"Non-Violence" (a.k.a. "The Knotted Gun"), by Fredrik Reuterswärd, a gift from the Government of Luxembourg to the United Nations

by Carl Fredrik Reutersward, Oil on canvas, 1988
Photo by C. Stoute  

When the artist learned that his friend, John Lennon, had been murdered, he became so upset and angry over this senseless death and the many other outbursts of unnecessary violence that he went to his studio and started working on the “non-violence” project. “My first sketches in three dimensions were rather rough and simple, but the important thing was that the idea of the knotted barrel was with me from the very start,” he said.

Much later he wrote that humor was the finest instrument to bring people together. While making his peace symbol, he thought of adding a touch of humor to make his “weapon” symbolically ridiculous and completely out of order. The sketch is on display in the Conventional Arms Branch of DDA.