Enlarge image
Catalogue information
LastDodo number
5302299
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
Knocking off time at Harwell
Artist
Art object
Art Movement / style
Genre
Material
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
45 x 38 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1950
Country
Language
Details
Original cartoon on light brown drawing board in pen and ink, 1950, published in Punch magazine on 11.01.1950, from the ‘Popular Misconceptions’ series, shows rather suspicious-looking employees of Harwell (The Atomic Energy Research Establishment, known as AERE or colloquially Harwell, near Harwell, Oxfordshire) leaving work carrying radioactive material, top secret documents and other highly sensitive materials out of the building without any checks being made. The misconception here is that Harwell, the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s, was a nest of spies, Communist infiltrators and other foreign agents stealing nuclear secrets. This was 1950, and the Cold War had broken out in earnest. Board size 45 x 38 cm, image size 33 x 25 cm, signed lower right. A little browned, but otherwise very good condition.