Ian Hamilton Finlay

Ian Hamilton Finlay died on this day twenty years ago, at the age of eighty. 

Ian Hamilton Finlay | Homage to Robert Lax

 

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Homage to Robert Lax

Dunsyre, Scotland: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1974

12 pp., 25.5 x 10.5 cm., saddle-stitched

Edition size unknown

"Homage to Robert Lax comprises a poem, printed in red and black on plain white pages, consisting of combinations of four words: Richthofen, Reinhardt, crimson and black.

The work is a response or possibly even a riposte to Robert Lax's poem 'For Ad Reinhardt', a work itself consisting of the two words: black, blue. Lax was a close friend of the American minimalist painter Ad Reinhardt, best known for his 'black' paintings of the 1960s, works composed entirely of different shades of black.

Finlay's homage recalls the layout of many Robert Lax poems in the form of slim vertical columns, giving each syllable its own line, often reproduced from handwriting rather than typeset.

Departing from its source of inspiration, Finlay's poem extends into a theme common in his work and encountered in other of his homage series, that of military iconography. Thus he matches 'Reinhardt' with the name of Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the famed World War I German fighter pilot, also known as the Red Baron and on the cover, juxtaposes the Iron Cross with a second cross of simple compositional design favoured by Ad Reinhardt in many of his paintings.

Finally, where Lax invariably used the simplest colour-words, Finlay invokes poetic associations with 'crimson’.”

Ian Hamilton Finlay | Earthship

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Earthship

Edinburgh, Scotland: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1965

[19] pp., 20 x 31 x 11 cm., boxed accordion fold

Edition size unknown

It’s estimated that fewer than fifty copies of this work were produced, and possibly no more than twenty which included the cardboard shoebox, designed by Alistair Cant. Many of these are held in institutions and the item is rarely available on the secondary market, with a value higher than £4000. 

Finlay's text, running from conjoined sheet to conjoined sheet reads as follows: 'fin / funnel / eye / hold / bow / stern / star / number / root / branch / sail / sap / screw / ihf'.

Ian Hamilton Finlay | The Boy's Alphabet Book

Ian Hamilton Finlay

The Boy's Alphabet Book

Toronto, Canada: Coach House Press, 1976

60 pp., 19.7 x 20.3 cm,, softcover

Edition of 1000 copies

According to materials in the archives at the University of Iowa, this title took over five years to produce. Ian Hamilton Finlay sent three letters in 1971, seeking help in publishing the book. He wrote to Michael Harvey, Udo Breger, and bp Nichol. 

Nichol replies in June 1973 that Coach House Press may be interested in publishing the book, and follows up a month later indicating that things are moving forward. He acknowledges receipt of the manuscript and photographs (Dave Paterson) in November 1974. It would be another two years before the slim volume was produced. 

The title was advertised as "one of the lengthiest works to date by the internationally renowned poet Ian Hamilton Finlay. The extended form of the traditional primer allows full range for the demonstration of Finlay's abilities as craftsman, toymaker and word-shaper.”

The work consists of an A-Z of pictures of Finlay's model boats, airplanes, weapons and kites, accompanied by texts by the legendary artist and poet. The texts range from the poetic to the merely descriptive. 

The book features photographs from Dave Paterson and was edited for the press by bp Nichol. This copy was initially owned by artist Greg Curnoe and is now in the collection of Bill Clarke. 

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Ian Hamilton Finlay died on this day in 2006, at the age of 80.

Ian Hamilton Finlay | Windmills Winding Waters

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Windmills Winding Waters

Little Sparta, Scotland: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1985

2/16" x 2 14/16"

Edition size unknown

Ian Hamilton Finlay | Two Horizons

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Two Horizons

Edinburgh, Scotland: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998

3.5 x 11 x 3.5 cm.

Edition size unknown

One of my all-time favourite Ian Hamilton Finlay works takes an everyday household item and re-contextualizes it with the title. 

Sent by the artist as a Christmas gift to friends in 1998, the work consists of a small printed box (which also functions as the mailing container) housing two spools of thread: aircraft grey and adonis blue. Simple and elegant. 

Ian Hamilton Finlay | Woods and Seas

Ian Hamilton Finlay
Woods and Seas
Little Sparta, Scotland: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1980

[4] pp., 6 x 9 cm., softcover

Edition of 250

Ian Hamilton Finlay | Spiral Binding

Ian Hamilton Finlay
Spiral Binding
Little Sparta, Scotland: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1972
closed: 45.5 x 18.3 cm., open: 45.5 x 27.5 cm.
Edition of 70 signed and numbered copies

Screen-printed (in both blue and orange) at PKM Studio, this work is one of several collaborations with typographer Ron Costley.


"During the 1960s, Ron’s friend, Stephen Bann, introduced him to the artist and writer Ian Hamilton Finlay, who was then living in a remote bothy with earth floors and no electricity in a field in south Lanarkshire. Through his vision it would eventually become the eccentric, surreal and romantic garden estate of Little Sparta.

The pair had an instant rapport, and for the remainder of Finlay’s life they collaborated with many other artists and friends to realise a magical landscape in the inhospitable climate and terrain of the Scottish borders. Ron’s love of gardening, lettering and sculpture struck a chord with Finlay, and much of the flavour and beauty of Little Sparta today derives from Ron’s artistic flair: a key piece is the lifesize flat metal sculpture of the running Apollo and Daphne, for which Ron drew the designs."

- Iain Stevenson, the Guardian