“AUCH ICH WAR IN ARKADIEN.” 1978.

Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1978

9.6 x 14cm, 2pp. Black on white card with a photograph of a German tank in what appears to be a snowy Russia. A soldier lies slumped over the turret, dead.

Another of Finlay’s momento mori works – the title directly references the famous painting “ET IN ARCADIA EGO” but the text is in German. A sub heading by Finlay on the back of the card adds: “Things were even worse than this in Arcady….”

Hitler’s attack on Russian soil is regarded as one of the major reasons by the fascist was defeated. Supply chains were disrupted and the sheer size of the Russian motherland allowed Stalin to continually refresh the front with new soldiers as Germany’s numbers declined so far that they were forced to retreat all the way back. Death stalked them. And of course, death even is found in Arcadia.