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The War is Over!

Poster
1972 (photographed), 1975 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

'The War is Over!' rally in New York Central Park in 1975 celebrated the end of the Vietnam War and the culmination of the anti-war movement. Over 100,000 people attended. The organisers were the 'troubadour of the New Left' Phil Ochs and fellow activist Cora Weiss. Ochs's original design for the poster adapted a Second World War depiction of a soldier kissing a nurse on V.E. day. However the planning committee considered it chauvinistic, and this photograph taken in Vietnam was substituted instead.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe War is Over! (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Offset lithograph
Brief description
Poster advertising 'The War Is Over!' Rally (USA, 1970)
Physical description
End of Vietnam War celebration poster. Photographic image of Vietnamese woman in traditional dress releasing white doves from outstretched arms. Printed in black and white. Three doves perched on each arm.
Dimensions
  • Height: 58.4cm
  • Width: 73.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
The War is Over!
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Places depicted
Summary
'The War is Over!' rally in New York Central Park in 1975 celebrated the end of the Vietnam War and the culmination of the anti-war movement. Over 100,000 people attended. The organisers were the 'troubadour of the New Left' Phil Ochs and fellow activist Cora Weiss. Ochs's original design for the poster adapted a Second World War depiction of a soldier kissing a nurse on V.E. day. However the planning committee considered it chauvinistic, and this photograph taken in Vietnam was substituted instead.
Bibliographic reference
'Political Graphics: Art as a Weapon' by Robert Philippe Oxford: Phaidon, 1982. Page 295
Other number
LS.1071 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Accession number
E.631-2004

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Record createdJuly 2, 2004
Record URL
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