IAN HAMILTON FINLAY

ARTIST’S POSTCARDS

BATTLE OF THE FLOWERS. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
8 x 10cm, 4pp artist's card printed black on grey with a drawing of a battleship by Gary Hincks
Inside the card Finlay notes the participants of the "Battle of the Flowers" in 1941/1942 - Loosestrife, Larkspur, Balm.
There were 294 "Flower-class" corvettes engaged in the second world war all of which had names of flowers, the first two here both were involved in the Battle of the Atlantic and the third boar was never actually commissioned - Finlay has this name noted as "(cancelled)". Finlay returned time and time again to this naming convention for the battleships in cards and prints because of its use of the names of a wide number of blooms. VG+.

Gary Hincks

OVIDIAN FLOWERS. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
10 x 12.5cm, 4pp artist's card printed black on white with a list of the "Flower-class" corvettes that were loaned to the USA after 1942 the ship names (all named after flowers) were changed to be more in keeping with US naming conventions. These ships were therefore changed into different things much as all of the heroes and things in Ovid's Metamophoses were. Hence the title of the card. VG+.

A RUSTED FLOWER. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
9 x 15.2cm, 4pp (assymetric fold) artist's card printed orange black on white with a drawing of a "rusty corvettes at sea by Gary Hincks. This was one of the flower class battleships that were deployed in the second world war and hence Finlay notes it as a "rusted flower" - a mignonette which are often red in wet October. VG+.

Gary Hincks

FOUND ECLOGUE. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
14 x 10.4cm, 1pp printed with an appropriated image of a Dunkirk Little Ship "Shepherd Lad" which is for sale. The bopat's image and profile are reproduced. Finlay had previously used this boat name in a tile and other works - and here he denotes the advert as a "eclogue" which is a short poem usually with a countryside theme. VG+.

3 SUPREMATIST BOATS. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
11.8 x 15.6cm, 2pp printed with a b/w photograph by Robin Gillanders of three stylised boat models - the abstracted forms are similar is style to the way Supremacist painters used geometric shapes and minimalist lines. VG+.

Robin Gillanders

3 BLUE LEMONS. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
10 x 15cm, 2pp artist's postcard with a colour photograph by Robin Gillanders of a sculpture by Jo Hincks of three lemons in a bowl but each is painted blue and has a boat number on it. Finlay has often used the shape of lemons to indicate a boat and here in a bowl they are representative of being in a harbour.
This card has a hand-written note from Finlay (to Janet Boulton) which says "Don't know if you saw this before? Love Ian" in blue pen. VG+.

Janet Boulton, Robin Gillanders

MFV. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
10 x 15cm, 2pp artist postcard with a colour photograph by Pia Maria Simig (PMS) of one of Finlay's boat models. On the back the card reads:
MFV
iHF, PMS
WHP
Obviously the names of model maker and photographer and the publisher are abbreviated and so is "Motor Fishing Vessel". Finlay obviously enjoying the game of every aspect of the card being reduced to capital letters. VG+.

PIA MARIA SIMIG

COBLE. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
12.7 x 22.6cm, 2pp artist postcard with an abstract painting by Gary Hincks of a Coble - a flat-bottomed fishing boat. The name Coble sounds very much like cobble and both share a characteristic of being roughly made and placed next to each other to form a shape (this is how a Coble hull is made - lengths of wood overlapping - which is shown in the painting with the red and blue stripes". VG+.

Gary Hinks

RUDDER. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
22.5 x 12.4cm, 2pp artist postcard with an abstract painting by Gary Hincks of a rudder with the pintles very apparent- the outer shape of the rudder shown in dashed lines. The wooden strappings (which add strength to the structure) are coloured and more apparent. Those strappings not only guide the wood on the rudder (in themselves causing directionality like the rudder) but also a maze like image where any path is guided by the blue bars. A visual self-reference. VG+.

Gary Hincks

SANDING A RUDDER. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
10.7 x 7.8cm, 4pp artist's card printed black on white with a line drawing by Gary Hincks of a rudder. Internally there is a Finlay poem:

sanding a rudder
sawing a rudder
painting a rudder
patching a rudder
sealing a rudder
shipping a rudder
writing a rudder

The poem touches on all aspects of how a rudder might be made - that is, the way in which the unmade wood is guided into being a rudder. And at the end the final line refers to the foregoing - how to describe (write about /textually guide the way it is made) eight lines. Very self-referential. This work is dedicated by Finlay to Graham Rich and Ian Stephen, two friends who made much of their work about the sea and boats. VG+.

THIS FLAG IS A HULL… 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
14.6 x 6.6cm, 1pp artist's card with two diagrams based on a pair of blue and red parallel stripes. Finlay indicated the first is really a hull even thought it may look like a blue/white/red flag. This is in fact a diagram of a Plimsoll line - which allows an observer to estimate the amount of ballast and the depth of the boat from the outside.
The second is indicated to be a flag not a hull - the colours have not changes but now represent the flag of a country - perhaps Columbia where may international ships are registered for tax reasons. VG+.

IDYLL. 1998.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
11.6 x 26cm, 2pp artist's card with an attractive colour photograph by Pia Maria Simig of a model boat (presumably one of Finlay's) on a river or lake with the bank behind. The title of the card suggests this was a pleasant moment and in some ways perfect. VG+.