Apr 24, 2014 - Sale 2346

Sale 2346 - Lot 191

Price Realized: $ 1,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
JOHN LENNON (1940-1980) & YOKO ONO (1933- ) WAR IS OVER! 1969.
30x20 1/4 inches, 76x51 1/2 cm.
Condition A.
As part of their activism for peace (which included bed-ins) John Lenon and Yoko Ono also launched a major media campaign in 1969 in which they purchased space on large billboards in 12 major cities around the world. The giant signs they pasted up read "War is Over / if you want it / Happy Christmas from John and Yoko." Flyers with the bold, simple typographic message were distributed to passers-by and smaller posters were printed to be hung in windows of private homes. A savvy and prescient move (some have cynically said it was done for profit), the campaign received a tremendous amount of media coverage. Nevertheless, John and Yoko provided a generation of war-weary youth a new slogan to embrace. In 1971, they released a song "Happy Xmas (War is Over), which has become staple on holiday playlists. The Poster 664 (var).