ML11 8NG Janet Boulton at Little Sparta
Janet Boulton first visited Little Sparta in 1993. This publication includes a selection of her paintings and paperpulp relief works which relate to Little Sparta and Ian Hamilton Finlay.
Nuclear Sail I, 1999 53 x 66cm
“It is difficult to summarise Janet Boulton’s thirty-year period painting gardens but her main objective was to learn about each garden, its terrain, design, and horticulture, through the ongoing attempt to make an accurate representation of it. Over the years she was able not only to observe and analyse but also to understand each garden as an entity: a complete composition with its own special ethos and intention.� A Seeming Diversity: Paintings & Reliefs, Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, 2017
The Present Order I, 1999 54 x 67cm
Black Boat, 1998 40 x 58cm
Grotto to Æneas and Dido, 2001 63 x 55cm
“Working in front of the subject, she draws with remarkable economy before ‘washing’ in her delicate evocative colours. Boulton has an uncanny ability to confer tenderness on to objects she paints and to evoke a sense of their history.” Review of ‘Two Gardens’ at Redfern Gallery, The Week, 2001
Hypnos, 2000 70 x 42cm
“The Temple of Apollo at Little Sparta, a refurbished cow-byre, at one time served to house works by Ian Hamilton Finlay exemplifying neo-French-revolutionary ideals. The building has since been used mainly for storage; the original scheme, still extant, is largely hidden by artworks sheltering from winter cold or awaiting shipment to exhibitions, as well as by garden tools, packing-crates, rolls of bubble-wrap and the like. Whereas Janet Boulton’s other views of Finlay’s world show responsiveness to his concern for the specific relation between works and contexts, she here takes as subject artworks ‘off-duty’, failing in, or falling short of, full instantiation.” Harry Gilonis, Essay in Remembering Little Sparta, 2009
Interior of Temple to Apollo: Artemis with Tools, 2006 81 x 76.5cm
Interior of Temple to Apollo: Apollo and Le Peletier, 2004 81 x 76.5cm
Interior of Temple to Apollo: Aphrodite with Beehive, 2005 81 x 76cm
“As these delicate, atmospheric paintings reveal, Boulton’s cooperation with the artist, which continued over a good many years was not so much a matter of executing his ideas in particular works as providing a broader visual commentary on his world.” Duncan Macmillan, The Scotsman, 2009
Toys Umbrellas, Rockingboat, Tug, Windmill, String of Fish, Watermill and Blue Tug, 2007 26.5 x 26.5cm
“Finlay’s house at Little Sparta had shelves filled with beautiful little boats made in his workshop, their sails cut from coloured hankies. Janet Boulton’s series of ‘Boat Window’ paintings show larger boats placed on window-sills.” Jessie Sheeler, Essay in Remembering Little Sparta, 2009
Boat Window: Moonlight II, 2000 68 x 53cm
Boat Window: Three Boats, 1995 69 x 52cm
Boat Window: BF1094, 1995 69 x 55cm
Boat Window: Four Boats, 2001 63 x 55cm
Model Cupboard: Dooglebugs and Temple, 2004 36 x 54cm Bluenose with Yellow Plane, 2004 36 x 59cm
“In the Roman Garden, recalling the Villa d’Este, warships from World War II are miniaturised – aircraft carriers becoming bird tables and baths. Boulton’s Six Watercolours of the Roman Garden, echoing Finlay’s fondness for the medium, show a restrained delicacy she calls ‘Cezannesque’ while her Paper Relief series reflect another of his penchants, combining, in a way the Cubists would recognise, irregular bands of colour rather like torn paper with strongly linear representations of the ships.” Jessie Sheeler, Essay in Remembering Little Sparta, 2009
The Roman Garden (series of six), 2000/04 40 x 48–58cm
The Roman Garden (series of six), 2005 30 x 30–48cm
Paper Boat, 2004 31 x 31cm
The English Parkland, 2005 62 x 49cm
The World Has Been Empty Since The Romans, 2004 62 x 49cm
The Roman Garden, mixed media maquettes to be carved in white marble, 2005
SELECTED WORKS PAINTINGS
PAPERPULP RELIEF WORKS
1. Nuclear Sail I, 1999, 53 x 66cm
23. The Roman Garden (series of six), 2005, 30 x 30–48cm
2. The Present Order I, 1999, 54 x 67cm 3. Black Boat, 1998, 40 x 58cm 4. Grotto to Æneas and Dido, 2001, 63 x 55cm
24. Paper Boat, 2004, 31 x 31cm 25. The English Parkland, 2005, 62 x 49cm
5. Hypnos, 2000, 70 x 42cm
26. The World Has Been Empty Since The Romans, 2004, 62 x 49cm
6. Interior of Temple to Apollo: Artemis with Tools, 2006, 81 x 76.5cm
MAQUETTES
7. Interior of Temple to Apollo: Apollo and Le Peletier, 2004, 81 x 76.5cm
27. The Roman Garden, mixed media, 2005
8. Interior of Temple to Apollo: Aphrodite with Beehive, 2005, 81 x 76cm 9. Umbrellas, 2007, 26.5 x 26.5cm 10. Rockingboat, 2007, 26.5 x 26.5cm 11. Tug, 2007, 26.5 x 26.5cm 12. Windmill, 2007, 26.5 x 26.5cm 13. String of Fish, 2007, 26.5 x 26.5cm 14. Watermill, 2007, 26.5 x 26.5cm 15. Blue Tug, 2007, 26.5 x 26.5cm 16. Boat Window: Moonlight II, 2000, 68 x 53cm 17. Boat Window: Three Boats, 1995, 69 x 52cm 18. Boat Window: BF1094, 1995, 69 x 55cm 19. Boat Window: Four Boats, 2001 63 x 55cm 20. Model Cupboard: Dooglebugs and Temple, 2004, 36 x 54cm 21. Bluenose with Yellow Plane, 2004, 36 x 59cm 22. The Roman Garden (series of six), 2000/04, 40 x 48–58cm
REMEMBERING LITTLE SPARTA The Sculpture Court Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh Festival, 2009
Photographs by Robin Gillanders
With thanks to Michael Wood, College Secretary (1997–2010) at the Edinburgh College of Art, for sponsoring Janet Boulton’s residency and subsequent exhibition.
SPRING ROAD Views of garden works relating to Ian Hamilton Finlay and Little Sparta by Janet Boulton at her garden Spring Road, Abingdon. Photographs and notes from Foreground/Background: About Making a Garden, 2013, Uniformbooks.
JARDIN. Door to garden.
POÉSIE. George Braque said “Poésie is the quality I admire above all else in art” – depiction of a picture frame.
LIVE UNKNOWN. From Epicurus – an injunction for modesty. An idea borrowed from Ian Hamilton Finlay with his approval.
“There’s a great joy in making tributes. It’s a recognition of the importance of these people to my work and my life.” Janet Boulton, Foreground/Background: A Day in Janet Boulton’s Garden, September 2014. Distant Object Productions.
THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK. In one of Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Unconnected Sentences on Gardening he writes ‘Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks’. A humorous piece where the spouts of the watering cans could be seen as either trumpets or guns.
ML11 8NG. Postcode for Little Sparta. A reminder and an acknowledgement.
janetboulton.co.uk
SUPPORT LITTLE SPARTA You can donate and support Little Sparta.
littlesparta.org.uk
Copyright © Little Sparta Trust June 2020 Artworks by Janet Boulton. Photography by Douglas Atfield, Tim Fransen, Robin Gillanders, Andrew Lawson and Melvillian Arts. Scottish charity no SC023222
Little Sparta Stonypath Dunsyre ML11 8NG