No Nuclear Weapons
Artist
Peter Kennard
United Kingdom, born 1949
Date1980
Dimensions16 3/4 x 23 3/4 in. (42.5 x 60.3 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8022
DescriptionThis is the most famous image created by Peter Kennard for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Multiple variants were published by the Greater London Council as well as by the Labour Party between 1980 and 1983. The original version was issued in color without the accompanying text, focusing solely on John Constable’s 1821 painting The Hay Wain, adapted by Kennard to include a battery of cruise missiles delicately placed along the River Stour in Suffolk, England. Kennard used to mix postcards of his version of the painting into the stack of those of the original painting on sale at the National Gallery in London, with the idea that his protest art might be mailed around the world.
The composition specifically references the rural location of Royal Air Force Lakenheath in Suffolk that is actually used as a U.S. Air Force base. In addition to the variety of American fighter squadrons stationed there, it housed at its peak 110 U.S. nuclear bombs. According to the CND, the U.S. is currently assessing whether or not it should place nuclear devices back on the base.
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