Ian Hamilton Finlay Centenary Exhibitions, Events and Publications
This year marks the centenary of Ian Hamilton Finlay’s birth and a programme of exhibitions, events and publications has been organised to celebrate this occasion.
IAN HAMILTON FINLAY 2025
Centenary exhibitions, events and publications
Ian Hamilton Finlay: Fragments
A series of eight exhibitions curated by Pia Maria Simig being staged simultaneously in the galleries who worked closely with the artist during his lifetime, accompanied by a new publication of the same name.
Taking place in May 2025 at:
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, from 3 May
Kewenig Gallery, Palmade Mallorca, from 8 May
Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia, from 8 May
Victoria Miro Gallery, London, from 8 May
David Nolan Gallery, NewYork, from 8 May
Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg, from 8 May
Stampa Galerie, Basel, from 8 May
Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, from 8 May
Ian Hamilton Finlay: Fragments
Published on 8 May 2025 by ACC Art Books and edited by Pia Maria Simig, Fragments draws together one hundred works by Ian Hamilton Finlay, each accompanied by a short, fragmentary text by the artist and myriad distinguished writers who wrote about Finlay’s work during his lifetime. It features introductory essays by Stephen Bann and Tom Lubbock and includes 100 full colour plates. Additional texts by: Yves Abrioux, Stephen Bann, Prudence Carlson, Patrick Duncombe, Julia Eames, Patrick Eyres, Alec Finlay, Ian Hamilton Finlay, George Gilliland, Harry Gilonis, and Tom Lubbock. Designed by John and Orna Designs.
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art 2, National Galleries of Scotland
Ian Hamilton Finlay, 8 March – 26 May
The display will be drawn entirely from works in the Gallery’s collection, including Nature over again after Poussin in the Paolozzi Studio, and a further 15 works on plinths in the Penrose Gallery, showing small sculptures from the 1960s to the 1990s. There will also be a number of prints, as well as an archive display in the Keiller library.
Associated Events at National Galleries of Scotland
The Long Summer of 1972: An Exhibition by Ian Hamilton Finlay
Tuesday 25 March, 12.45-1.30pm.
Professor Andrew Patrizio (University of Edinburgh) looks at the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay through a single year. Over July 1972, Finlay had a retrospective exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. This exhibition came only six years after his move to Stonypath, Dunsyre, in 1966 and was another milestone in his complex relationship with the institutions of the Athens of the North.
Ian Hamilton Finlay and the Classical World
Wednesday 26 March 2025, 11am–12noon
An opportunity to see modern cards and prints by Finlay side by side with historic works on paper by Nicolas Poussin, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Guercino and Salvator Rosa.
Book(ish)| Ian Hamilton Finlay
Thursday 1 May 2025, 11am–12noon
Taking an up-close look at rare material from the NGS archive, rare books and print collections. In each session a theme or artist is explored with one of the curatorial team, taking an intimate look at some jewels from our collection. This session will focus on the rich archive of Ian Hamilton Finlay.
Pier Arts Centre, Orkney
Ian Hamilton Finlay Centenary Celebrations, 1 March – 28 June 2025
The Pier Arts Centre will present works by Ian Hamilton Finlay from its collection, including key early poem-prints and images of Gods of the Earth/Gods of the Sea -the monumental stone sculpture by the artist (made in collaboration with Nicholas Sloan) permanently sited on Rousay since 2005. The exhibition will also include a fascinating correspondence between the artist and the Scottish Arts Council from the 1970s. The letters and publications, recently donated to the Pier Arts Centre Archive from a private collection, provide an insight into the artist’s idealistic and principled outlook as well as his sense of humour. Before moving to Stonypath in 1966 the artist lived in a number of rural locations around Scotland and spent time on Rousay, in the 1950s. The exhibition will bring together early published poems such as the Orkney Lyrics alongside prints from the 1960s & 70s, highlighting the important place that Orkney held for the artist throughout his life.
Jupiter Artland
From 11 April 2025
Jupiter Artland will open for the 2025 season on 11 April with the unveiling of a treasured artwork. Clay Tree Wall by Andy Goldsworthy will be revealed for the first time in twelve years in Jupiter’s Upper Steadings Gallery, alongside beautiful and poetic works usually not on public display from Ian Hamilton Finlay. WORK BEGAT WORK: Ian Hamilton Finlay & Andy Goldsworthy at Jupiter Artland coincides with Ian Hamilton Finlay’s centenary and the celebration of Andy Goldsworthy at National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh. These two artists have been foundational to the aims and development of Jupiter Artland. Honouring this, Jupiter will present and celebrate both artists, placing their works in conversation.
Cairn Gallery
Open by appointment until Sunday 29th June 2025
The Blue Sail, to celebrate the centenary of Ian Hamilton Finlay at Cairn Gallery, 28 Viewforth Place, Pittenweem, Fife KY10 2PZ
Biggar Museum
28 June – 31 August 2025
An exhibition with the working title Between Revolution and Virtue: Some Wild Flowers will include a selection of cards, prints and booklets associating to the themes of wild flower definitions in Ian Hamilton Finlay’s work, as they relate to WWII and the French Revolution, along with a selection of garden proposals.
Biggar Sundial Renovation
Plans are in place to renovate this early public work by Ian Hamilton Finlay that sits in the centre of the town. Commissioned to mark European Conservation Year 1970, the inscription reads AZURE & SON ISLANDS Ltd OCEANS Inc. The sequence of words suggests the internationalisation of business. The playful resonances of these words and their different meanings and associations can help us think about the growing effect of commercial and industrial activity on the natural environment, an important conservation issue.
V&A Dundee
Garden Futures: Designing with Nature, 18 May 2025 – 22 March 2026.
A touring exhibition that explores the history of modern garden design, the important role gardens play in all our lives, and how our outdoor spaces can shape a greener, more imaginative future. Works by Ian Hamilton Finlay will feature in the Scottish leg of the tour alongside visionaries including Piet Oudolf and Derek Jarman, and leading artists, designers, and landscape architects, such as Jamaica Kincaid, Duncan Grant and William Morris.
Glasgow School of Art – Reid Building, Ground Floor Corridor Gallery
Ian Hamilton Finlay – War and Pieces of a Garden
31 October to 22nd November2025
The works on show will be drawn from the GSA Library’s special collection of Wild Hawthorn Press publications, alongside some private loans.
New Arcadian Journal –Virtuous Landscapes
Featuring illustrated proposals for the cancelled Parisian gardens, commissioned by the French government to commemorate the Bicentenary of the French Revolution and cancelled in 1988 when the government buckled under the pressure of a smear campaign against Finlay, waged in the media by elements within the Parisian art world. Texts include an essay by Stephen Bann for the Versailles proposal, as well as the most ephemeral genre of Finlay’s ‘war art’, the LetterTattoos. Yves Abrioux writes on The French War and the afterlife of both proposals. Patrick Eyres will reflect on The Little Spartan and Follies Wars and outline the hitherto invisible A86 project.