOR LITTLE SPARTA" - the literary equivalent of the blitzkrieg, "Tropes" replacing "Troops".
This example was mailed by Finlay to Graeme Murray his then gallerist, Franked and stamped but VG+.

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30 Apr

Posted at 12:28h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1983 15.4 x 16.2cm, 1pp artist card with a drawing of the Temple of Apollo which was the disputed building in the dispute with Strathclyde Region. The facade has the carved text: "TO APOLLO/HIS MUSIC/HIS MISSILES/HIS MUSES". The drawing is by Nicholas Sloan. Murray renames this card "Temple of Apollo Facade" but the title should really be in Italian as per the legend on the card.VG+.

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