CHRISTOPHER R.W. NEVINSON (1889-1946) NOW / BACK THE BAYONETS. 1918. 29 3/4x19 inches, 75 1/2x48 1/4 cm. The Dangerfield Printing Co. Ltd., London. Condition B: repaired tears, small replaced losses, creases and restoration at edges and along vertical and horizontal folds; restoration along scratch through lower text. "This poster, one of the few designed by Nevinson . . . reflects a Vorticist obsession with guns, short harsh words and thrusting angular shapes, together with Nevinson's own fondness for silhouettes against the sky" (IWM p. 44). This poster first appeared with lettering advertising an exhibition of Nevinson's front-line pictures of the war and was later reissued by the government in this form as a fundraising incentive. It is considered one of the most progressively designed British posters of the First World War, noted for its Vorticist design elements and "futurist lettering." IWM I p. 44 (var), Darracott p. 61 (var), War Posters 86, Modern British Posters p. 7, British Modern p. 56.
