Skip to main content
Barr* Le Traitre Lis Ta Sentence.
Barr* Le Traitre Lis Ta Sentence.
Barr* Le Traitre Lis Ta Sentence.

Barr* Le Traitre Lis Ta Sentence.

Artist (Nassau, Bahamas, 1925 - 2006)
Recipient (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1939 - 2022)
Printer (founded 1961)
Date1987
Object NameCard
Mediumcard, ink
ClassificationsPrints
DimensionsPaper Size: 18 x 13.1cm
AcquisitionPresented in 2010 by Joyce Laing OBE.
Copyright© Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay (2009)
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG017475
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 depicts a muscular arm bursting through a brick wall and penning the following text with a quill: "Dieu a calculé ton reigne et la mis afin to as-été mis dans la Balance et tu as-été trouvé trop léger." Beneath the image is text that makes critical reference to Ian Barr, Chairman of the Saltire Society, who had favourably reviewed the National Trust publication "Follies".

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.