Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Model of USS Agwidale in Dazzle Camouflage

Above Model of the USS Agwidale, US cargo ship, showing dazzle camouflage scheme (1918). The model is on exhibit at the Mariners' Museum, Newport News VA. Photographed by Mr.TinDoc (2012) and posted online at flickr with some rights reserved.

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Anon, from the Bradford Era (Bradford PA) on April 5, 1918—

The staunchest upholders of the academic in art can scarcely carry their opposition to cubism into its new field as a basis for camouflage. It has been evident, for some time, to people living near Atlantic ports, that cubism has been pitched open as the most valuable system of reducing the visibility of ocean liners. The seemingly systemless way in which greens, blues, grays, and pinks are panted on in bands and blocks of color has quite puzzled persons who have gained close views of these ships; but at a distance of a mile, another story is told, for the various masses of color set up a curious and disconcerting dazzling effect. Painting with gray has been largely superseded by the new method, which escapes the silhouette effect that too often betrayed the gray ships.