London: Victoria Miro, 1988
29 x 15.5cm, opens to 20 x 31cm, 16pp (single folded sheet). First of the gallery’s intermittently printed journal here with items and images from Abramovic and Ulay, Ackling, Blakes, Alan Charlton, Ruckreim, Tuttle and Ian Hamilton Finlay. VG+. Scarce.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
8.2 x 8.9cm, 4pp card which has a drawing on the front of torpedo tubes from a battleship which are labeled "pan-pipes" because of the similarity in the shape of both things. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
12.6 x 5.6cm, 4pp card which reads:
plover
plower
and an arrow that indicates the date "spring 98" inside the card.
The card describes a country scene from the early year.
This card has "love from Ian" written in pencil by Finlay on the back of the card. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
10 x 14.6cm, 1pp card which reads:
bread-and-butter
carvel or clinker
pan or plain
The first two alternatives are choices between hull types, the last a choice between ways of making bread in Scotland (which refers back to the first of the pairings. By the way plain bread is much nicer than the pan. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
9.2 x 12.6cm, 4pp card with a colour photograph of a collection of marine artefacts collated by Robert Callender. The title of the card being a double meaning of both good news and of items found at low tide. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
5.4 x 13.4cm,8pp card (concertina folded from the top) with three drawings of battleships by Gary Hincks. The three are Ajax, Exeter and Achilles. These were the three ships that attacked the German Graf Spee at the Battle of Little Plate and while losing the battle in many ways, forced the larger ship to flee under smoke. The attack was herioc and Finlay compares the attack to Greek attacks in the Iliad where Ajax and Achilles are main characters. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
10.5 x 7.6cm, 4pp card which reads
doves
dhows
distance
dhows
drifting
doves
On the back of the card Finlay explains "A winter scene is set down in six words, two of which occur twice." A dhow is a middle eastern boat.VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
5.5 x 21cm, 1pp typographic card which reads PLOUGH-RED/HARROW-RED/LOEB-RED. The farming of the land is compared with the bright red dust cover colour of the "Loeb" edition of Virgil's Eclogues and Georgics, poems that deal with agriculture . VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
7.6 x 23.8cm, 4pp card with a drawing of a boat by Gary Hincks. The reference is to Briton Riviere an Edwardian painter who often painted the "chaloupes" of the Breton sardine fishery (form of rowing boat with sails) - here the boat is marked with a boat registration "C". Finlay also made a wooden sculpture with this theme. VG+.
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43 x 57 x 15cm, stone with red paint. Executed in 1998. Unique sculpture with a relief image displaying the sails of a boat that has been “patched”. This work relates to similar works by Finlay including postcards and prints where the patching of a sail is compared to that of a poor person’s clothing - but also references Picasso’s harlequins with their colourful divisions of clothing and patches on windmill sails. The work was created for IHF after his instruction by Andrew Whittle.
The work comes with the original custom made painted wood stand and base - c. 150 x 65 x 20cm.
Previously exhibited at
Barcelona, Fundacio Joan Miró, 'Ian Hamilton Finlay: Variations on Different Themes', February - March 1999
St Ives, Tate St Ives, 'Ian Hamilton Finlay, Maritime Works', March - June 2002
Edinburgh, Ingleby Gallery, 'Ian Hamilton Finlay', June - July 2009
Purchased from Frank and Lorna Dumphy Collection via auction and prior sale from the artist to the collection via Ingleby Gallery in 2001
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
23.7 x 23.2cm, 4pp. Folding card (one of the largest published by Finlay) with a drawing by Gary Hinks of falling leaves. The pattern of the leaves is an exact placement of the letters in the original Apollinaire Calligramme Il Pleut from 1918 where the words are allowed to fall like rain. This "variation" on the work is transposed to represent Fall when the trees shed their foliage. Released by Finlay as a Christmas card. VG+
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
15.2 x 21.4cm, 48pp plus green card covers with tipped on title label. Artist's book with twelve b/w photographs by Robin Gillanders of trees in Little Sparta where Janet Boulton had painted "highlights" directly onto the branches and trunks and Gillanders photographed them on very dull days when there were no actual reflected highlights other than the paint. Each set of three images of each tree gets closer until the last close-up.
In this sense the work is similar to the Fauvist treatment of nature with colour and bright paint highlighting parts of nature - hence why this is a homage to Derrain who with Matisse founded the movement. One of only 250 copies. VG+.
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