page_title: André Mare
section_title: War and camouflage
hierarchical_section_title: André Mare / War and camouflage
caption_attribution_description: English: Cubist-type sketch in black ink and watercolour of a 280 calibre first world war field gun, about 1917, by André Mare (1885-1932), an artist who contributed to the development of military camouflage in France.
context_page_description: Charles André Mare, or André-Charles Mare, was a French painter and textile designer, and co-founder of the Company of French Art in 1919. He was a designer of colorful textiles, and was one of the founders of the Art Deco movement.
  As a soldier in the French Army in World War I, Mare led the development of military camouflage, painting artillery using Cubism techniques to deceive the eye. His ink and watercolour painting Le canon de 280 camouflé shows the close interplay of abstract art and military application at that time. He authored the book Cubisme et Camouflage, 1914–1918.
  Mare sketched and painted scenes based on his experiences in World War I. His works include: American Troops Marching Through the Arch of Triumph, 1930, and The Funeral of Marshal Foch, 1931.
  After the war Mare combined his talents with the skills of architect Louis Sue and became a leader in the Art Deco movement. He designed pavilions, textiles and furnishings for the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925. and interiors of residences and the French ocean liners. A common feature of his work was the stylized rose, in garlands or bouquets.
context_section_description: During the First World War, Mare worked on camouflage for the French army, in a section of camoufleurs created by Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scevola and directed by his friend Dunoyer de Segonzac. He also worked for the British and Italian armies with his friend Fernand Léger and other painters including Forain, Charles Camoin, Charles Dufresne, Villon, and Marcoussis; and with the sculptors Henri Bouchard and Charles Despiau—and with stage designers from the theatre.
  Mare applied the principles of disruptive coloration camouflage using forms derived from Cubism: bands of colour juxtaposed to prevent the eye from recognizing the shape of a gun barrel, for example. Colours are chosen to overlap with those of the surrounding landscape. At that time, Mare painted ten of his many watercolour sketchbooks in Cubist style. His sketched designs include hollow camouflaged armoured trees for use as observation posts.
  In 1916 Mare was badly wounded by shrapnel from a shell on the front in Picardy while helping to set up an observation post.
  On 10 August 1916 Mare was awarded the Military Cross by King George V of England.
caption: André Mare's ink and watercolour painting Le canon de 280 camouflé (The Camouflaged 280 Gun), c.1917, shows a Cubist artist's work for the French army in World War I.
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