London: Victoria Miro, 1988
29 x 15.5cm, opens to 20 x 31cm, 16pp self cover). Fourth of the gallery’s intermittently printed journal here entirely dedicated to Ian Hamilton Finlay with essays by Keith Brookwell, Robert Johnson, Joan Hughson, and Nicholas Sloan. Issued on the occasion of the exhibition in the London gallery. Scarce. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1988
82 x 54.5cm, black on off white silkscreen. A large print with a drawing by Hincks of a funeral urn draped with a cloth. The style might be regarded as neoclassical. The text below indicates that the urn contains the ashes of possibly someone who died in 1789 or more likely the French Revolution itself in some sense. Finlay produced this work in the year just before the bicentennial of the storming of the Bastille (which many regard as the beginning of the revolution). One of 200 produced.
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Berlin: Galerie Jule Kewenig, 1988
49.5 x 39cm, 8pp (self cover). Exhibition catalogue in the form of a tabloid newspaper, two large b/w images of sculptural works by Finlay, two full page text works and a double centre fold textual work. Texts in German and English. Folded into sixes as issued. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1988
5 x 9.7cm, 4pp. Artist's card with a text:
A definition for Michel Blum
Ambiguous, n. of doubtful meaning. Of doubtful meaning.
A card attacking Blum for his absurd claims that Finlay was anti-semitic. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1988?) 21 x 15cm, 4pp folded card with two small vignettes by Kathleen Lindsley and a quotation from J.J. Rousseau's Confessions about how the writer walked to Vincennes and had an epiphany. Vincennes is now a part of larger Paris but it was a small town (where De Sade was briefly imprisoned) at the time (1749). VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1988) 3.9 x 9.7cm, 4pp artist card with the text: "SAINT-JUST VIGILANTES, WATCH THIS SPACE!" on the front, on the back of the card near the fold there is an additional text" "HIRSCHFELD, BLUM, HAYAT, WATCH THIS EDGE!". The way that the fold is on the card is reminiscent of a guillotine so the card becomes a threat to Finlay's enemies. VG+. ...
N.p.: n.p., 1988
23.5 x 21cm, 18pp (recto only). A xerox copy of the Meulenkamp article as a contribution to the Maatstaf magazine. The article is packed with mistakes and lies - it claims that Little Sparta is full of works with Nazi symbolism (there are indeed some but the inference here is that Finlay is a Nazi which is stupid. He also notes he is writing the article in a spirit of "revenge" - Finlay had complained about a book written by Meulenkamp which claimed Little Sparta was a "folly" which again it clearly is not. The polemic claims Finlay's wife came up with many of his ideas and also calls Finlay's work "shallow" which is just about the last thing most critics would claim of these multilayered works. Amazingly Meulenkamp actually publishes names and addresses of people who wrote to him criticising him. It is a nasty bit of work by someone who clearly has the intelligence to know better but has given in to his baser nature.
One can only imagine Finlay's reaction when this article was sent to him.
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Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, n.d. (1988)
10.5 x 15cm, 2pp. Announcement card with a work by Finlay from the group of works known as the "Picabia Series" - here 'DON'T CAST YOUR REVOLUTIONS BEFORE SWINE". The exhibition was of the work of the surrealist and dadaist Picabia but the museum decided to use Finlay's work as publicity for the show (and the work was exhibited along side the various woRKS from the turn of the century and 1920s.). One of three different cards issued at the same time. Murray has this as an artist's postcard in his catalogue raisonne - but it clearly is not. VG+.
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Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, n.d. (1988)
10.5 x 15cm, 2pp. Announcement card with a work by Finlay from the group of works known as the "Picabia Series" - here 'DON'T PUT ALL YOUR HEADS IN ONE BASKET". The exhibition was of the work of the surrealist and dadaist Picabia but the museum decided to use Finlay's work as publicity for the show (and the work was exhibited along side the various works from the turn of the century and 1920s.). One of three different cards issued at the same time. Murray has this as an artist's postcard in his catalogue raisonne - but it clearly is not. VG+.
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Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, n.d. (1988)
10.5 x 15cm, 2pp. Announcement card with a work by Finlay from the group of works known as the "Picabia Series" - here 'SPARE THE BLADE AND SPOIL THE FACTIONS". The exhibition was of the work of the surrealist and dadaist Picabia but the museum decided to use Finlay's work as publicity for the show (and the work was exhibited along side the various woRKS from the turn of the century and 1920s.). One of three different cards issued at the same time. Murray has this as an artist's postcard in his catalogue raisonne - but it clearly is not. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1988
15.5 x 10.6cm, 24pp with 4pp light green end papers, card covers and printed dust jacket. The full title of the book is "A Country Lane with Stiles" and explains Finlay's putative "country lane" which was expected to be a major installation in the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival. However Finlay withdrew his involvement in the Festival in protest at the Strathclyde Region's dispute with him over the Garden Temple.
The lane was to be a metaphoric peon to De Stijl the modernist Dutch art movement and Finlay lists the flowers and trees that were to be planted.
The rest of the book are poetic considerations of stiles illustrated by Laurie Clark.
STILES 1
Thesis: fence.
Anti-thesis: gate.
Synthesis: stile
One of 500 printed. VG+. Not in Murray's catalogue raisonne.
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Glasgow: Glasgow Garden Festival, 1988
24 x 30.4cm, 120pp, plus original pictorial card covers. Exhibition catalogue for the popular Garden Festival where Finlay exhibited his Country Lane with Stiles with its dialectic:
THESIS
fence
ANTITHESIS
Gate
and the synthesis being Style.
Another work was a stone plaque on a dry stane dyke wall. Both works are reproduced in b/w in the catalogue. VG+.
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