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| Norman Wilkinson ship camouflage schematic (1917) |
Above One of about ninety
dazzle camouflage schemes designed by British artist
Norman Wilkinson in 1917, and given to the US (which had just entered the war) for use on its own merchant ships. It appears that these were never used, but have been in storage since that war. Only recently have they been posted online at the
NARA website. However, the online versions are not always in very good shape. We have digitally restored this one—it has been cleaned, its exposure and color adjusted, and water stains removed. The original digital version remains for verification of course, as does the paper artifact.
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Thanks to British marine camouflage scholar
James Taylor, we have learned about two current dazzle ship camouflage exhibitions at museums in the UK. They are listed with online links below.
DAZZLE: Continuing the Art of Disruption is currently on exhibit at the
Southampton City Art Gallery. It opened on October 19, 2018 and continues through March 9, 2019.
A second exhibition will be available very soon. Titled
DAZZLE & THE ART OF DEFENCE, it will open on February 18 and continue through April 25, 2019 at the
Arts University Bournemouth.
