Crush Anti-Union Laws
Poster
1971 (printed)
1971 (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Ken Sprague is a key figure in British left-wing poster art, an overtly political artist and supporter of the labour movement. Mountain and Molehill - his design partnership with Ray Bernard - transformed Trade Union publicity This poster 'Crush Anti-Union Laws' caused controversy when it appeared in 1971. It shows British Prime Minister Edward Heath being squeezed by a worker's hand. Ken Sprague cut out the eyes from a photograph of Edward Heath and reversed them. It has been described as a precedent for the famous Saatchi & Saatchi 1997 Conservative Party poster of Tony Blair. The drop of blood added to this second version of the poster was seen by some as too violent an image.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Crush Anti-Union Laws (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Lithograph |
| Brief description | Poster, 'Crush Anti-Union Laws', lithograph designed by Ken Sprague, Great Britain, 1971 |
| Physical description | Political poster entitled 'Crush Anti-Union Laws' showing an image of Ted Heath being crushed in a big hand; lithograph. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | CRUSH / ANTI-UNION / LAWS (Text of poster) |
| Gallery label |
|
| Credit line | Given by John Green |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Ken Sprague is a key figure in British left-wing poster art, an overtly political artist and supporter of the labour movement. Mountain and Molehill - his design partnership with Ray Bernard - transformed Trade Union publicity This poster 'Crush Anti-Union Laws' caused controversy when it appeared in 1971. It shows British Prime Minister Edward Heath being squeezed by a worker's hand. Ken Sprague cut out the eyes from a photograph of Edward Heath and reversed them. It has been described as a precedent for the famous Saatchi & Saatchi 1997 Conservative Party poster of Tony Blair. The drop of blood added to this second version of the poster was seen by some as too violent an image. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.722-2003 |
About this object record
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| Record created | June 13, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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