French camouflage artists in Italy. André Mare's Cubism has vanished in Venice

Abstract

Camouflage was one of the main issues during First World War. Since 1915, under the guidance of the painter Guirand de Scevola, the French government established a first department for conception and production of camouflage system, where military and civil teams worked together. Whitin a positioning war, where tens of thousands of men were crowd along the frontline, seeing without being seen in order to deceive the enemy, become vital to survive.  In a little while, English, American, Belgian, and Italian army officers visited the main atelier of camouflage department based in Amiens and Noyon (North France). In Italy, a camouflage laboratory (laboratorio di mascheramento) was funded at early 1917 and French camouflage painters came to teach to Italian colleagues in September 1917. A camouflage factory was established in Milan and in Piazzola sul Brenta; the French headquarter for camouflage was established in Padua, and later in Vicenza.
One of the main French artist involved in camouflage pointed out by Art History is André Mare (1885-1932) for two reasons: his role in the innovation of French decorative art before the War; his activity within the camouflage department of French Army during the war.
This essay focused on a remarkable journal by André Mare during the war, by the name and the quality of drawings: Mare filled ten notebooks with information about artillery, his activity for camouflage, events and emotions caused by these events, small photographs, serious or light notes.