Ian Hamilton Finlay – The Arcadian Dream Garden

Join us at a special exhibition to celebrate the Centenary of Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), one of Scotland’s most distinctive and internationally recognised artists and poets.

Finlay, known for his poetic, philosophical and often playful approach to art, lived and worked in the Pentland Hills for over 40 years. He is best known for Little Sparta, the remarkable garden he created with his wife Sue Finlay, transforming a wild moorland site at Stonypath into a landscape filled with sculpture, classical references, and ideas drawn from history, politics, and nature. This exhibition allows us to celebrate that work beyond the boundaries of the garden.

“Ian Hamilton Finlay always thought of himself as a poet, rather than a visual artist, even though this is how he is better known,” said George Gilliland, Curator of the Exhibition and Head Gardener at Little Sparta. “This exhibition gives an opportunity to see the range and scale of Finlay’s printed works, particularly as they relate to the garden. While at first glance the themes encountered here might seem to be unexpected or complicated, they can be approached as one might think of a cryptic crossword puzzle – a sequence of clues which once unravelled give delight in the simplicity of the answer.”

The exhibition focuses on Finlay’s printed and graphical works, produced through the pioneering Wild Hawthorn Press, which he co-founded in 1961. The title of the exhibition is taken from one of Finlay’s own publications, in which he described the garden as a site for reflection, transformation, and layered meanings.

The show marks the centenary of Finlay’s birth and forms part of a series of exhibitions and events across the UK and Europe.

All works in the exhibition are shown with the kind permission of the Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay.