Screenprint on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ian-hamilton-finlay-1093" aria-label="More by Ian Hamilton Finlay" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Ian Hamilton Finlay</a>
Midway I
Purchased 1983
abstraction
agriculture, gardening & fishing
animals: insects & lower animals
battle
bee
beehive
bush
caption
fire
from recognisable sources
history
inscriptions
landscape
Midway, Battle, 3-6 Jun 1942
military
military: World War II
name
natural phenomena
objects
plants and flowers
rose
symbols and personifications
work and occupations
<p>The American defeat of Japan at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 was one of the decisive moments in the war in the Pacific. Finlay represents the aircraft carriers as beehives, fuelling their warriors with honey and sending them out to attack the enemy hive. The rosebushes represent the vast distance of ocean that separated the rival fleets, which never came into sight of each other. The accompanying print uses Latin text to commemorate the ships that perished in the battle. Finlay associates Latin with the epic nature of warfare.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2008</em></p>
paper print screenprint
Midway I
image: 565 × 687 mm
Purchased 1983
<p>The American defeat of Japan at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 was one of the decisive moments in the war in the Pacific. Finlay represents the aircraft carriers as beehives, fuelling their warriors with honey 
<br/>and sending them out to attack the enemy hive. The rosebushes represent the vast distance of ocean that separated the rival fleets, which never came into sight of each other. The accompanying <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>print</span></a> uses Latin text to commemorate the ships that perished in the battle. Finlay associates Latin with the epic nature of warfare.</p>

Display caption
2008-07-30T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/finlay-midway-i-p07932" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07932</span></a> <b>Midway I </b>1977
<br/>
<br/>Two screenprints [<span>P07932</span>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/finlay-midway-ii-p07933" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07933</span></a>] each approx. 22 1/4 × 27 (565 × 687), printed at Girdwood and published by the Wild Hawthorn Press in an edition of about 300
<br/>Not inscribed
<br/>Purchased from the artist (Grant-in-Aid) 1983
<br/>
<br/>The Battle of Midway in June 1942 marked the turn of the war in the Pacific to America's favour. Finlay's image, composed of a sheet of lettering in Latin and English at the right and an image of beehives with the names of ships at the left, represents the Japanese and American aircraft carriers whose planes, fuelled by petrol piped like honey through hives, flew far to engage the enemy, although the ships themselves did not come in sight of one another. The rosebushes represent the lush distances of ocean which concealed the rival fleets. Finlay frequently uses Latin, as in this and other works described here, to signify the epic or the arcane.
<br/>
<br/>This and the following entries [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/phillips-canto-ii-no-title-p07625" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07625</span></a>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/chia-about-the-unseizable-p07634" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07634</span></a> and <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/finlay-sailing-barge-redwing-p07645" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07645</span></a>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/finlay-homage-to-agam-p07647" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07647</span></a>] have all been approved by the artist.
<br/>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><i>The Tate Gallery 1982-84: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions</i>, London 1986
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-26T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction agriculture, gardening & fishing animals: insects & lower animals battle bee beehive bush caption fire from recognisable sources history inscriptions landscape Midway, Battle, 3-6 Jun 1942 military military: World War II name natural phenomena objects plants and flowers rose symbols and personifications work and occupations