Neo-Classicism Needs You by Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) is a postcard with a uniformed man looking directly at and pointing at the viewer, with text below him that says the title of the work. The piece reflects a parody of wartime posters calling for volunteers to the military, but instead reflects Hamilton's call for neoclassical influence.
Finlay had an appreciation for neoclassical art and created many works that reference a call for neoclassical design. Finlay was also known to create satirical prints, present here with this parody similar to a wartime military poster.
Ian Hamilton Finlay
1983
Postcard
3248
16.3 × 14 cm
34.5 × 29.4 × 3.4 cm
© Courtesy of the Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay CBE, 1925-2006
Although he studied at Glasgow School of Art, Finlay’s first creative success was as a writer. His discovery of concrete poetry in the 1960s was a major breakthrough in his practice and he began to produce booklets, posters, and wall-mounted works combining text and form. Major works of conceptual sculpture using text were produced by craftsmen to his specifications. Drawing on ideas from classical philosophy and the French Revolution, he began to exhibit widely and was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1985. His garden at Little Sparta in the Pentland Hills, begun in 1966 and now looked after by a trust, is considered to be the finest manifestation of his work.
