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Post Info TOPIC: 'Cubist' camouflage?
Lashenden


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'Cubist' camouflage?
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I recently read (in Christy Campbell's 'Band of Brigands') that the early camouflage of the first Mk 1 tanks was described by Prime Minister Herbert Asquith as 'cubist' while Maurice Hanky, Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence, who accompanied Asquith on his visit to Yvrench in early September 1916 also mentioned that that the tanks he saw at were painted in 'grotesque colours'. Asquith to Lord Curzon: "I have seen them packed together, they have been coloured after the cubists' style in an ingenious manner - so as to make them invisible...". Does anyone have any further information or thoughts about this early camouflage? It is of course entirely possible that the term 'cubist' was used quite casually by Asquith, to mean any type of chaotic, non-representational colour scheme - 'cubist' was by 1916 already an accepted media shorthand for things that looked radically modern or ugly or weird. However, 'cubist' might also describe camouflage that was angular and geometric - like the 'dazzle' camouflage applied to British ships from 1917 onwards. It is also well-known that the Victorian academic artist Solomon Solomon was asked to camouflage the first tanks. Does his book 'Strategic Camouflage' (1920) mention anything about the schemes he devised for tanks in early 1916? I'm hoping that there might be justification for modelling a 'dazzle painted' Mk1, probably in shades of sunset pink, grey and brown - I think that this would have looked amazing, even if it was overpainted before the tanks ever saw action. Thoughts, please!

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Tankcommander


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Hi,

You mean that? Somewhere here on this forum but for the moment I'dont find it.

 

DJ

pa040099on1.jpg



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Lashenden


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Mmm. No, that's not what I had in mind at all, although that may well be the kind of thing that Solomon was doing. I had this sort of scheme in mind, albeit in 'land rather than 'sea' colours...

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Rhomboid


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Hi Lashenden. I apologize for the very poor reproduction of this MkIV female. I do not think it was one of Solomon's efforts. As far as I am aware, his book "Strategic Camouflage" does not mention his work on the tanks, and is devoted to his thoughts on protection from aerial observation. His biography, "Solomon J. Solomon, A Memoir of Peace and War", by Olga Semech Phillips contains extracts from his diary concerning the tank episode. See also Patrick Wright's "Tank - The Progress of a Monstrous War Machine", an artistic/cultural study of the tank, for a discussion of cubism and the early tanks.

I don't think a MkI model in cubist "dazzle" camouflage would find any photographic or documentary support. Send me a PM and I can forward some further info on this subject.



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Lashenden


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Thank you so much for this pic and your reference to Patrick Wright's book. Is this the same Patrick Wright who wrote 'On Living in an Old County'? I'm hoping so, as he's an excellent writer and an interesting cultural historian.



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Lothianman


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If you are into Patrick Wright's books, you might enjoy his book on Tyneham if you haven't already - the tanks play only a minor (but crucial) role in that village's history. Interesting to see his remarks on which edition of his book is best!

http://www.patrickwright.net/books/the-village/about/

 



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ssculptor


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I asked once before if the American Camouflage schemes (bright colors with thick black separating lines on the borders of each color) ever make it over to France and saw combat. The replies I was given held that many were, but with weathering and all the mud covering them they tended to fade and disappear. After all, there wasn't much in color variations in the battlefields after a while of heavy use and bombardment, was there.
Is there any documentation about the actual repainting of the brightly camouflaged tanks and artillery once they got to France?
Ssculptor

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