THE IDEA OF THE ARCADIAN SHEPHERDS IS CLEAR….. 1986.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d.. (1986)
12.7 x 8.2cm, 2pp printed green and black on cream card. A text by Anthony Blunt (then the Queen’s curator and later to be revealed as a traitor) from his book “The Paintings Of Poussin” explains the work Et in Arcadia Ego (Blunt refers to it as the Arcadian Shepherds – a lesser used title) which Finlay has often referred to in his works. The text has been altered however to suggest that the message on the tomb in the painting says “Terror” and Virtue” instead of Et In Arcadia ego. Finlay has referenced the French Revolution by this substitution and his view that terror was a direct consequence of virtue and that the former is somehow a pure form of conscience.

On the back of the card is a reminder on the third anniversary of the “Strathclyde Region’s assault on the Garden Temple” where the local authority took in lieu of disputed rates two works by Finlay. The card complains that the Scottish Arts Council and the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Arts Minister have not “upheld the law” in the artist’s opinion. VG+.