IAN HAMILTON FINLAY

ARTIST’S POSTCARDS

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HOUSE…. 1986. WITH EXTENSIVE NOTE BY SUE FINLAY TO VICTORIA MIRO.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (c. 1986)
12.8 x 10cm, 1pp. Artist's card which has a text with typography and small drawings by Mark Stewart printed red on brown. The text is "The difference in a house by Voysey and a house by Lutyens is that the lobby of the former holds a toy spade and a minnow-net and that of the latter a fishing rod and a gun."
Voysey was heavily influenced by art nouveau whereas Lutyens was more practical and his houses more suited to the modern era he lived in.
This card is not found in Murray or in the online (limited) Wild Hawthorn Press listings of cards. One the back of this one is an extensive ink note from Sue Finlay to Victoria Miro asking for more copies of the invitation card (we believe the A David cards), mentioning how hot Italy had been and wishing the show to go well. Fromt his we date this card to be around 1976 and have placed it thus. VG+. Rare.

Mark Stewart

I WAS PUBLISHED BY JONATHAN CAPE. 1986.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
18.2 x 14.1cm, 1pp Artist's card with an appropriated image of the dead or dying Marat on his deathbed with a sword labeled "I was published by Jonathan Cape" hanging like the sword of Damocles as a threat above him. The original David etching from which this was taken is used as a threat or suggestion of how the publishing house might be found following their fall out with Finlay. VG+.

I WAS A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL TRUST. 1986.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986 18.2 x 14.1cm, 1pp Artist's card with an appropriated image of the dead or dying Marat on his deathbed with a sword labeled "I was a member of the National Trust" hanging like the sword of Damocles as a threat above him. The original David etching from which this was taken is used as a threat or suggestion to members of the National Trust because the organisation had published the Follies book suggesting Little Sparta was one such folly. VG+.

PEAR, N. A PARADIGM OF LIMIT. 1986.

Glasgow: Hughson Gallery, 1986
10.5 x 15cm, 4pp. Gallery issued postcard (who represented Margot Sandeman) with a reproduction of a painting by the artist based on a poem / "definition work" by her friend, and oft collaborator, Finlay. Each of the works had his original typed poem glued onto the canvas and Finlay later signed all the works on the back of the canvass to given them the status of a work by himself. There were c. 12 such paintings made.
These works were forgotten about until a visit to Sandeman by Paul Robertson in c. 2008 brought them to his notice. Sandeman agreed to exhibit the works at Robertson's gallery and to produce an artist's book together reproducing the works. However within a week of Robertson's visit Richard Demarco found out about the paintings via his assistant who had also visited Sandeman and Demarco went to the artist (who he had known for many years) and took the works away with him when he left. Robertson was not able to exhibit them or publish the book. They were later exhibited posthumously to Sandeman's sad death at Summerhall by Demarco - ironically at a time when Robertson was the visual arts curator for the building.
VG+ - an unknown artist's card presumably because it was not published with Finlay's knowledge. Very scarce.

Margot Sandeman

SHEAF, N. A BOUQUET OF CORN… 1986.

N.p. (Glasgow?): n.p. (Hughson Gallery), 1986 15 x 10.5cm, 2pp. Gallery issued postcard (who represented Margot Sandeman) with a reproduction of a painting by the artist based on a poem / "definition work" by her friend, and oft collaborator, Finlay. Each of the 11 painted works had Finlay's original hand-typed poem glued onto the canvas and Finlay later signed all the works on the back of the canvass to given them the status of a work by himself as a collaborator. There were 11 such paintings made.
The definition here reads:
SHEAF, n. a bouquet of corn, grasses, wild flowers etc in the likeness of a torch.
These works were forgotten about until a visit to Sandeman by Paul Robertson in c. 2008 brought them to his notice. Sandeman agreed to exhibit the works at Robertson's gallery and to produce an artist's book together reproducing the works. However within a week of Robertson's visit Richard Demarco found out about the paintings via his assistant who had also visited Sandeman and Demarco went to the artist (who he had known for many years) and took the works away with him when he left. Robertson was not able to exhibit them or publish the book. They were later exhibited posthumously to Sandeman's sad death at Summerhall by Demarco - ironically at a time when Robertson was the visual arts curator for the building.
VG+ - an unknown artist's card presumably because it was not published with Finlay's knowledge. Very scarce.

MARAT. 1986.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986 3.1 x 13.3cm, 4pp Artist's card printed black and red on white - the word MARAT is extended to MARATAPLAN! Tthe typography and colour changes emphasis the "rataplan!" which is onomatopoeia - the sound of a drumbeat. The open card causes the neologism MARATAPLAN! to be a clarion call for the ideologue Marat. VG+.

LE SILENCE ETERNEL DE CHECKPOINT SANDY. 1986.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
17.4 x 18.3m, 1pp Artist's card with a b/w photograph by Antonia Reeve of the road up to Little Sparta and the first gate encountered after reaching the sheep field. . Finlay writes underneath "Little Sparta's Eastern Frontier at the time of The First Battle of Little Sparta february 4 1983. The old gate marks the site of the barrier, which has since been removed." Checkpoint Charlie was the nickname for the best known crossing point between East and West Berlin during the cold war. VG+.

Antonia Reeve

FORGET-ME-NOT. 1986.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986
18 x 13cm, 4pp Artist's card black on light blue (to reflect the colour of the flower) with a drawing of the forget-me-not on the front by Stephanie Kedik and a text:
Myosotis Sylvatica
Forget-me-Not

A wild
flower
within

Memory of a loved one is compared to a wild flower growing in the body. VG+.

Stephanie Kedik

APOLLO IN STRATHCLYDE. 1986.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
14 x 18.4m, 1pp Artist's card with a b/w photograph of a field of sheep near Little Sparta by . Finlay writes underneath "The wine-dark sea, the turnip-marbled field" and "The Hyperborean Apollo of Walter Pater's Apollo in Picardy. In little Sparta he is identified with Saint-Just.". Greek mythology is mixed with Finlay's French revolutionary hero and the landscape which is a prosaic, rural version of Arcadia. VG+.

cm

Marius Alexander

RIVER OCEAN LAKE. 1986. WITH ORIGINAL PUBLISHER’S ENVELOPE.

Minneapolis: Hermetic Press, 1986
7x 5m, 4pp Artist's card with the "dialectic" poem:
river
OCEAN
lake
Lake being the synthesis of the thesis (river) and anti-thesis OCEAN.
Torn edges as per the printing and joint with the original Hermetic Press envelope. VG+. Scarce.

SOMEWHERE IN THE WOOD. 1986. WITH EXTENSIVE GREETING BY FINLAY. FIRST EDITION.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1986 12.4 x 18.6cm, 4pp Christmas card black on handmade paper with the text:
Somewhere in the wood was shining the
little red lantern of Christmas....
which refers to the red breasts of robins.
Inside the card there is a handwritten note by Finlay to Crispin and Ian dated 1986.
Apparently there were two versions of this card - this is the first edition, the second is letterpress and smaller in size. VG+. Scarce.

BARR LE TRAITRE LIS TA SENTENCE. FOLLIES WAR SPECIAL. 1987. WITH POST-IT NOTE FROM FINLAY.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1987
18 x 13cm, 1pp Artist's card with an appropriated etching from 1793 - "Louis le Traître lis ta Sentence" which translates to "Louis the Traitor, read your sentence" below the image Finlay quotes Ian Barr, the Chairman of the Saltire Society as "He thought Follies an entertaining guide and enjoyed it". Clearly Finlay had added Barr to his enemies list. On the reverse there is a post-it note on which Finlay has written "A Follies War Card". VG+.