This is a preparatory drawing done by Keith Bailey under the supervision of Ian Hamilton Finlay for a slate sculpture. It depicts a fighter plane of World War II vintage with a trail of smoke during combat. Angels, Bandits and Saints refers to nicknames of fighter aircraft during that period. Contrails is the condensation trail emitted by jet aircraft exhaust. Contrails form when hot humid air from jet exhaust mixes with environmental air of low vapor pressure and low temperature. The mixing is a result of turbulence generated by the engine exhaust. A different version of this work in collaboration with Ron Costley was made into a medallion. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

This publication which was edited by Zdenek Felix and Pia Simig was published on the occasion of Finlay's exhibition entitled Works - Pure and Political at Diechtorhallen, Hamburg Germany in 1995. Includes photographs b&w of Finlay's sculptural works, documentation on their significance, and a listing of his collaborators. Archival material forming the basis for several of these works is held by the Sackner Archive, e.g., Max Plank Institute, Stuttgart (1972). -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.