The resulting popularity led Picasso to boast that dazzle camouflage was inspired by the cubist movement. Dazzle camouflage became so popular that it made its way into fashion, with fabrics recreating the same patterns. So when statistics were released that showed ship sinkings had decreased since the ships were bedazzled, the press ran with it.
Nonetheless, the idea of dazzle camouflage fascinated the public at the time. However, research conducted in the years following the war argue that its supposed success may be attributed to other developments in the English navy. Overall, the dazzle camouflage project was deemed a success - especially in the eyes of the public. If an opposing submarine couldn’t determine where the ship was headed, they couldn’t correctly target their torpedoes and the beautiful ships would sail on unharmed. The idea behind dazzle camouflage was to use conflicting geometric shapes and vertical lines of black and white to make the path of the ship indecipherable to enemy attackers. When the ships docked, as portrayed here in the painting, they caught the attention of all those around, dazzling them as it were. Wadsworth worked as one of the camoufleurs tasked with designing and painting the geometric patterns for English naval ships. This painting in particular, his first after the war ended, saw a great surge in popularity for the artist. Our artist Wadsworth wasn’t involved in the conception of dazzle camouflage, but has since become one of the most recognizable names associated with the project. The official responded with “How the hell do you expect me to predict the course of a ***** thing all painted up like that?”, successfully proving Wilkinson’s point. Wilkinson presented the same challenge to a high ranking official in the English Navy who then also failed the challenge. When the king failed to do so correctly, he grew agitated. To convince the English navy to give dazzle camouflage a try, Wilkinson made a model dazzle ship and challenged King George V to predict it’s direction. Rather than aim for invisibility, he sought to confuse the opposing armies to greatly hinder their ability to aim and hit the ships.
"Give 'em the old razzle dazzle" took on a whole new meaning in World War I.Īt the start of the 20th century, just before the war, a man named Norman Wilkinson convinced the English navy to take ship camouflage to the next level.
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