33 x 20.5cm, 1pp xerox copy of a letter sent by Ian Hamilton Finlay to his friend and collaborator Rod Gathercole relating to a set of epigrams Finlay called Persiflages. The letter notes some examples (not all eventually used) such as "My favourite flowers are leaves.". The letter also points to Finlay supplying outline sketches for drawings. The book was later published with drawings by Gathercole. VG.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1977
10.5 x 15.6cm, 2pp. A photograph by Carl Heideken of a Oerlikon cannon below which the word LYRE has been added by Finlay. On the reverse of the card there is a quotation from Jean Cocteau "With us, there is a house, a lamp, a plate of soup, a fire, wine and pipes art the back of every important work of art."
Visually the cannon's ammunition looks like the strings of a harp (lyre) so Finlay sees a visual correspondence between the gun and the musical instrument (both also make noise) and by adding the quote he is also suggesting that art may well be violent as well as based on the homely values of Cocteau. VG+>
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Pescara, Lucrezia de Domizio, 1977 15 x 10 cm., postcard printed front and back, with a typographic design in blue on pink. This is an artist's postcard/multiple which on the front acts as a business card for Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Consoli (who was a friend of the photographer Buby Durini). The back fo the card fictitiously identifies Consoli as the designer but in actuality it is known that Beuys created it. “Quando a Natale del 1978 [ma 1976] Beuys e la sua famiglia erano con noi a San Silvestro Colle, un amico di Bubi [Durini], il professore Giuseppe Consoli, regalò a Beuys un coniglio depositato in una scatola rivestita internamente con carta dello stesso colore pink delle pareti dello spazio di Pisani alla Biennale [del 1976] con questa frase in blu: «Chi dice che il coniglio non ama Joseph Beuys?». Beuys ne fu entusiasta, ne fece una cartolina illustrata a tiratura illimitata e il coniglio lo portò con sé a Düsseldorf” (Lucrezia De Domizio Durini, Perché. Le sfide di un donna oltre l’arte, Milano, Mondadori Electa, 2013). Translation: “During Christmas 1978 [in fact 1976] Beuys and his family were with us at San Silvestro Colle, when a friend of Bubi [Durini], the professor Giuseppe Consoli, gave Beuys a rabbit deposited in a lined box internally with paper of the same colour pink on the walls of the space by Pisani alla Biennale [of 1976] with this sentence in blue: "Who says the rabbit doesn't love Joseph Beuys?" Beuys was enthusiastic about it, he made it an illustrated postcard with an unlimited edition and the rabbit took it with him to Düsseldorf" (Lucrezia De Domizio Durini, Why. The challenges of one woman beyond art, Milan, Mondadori Electa, 2013). It is also worth noting that Victor Pisani had given a public performance in 1975 entitled "Il coniglio non ama Joseph Beuys" where he humorously parodied Beuys' famous "How to explain pictures to a Dead Hare". Consoli's gift here of a rabbit to Beuys was a joke based on that to which Beuys made this card with more than a little irony. ...
Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1976
25 x 55cm offset lithograph in green and black on off white paper. A drawing by John Borg Manduca is printed in green and has elements of camouflage - hence Finlay's question: "Are Aircraft Carriers Urban or Rural?" makes sense as the huge vessel looks like greenery in the countryside. elsewhere Finlay has taken up this theme with a different print called "Topiary Aircraft Carrier".Murray has this as 5.56. VG+ condition.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1976
15 x 10.5cm, 2pp. A photograph by Dave Paterson of an installation of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Sundial and an explanatory text below to explain the work in metaphysical and classical terms. VG+.
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Dunsyre, : Wild Hawthorn Press, 1976
12 x 11cm,28pp plus card wrappers and printed blue dust jacket. Artist's book displaying two b/w photogrpahs of sculptural works in stone (both war planes) by John Andrews and nine poems by Finlay including:
UNTITLED
after Aram Saroyan
LOTS
lots
Aram Saroyan is an American minimalist poet. The word LOTS plays in opposition to the form. Finlay's poem hints at the complexity found in Saroyan's poems despite their (relative) lack of words or even letters.
This is one of 350 signed and numbered copies. VG+.
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Bologna: Studio Cavalieri - Arte Contemporanea, 1976 19.6 x 15.5cm, 2pp announcement card for the opening of the exhibition organised in collaboration with Lucrezia De Domizio. Front of the card utilises a b/w image of Beuys in performance in 1974 by Bubby Durini that is found on a number of other earlier cards also published in Italy. VG+ example....
Krefeld: Museum Haus Lange Krefeld, 1976, 1982
10.5 x 15cm, 2pp announcement card for the new works in the collection which is is notes included 10 new works by Beuys which were prominently featured in the show. Krefeld is, of course, the city in which the artist was born and brought up. One drawing by the artist is reproduced on the front of the card, verso museum details. This is a mailed card with a typed address and a postal stamp but still is VG+.
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Toronto: Couch House Press, 1976
19.6 x 20.2cm , 60pp plus blue card covers. An A-Z of pictures of Finlay's model boats, airplanes, weapons and kites by Paterson along with an alphabet - B is "Battle fleets are like families" shows a number of warships placed in size order like a bad family portrait. Not all of the texts are poetic - some simply describe the toys.
One of 1,000 copies printed this example is VG+.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1976
15 x 10cm, 1pp. A line drawing by Laurie Clark of a ship steering towards the viewer with its name on the prow: it can be seen to be a model because of the large faucet to be found in the background.
Finlay was fond of making and playing with toy boats from early in his career. VG+.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1976
11.3 x 16.6cm, 1pp. A photograph by Carl Heideken shows an actual chocolate soldier marching while carrying a heavy gun. Finlay equates this to the German Panzergrenadier who were the basic troops of the Panzergrenadiertruppe, their uniforms were often brown, famously the enlisted men were given chocolate bars (Scho-Ka-Kola) as part of their "Front Fighting Packages" when supplies arrived.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
29.6 × 50.4cm, blue-grey on white silkscreen with a reproduced painting by John Borg Manduca of an aircraft carrier seen from a vantage point of the sea level which makes its size seem vast. There is also enclosing a separate sheet of tracing paper bearing the colophon information and Finlay's handwritten signature in ink.
The full quotation: ‘At the field's edge, on the vertiginous cliff-top, stood a solitary hut’ and clearly describes the greatness of such a vessel. We are not clear on the origin of the quote - please do let us know if you can identify it.
One of 300 signed and numbered copies. VG.
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