February 4. Nothing!

ArtistDesigned/Sent by Ian Hamilton Finlay (Nassau, Bahamas, 1925 - 2006)

RecipientReceived by Joyce Laing (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1939 - 2022)

PrinterPrinted by Wild Hawthorn Press (founded 1961)

Date1987

Object NameCard

Mediumcard, ink

ClassificationsPrints

DimensionsPaper Size: 14.1 x 12.6cm

AcquisitionPresented in 2010 by Joyce Laing OBE.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG017468

About MeCard designed by Ian Hamilton Finlay and printed by the Wild Hawthorn Press. It is addressed to Joyce Laing and was evidently posted in 1987, shortly after its creation. The card features the following text within a thin linear border:

February 4. Nothing!

'On the evening of the terrible day of the taking of the Bastille, Louis XVI contented himself with writing in the journal, to which he confided his daily impressions, the strange, incredible, impossible word, NOTHING!' Jules Claretie, Passages From The History Of The Dantonists.

Fourth Anniversary
of The First Battle of Little Sparta
February 4, 1983

This work is part of an archive that belonged to Joyce Laing, OBE. The artist, Ian Hamilton Finlay, was a personal friend and sent her an example of each new poem print and multiple as it was made.