Camouflage Artist | Nishan G. Toor

Armenian-born American camoufleur Nishan G. Tooroonjian

In a recent post, we mentioned the return to San Francisco at the end of World War I of two dozen California artists who had served as US Army camoufleurs in France. Among those listed was an Armenian-born sculptor named Nishan G. Tooroonjian (1888-1966), who later changed his family name to Toor. 

Reproduced above is a photograph of him that appeared in a periodical called The New Armenia, Vol X No 3, March 1918 (at which time he was still in France). His drawing appears on the cover of that issue, and the photo caption reads: "N.G. Tooroonjian. Camoufleur, AEF in France. The cover design of The New Armenia was drawn by him." 

A substantial entry on his life was published in the 1942-43 edition of Who's Who in California, and there is a website that features about forty of his works, as well as some wonderful photos of him, self-described as a "disguised agitator."

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