Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
164.2 x 12cm,4pp artist's card with a concrete poem where the text "Arbre de la liberte et sa floraison" is shaped to look like a tree. A liberty tree was often planted in France (and the USA before then) as a symbol of the nation's desire for freedom.
Slight crease top left else VG=.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
16.7 x 13.1cm, 1pp artist's card with a parody of an advertisement for the publication edited by Catherine Millet. The faux advert includes a list of song titles from the war such as "We're gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line" and "The White Cliffs of Dover" - and "other World War II Nazi marching songs".
Millet had attacked Finlay because she had seen a jokey reference on a house washing line at Little Sparta which was labelled "Siegfried Line" and claimed this as proof of Nazi sympathies.
This, of course, to any British person is absurd as the songs were jokey attacks on Hitler sung by troops and civilians during the war - Millet seems not to have known that and as a result made a completely ignorant point. One of the more witty attacks on Millet by Finlay. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
9.6 x 15.2cm, 1pp artist's card which quoted Catherine Millet: "It is a commonplace to remember that Nazi ideology fed on neo-classicism and pantheism." which of course may have a small amount of truth in it but is far from a reason to see a work of art that is classist and pantheist as fascist, Millet wrote some very stupid things but this was one of the most ridiculous. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
9.5 x 14cm, 2pp artist's card with text that uses a font similar to the look of chalk on a blackboard. The text reads "He was the first school master of democracy, a severe schoolmaster, who did not temper either truths or warnings or reprimands." -which is from the pro-revolutionary historian Albert Mathiez on Robespierre. Nonetheless Mathiez's description gives an idea of the authoritarianism of the Deputy for Arras. it is fair to say Finlay admired Robespierre's dedication and purity of purpose seeing it as pious without agreeing with the associated murder that it gave rise to. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
9.5 x 14cm, 2pp artist's card with text that uses a font similar to the look of chalk on a blackboard. The text suggests that Liberal Democracy needs some sort of leadership and means of promotion much like teacher has in a class. The card appeals for recruits to The Saint-Just Vigilantes. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
9.5 x 14cm, 1pp artist's card printed black on red - the text "JUSTICE FOR THE FAT STUPID KIDS" is referenced to a page of Follies. A National Trust Guide. We will return to this item once we can check the much disputed "guide" for the reference. VG+.
One the reverse of the card there is a small pink post-it note with the writing "Follies War card" in Finlay's own hand.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
8 x 14cm, 1pp artist's card printed red on white - the text a very blatant attack on Waldemar Januszczack the art critic of the liberal Guardian. The sub title is "Sans cullottes against the Jeunesse doree" which is a proletarian dig at the middle class Januszczack. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
8.5 × 17.3cm, 1pp artist's card printed red and black on white - the text is probably the most contentious of all cards produced by Finlay where he three times calls to "Repatriate Waldemar" while knowing full well that the critic of Polish heritage was born in Britain. The dominant text "When the world took to tolerance it took to crime" is a translation of the stone etched text in Piranesi's frontispiece to the Carceri (The Prisons) a set of etchings depicting fictitious massive subterranean prisons.
Waldemar Januszczack was the art critic of The Guardian and had attracted Finlay's unhappiness after a particularly scathing review. The sub title of this card (and others) is "Little Sparta: Sans cullottes against the Jeunesse doree" which is a neat proletarian dig at the middle class Januszczack.
It is fair to say Finlay could be too extreme in his responses to attacks and this period of the late 80s was a time when he felt particularly under siege and had some mental health issues relating to a form of claustrophobia where he could not leave his farm. Most of his attacks are acceptable if extremely biting but this card would have been better left unprinted.
This example is hand addressed by Finlay on the reverse to Claire Burns in Paris. A mailed example but still VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
7.1 x 22.5cm, 1pp artist's card printed black on white - the text "The Enlightenment (for Andrew and Nicholas) is conjoined below with a second line "After decapitation the victims are lime washed" presumably to remove all trace of their bodies and existence. The Enlightenment of course was the period of expansion of liberal attitudes and knowledge based on reason which took place in both France and Scotland (and elsewhere) in the mid-18th century - hence it is inferred that the removal of Finlay's enemies from history would be a progressive move.
We have to admit not to know who the "Andrew and Nicholas" referred to on the card are VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
13.5 x 10.1cm, 1pp artist's card printed red on white - the text attacking Wim Meulenkamp one of the co-authors of the Follies Guide which so insulted Finlay is in the shape of a windmill. amusing because of the use of Scots and alliteration else a bit meh. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
12.5 x 14.9cm, 1pp. Artist's card with a typographic design attacking Gwynn Headley, Wim Meulenkamo and Waldemar Januszszack - identifying them as the entitled, bourgeois youth of the counter-revolution (in fact all were already middle aged so Finlay's barb was also a patronising insult) VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
15 x 10cm, 1pp artist's card. The drawing of the guillotine with a head that has just been cut off with blood gushing everywhere has the name of Finlay's new found enemy Headley split in two on both sides of the killing machine. Below the drawing the phrase "Terror is the piety of the Revolution." Both the idea and texts had been used by Finlay before - the card Dialogue printed in the same year is essentially the same card. VG+.
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