40.6 × 30.5 cm
(16 × 12 inches)
Signed lower right
No. 472
Painted in 1953, The Cannonade is the companion to The Drummer, with which it forms a remarkable pair of small gouaches devoted to the absurdity and violence of human conflict. Their modest dimensions belie the concentration and authority of the imagery.
Armstrong turns battle into a kind of sinister theatre. The elaborately dressed combatants carry wooden, almost toy-like swords, while behind them the city erupts with cannon fire. Soldiers become actors and warfare approaches pantomime, yet the humour only sharpens the underlying sense of menace.
The picture belongs closely to Armstrong's major Battle paintings of these years, including The Battle of Propaganda and The Battle of Religion. In these works the elaborate ceremony of militarism masks something irrational and self-destructive: humanity continues to pursue conflict even when its purpose has become obscure.
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