Norman Wilkinson and Warships as an Artist's Canvas

Warships are rarely viewed as the proper canvas for Cubist art, but they were for a time during the First and Second World Wars. Artist Norman Wilkinson developed a Cubist-like design in 1917 to use on US and British warships to make it difficult for the enemy to estimate its size, speed and direction of travel. His design became known as Dazzle camouflage and here are a few examples:

USS Charles S Sperry (1944)

USS Orizaba (1918)

HMS Badsworth (1941)

HMS Furious (1918)

HMS Nairana (1917)

HMS Kildangan (1918)

RMS Olympic (c.1918) - The identical sister ship to RMS Titanic

USS Wilhelmina (1918)

USS Nebraska (1918)

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