Robin Gillanders - Unoriginal Sins

27 Sep 3 BLUE LEMONS. 1998.

Posted at 21:18h in Artist's Postcards

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+.

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16 Sep 3 SUPREMATIST BOATS. 1998.

Posted at 21:14h in Artist's Postcards

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+.

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31 Aug UNTITLED (FROM LITTLE SPARTA: PORTRAIT OF A GARDEN). 1998. UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT.

Posted at 22:01h in Photographs

25 x 19.8cm, original vintage silver gelatine photograph of a sculpture (wheel barrow) in Little Sparta taken by Finlay's collaborator Robin Gillanders in 1998. In original glass and wood frame. Purchased at a charity auction in the same year.

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16 Aug UNTITLED (YOURNAME) FROM THE SERIES ‘LITTLE SPARTA’. 1998

Posted at 14:19h in Miscellany

Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 1998
15 x 10.5cm, 2pp postcard with a b/w photograph of the gardens at Little Sparta taken by Robin Gillanders. The image here is of a faux gravestone for YOURNAME/A Lyme Ketch found in the gardens. VG+.

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16 Aug UNTITLED (FLOWER) FROM THE SERIES ‘LITTLE SPARTA’. 1998

Posted at 14:07h in Miscellany

Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 1998
15 x 10.5cm, 2pp postcard with a b/w photograph of the gardens at Little Sparta taken by Robin Gillanders. The image here is a water lily in the Garden pond. VG+.

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18 Jun UNTITLED. AIRCRAFT CARRIER. (FROM LITTLE SPARTA: PORTRAIT OF A GARDEN). 1998.

Posted at 18:57h in Photographs

30 x 24cm, b/w original photograph taken by Robin Gillanders of Little Sparta for his book "‘Little Sparta, Portrait of a Garden". This shows one of Finlay's garden sculptures of an aircraft carrier. Gillanders took the images between 1994 and 1998. Originally a gift from the photographer to Janet Boulton, one of Finlay's later collaborators and a friend to both Gillanders and the poet. VG+.

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01 May FROM THE SERIES LITTLE SPARTA BY ROBIN GILLANDERS. 1988.

Posted at 22:13h in Invitation Cards

Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 1998
A set of three different 15 x 10.5cm, 2pp postcards each with a view of the gardens at Little Sparta taken by Robin Gillanders. Issued to help raise money for the Little Sparta Trust. VG+.

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15 Dec HIGHLIGHTS. A HOMAGE TO ANDRE DERAIN. 1997. ONE OF ONLY 250 COPIES

Posted at 14:26h in Artist's Books

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
15.2 x 21.4cm, 48pp plus green card covers with tipped on title label. Artist's book with twelve b/w photographs by Robin Gillanders of trees in Little Sparta where Janet Boulton had painted "highlights" directly onto the branches and trunks and Gillanders photographed them on very dull days when there were no actual reflected highlights other than the paint. Each set of three images of each tree gets closer until the last close-up.
In this sense the work is similar to the Fauvist treatment of nature with colour and bright paint highlighting parts of nature - hence why this is a homage to Derrain who with Matisse founded the movement. One of only 250 copies. VG+.

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12 Jul BOATSHELF. 1997.

Posted at 08:20h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
12.9 x 20.9cm, 2pp artist's card with a sepia tinted photograph by Robin Gillanders.The image is of a shelf of model boats made by Finlay - the boats are all placed facing a single direction - making the collection look like a fleet. Boatshelf being a neologism that is similar to bookshelf. VG+.

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15 Dec THREE GATES. ON THE WAY TO LITTLE SPARTA. CHRISTMAS 1996.

Posted at 09:49h in Artist's Books

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
15 x 24cm, 18pp plus printed green boards. Artist's book with nine b/w photographs by Robin Gillanders of the path to Little Sparta which in turn shows the ground, the gate from a little distance and then the sign on the gate. The first sign informs the public that "Following the authority's action against the Garden Temple Little Sparta is closed to the public". The second announces that "Strathclyde Region made war on little Sparta/Strathclyde Region is no more." - an adaption of a Committee of Public Safety announcement about Lyons and the final biting sign "Closed with the support of the Scottish Arts Council" which is a parody of the usual acknowledgement statement the SAC required to gain funding.
This was Finlay's retort at the end of the "Little Sparta Wars" where Strathclyde Regional Council fought with the artist over a ratings issue of a building they claimed to be an art gallery while Finlay believed to be a Garden Temple. By closing Little Sparta and claiming the Garden Temple was reclassified as a "store" then Finlay found a way of ending the dispute allied to the fact that Strathclyde Region was abolished due to the UK Government's reorganisation. His dislike to the Scottish Arts Council remained however as he felt they had not given him any support at all in his fight and the book quotes Andrew Nairne, Visual Arts Director of the SAC as saying "Little Sparta should be sacrifices to the greater good of the arts in Scotland" which is astonishing now that Little Sparta is regarded by many as the major artistic venture in Soctland of the 2oth centrury.
Very good + condition and an interesting documentation of the end of the dispute as much as an artist's book.

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28 Nov 3 FUNNELS. 1996.

Posted at 10:29h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
13.2 x 16.5cm, 2pp card with a b/w photograph by Robin Gillanders of three toilet rolls that have been painted and place on a table such that the image looks like the funnels on a steam boat. VG+.

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21 Oct BARE STREAM RACING LIKE A BUGATTI. 1996.

Posted at 09:39h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1996
15.2 x 13.5cm, 42pp, card with a photograph by Robin Gillanders where Finlay has associated the fast flowing stream with that of an Italian racing car. This image was also used in the "Dear Stiglitz" portfolio. VG+.

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