Artwork

Art of the poster label

Lord Mayor's Show, 1936 : Edward Wadsworth (1889-1949)

Tempera

This design for the Lord Mayor's Show was by leading British modernist Edward Wadsworth. The gun motif paid reference to the theme of the 1936 show, 'Defence and Rearmament', although the controversy it caused resulted in the poster being withdrawn.

'If people object to this poster, they must object to the Lord Mayor's Show. Better cancel the whole thing. We shall see if any papers run pictures of the
Show. You'd better not, I suppose? After all, what's a little poster?'

Edward Wadsworth, Daily Express, 6 November 1936 

'We felt that the design, produced by Mr Wadsworth, was not only a very good design in itself - regarded purely as a design - but was also a grim statement and a grim reminder of the significance of modern warfare.'

London Transport Board Official, Evening News, 5 November 1936 

'If we are to show the beauty of the engines of war to a peacefully travelling public, why not have the guts to show the effects of these instruments. Or would pictures of bullet-riddled bodies be a trifle unseemly?.'

Cassandra, Daily Mirror, November 1936