Antwerpen: Wide White Space, 1969<BR> 11.5cm, die cut five pointed star printed black on white card. Announcement card (which does not give the date of the show in April 1969 at the Wide White Space gallery) - while ostensibly an invite card the work is much more akin to one of the artist's paper object multiples . Scarce. VG+. ...
London: Studio International, 1969
31 x 24cm, 104pp plus card covers. Single number of this important and long running art journal which a 4pp article - Ian Hamilton Finlay - the structure of a poetic universe by Stephen Bann. Six works in b/w reproduced. Binding a bit loose else VG+.
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Dusseldorf: Galerie Schmela, 1969.
15 x 21cm, 4pp. Announcement card with a b/w image of Beuys' works Manresa (1966), two of Hauptstrom (1967) and Fond II (1967). this was the 100th exhibition at the gallery. VG+.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1968
45.9 × 52cm, yellow and black on white silkscreen. A collaboration with the well known British pop artist Caulfield in the latter's bold, thick out-llined style. Four lemons are in a bowl, and the word MARINE is next to the bowl seemingly on a piece of wood or card (possibly a fisherman's slip used to identify who owned what fish boxes when the catch went to market).
In a number of different works, Finlay often compares lemons to boats - so this is on one level a scene of a harbour: the lemons are made even more obviously to represent boats as they each has port registration numbers on them.,
The edition size is not known. All copies of the print are unsigned (which was Finlay's preference but a little unusual for the pop artist). There are some scuffs on the black of this silkscreen but else VG. This is a very rare print - partly for the later popularity of Caulfield.
JOINT:
15 x 21cm, 1pp. Printed compliments slip "Marine: Ian Hamilton Finlay:drawn by Patrick Caulfield" and with added hand written note: "Love from Ian, 4 January 1969". Perhaps might be regarded in lieu of a signature.
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MEDIUM Screenprint on paper
DIMENSIONS Image: ...
Koln: Art Intermedia, 1969
14.5 x 21cm, 4pp gatefold card. Announcement for a solo show of early works (drawings and sculptures) by Beuys from the period 1947 to 1957. A text on Beuys by Per Kirkeby is found on the back of the card. Slight brown marks (nascent foxing perhaps) on the front of the card else VG+.
JOINT:
Koln: Art Intermedia, 1969
16 x 22.5cm, printed mailing envelope with a text from the gallery on the front and on the back "details" of the various events in the gallery for December 1968 (really a newsletter. Some wear from the mailing process and a hand addressed example.
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Nottingham: Jargon Press, 1968
50.7 x 38.4cm, calendar with twelve original silkscreens, one silkscreen portrait of the artist, a colophon sheet and front cover and backing board. Spiral bound along top. Introduction by Jonathan Williams and a foreword by Mike Weaver. Designed by Herbert M. Rosenthal.
Twelve colour prints issued as a large folio spiral-bound calendar, featuring short commentaries by Stephen Bann based on information provided to him by Finlay.
The title refers to Wittgenstein's 'Blue and Brown Books' (1958) in which he developed the concept that the meaning of a word is its actual use in language.
This is quite possibly possibly the most sought after publication by Finlay - the twelve serigraphs are each individual concrete poetry works and dealers usually split this publication up and frame the individual prints and sell them at high prices. This example is unusually complete and is housed in the original custom made cardboard shipping box address to the editor of the Black Sparrow Press Seamus Cooney. There is some browning to the front purple sheet but overall this is one of the best example of this rare publication you can find..
Murray has this as reference 3.28 and notes a complete set of the prints are for sale in 2006 for £2,000. The Prints Drukgrafik catalogue reference is 2.64.4 and the 12 images can be seen on pages 19 - 21.
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Gent: Yang Kahier, 1968.
30 x 21cm, 72 pp (recto only) plus card covers and tape binding. A single number of this artist's journal published by the Yang Gruppe. There is a Finlay contribution PEAR. VG+.
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Paris: s.p. (Boltanski), 1968
18 x 24 x 24cm two part rusted (as issued) tin two biscuit box content of three home-made wide cages (chickenwire) containing the artist's hair, a ball of dirt (one of many such "boules" that Boltanski made almost compulsively during that time and a bloody elastoplast (the artist's blood). Additionally there is a signed photograph of the whole box. The bottom of the box has the text: " EMBALLAGE PERDU / PLOI STRICTMENT INTERDIT" which translates roughly to "LOST PACKAGING / STRICTLY PROHIBITED SHIPPING".
This was one of a number (Boltanski claims around 30) such boxes that he created (each unique) and gave as gestural gifts to friends, collectors and even strangers. In VG+ condition.
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1967
12.8 x 10.5cm, 32pp. Card covers with printed dust jacket. An artist's book the title of which refers to a wild bird - interestingly not found in Scotland - which had a loud piercing song which is often claimed to be like two stones being hit off each other. The book consists of a number of concrete and experimental poems using different forms different forms.
This copy is unique in that it was send by Finlay to Maxwell Allan (a sculptor and collaborator) and has been annotated with crosses and ticks on most pages (perhaps indicating approval for further works based on them) and on one page an ink text in Finlay's cursive hand: "this is a nice font isn't it?" referring to the typography of the words in "THE BOAT"S/inseparable ripples". An unusual find in an already somewhat scarce book. VG although the cover is slightly grubby through being handled. ...
Bath: Opening Press, 1967
47. 5 x 47.5 x 1.5cm, silkscreened portfolio case content of 13 individual silkscreens in various colours on thin card. The silkscreens are all concrete poems which were based on correspondence between Ian Hamilton Finlay and Eve Furnival - John Furnival's young daughter. Finlay had sent simple concrete poems to the young girl - and when he was invited to work with Furnival in the latter's class at Bath Academy these poems were created with the students (one student per print) and this portfolio produced.
There is great humour in this work - like elsewhere in Finlay's oeuvre - ambiguous headlines from real and made up newspapers give the basis for many of the works. Lobster boats here look nippy, Waterlilies lead double lives and are warned that they must reflect. hedgehogs announce annual turnovers as if they were banks or just rolled in defence.
This is one of the most rare Finlay publications. One 50 numbered copies were made. This example is internally in VG+ condition although the cover has a horrible paper scuff (although the cover is based on a childish drawing by Eve Furnival.
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Darmstadt: Franz Dahlem, 1967.
20.5 x 15.5cm, 2pp announcement card for a performance on 20 March 1967 (with Henning Christiansen)of Hauptstrom where the latter played a violin painted green and an exhibition of works by Beuys. The front of the card show the artist during his explaining art to a dead hare aktion of 1965 - but interestingly in a purple and yellow mirrored duotone. A scarce early card. VG+.
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Edinburgh: M. MacDonald, 1967 21.8 x 14.2cm, 48pp plus card covers. A single number (nr 23) of Alan Riddle's Scottish poetry magazine which includes a 10 page section on "Concrete Numbers". Poems by Tom Clark, Edwin Morgan and Riddle himself are presented along with five by Finlay: Funnel Geography (2), Line Boats, Purse-Net Boat, 2. From the Yard of Thomas Summers & co. and 3 Blue Lemons. Other traditional poetry is also included by Norman McCaig and Tom Buchan amongst others. VG+. ...