William Andrew Mackay (1876 - July 26, 1939) was an American artist who created a series of murals about the achievements of Theodore Roosevelt. Those three murals, completed in 1936, were installed beneath the rotunda in the Roosevelt Memorial Hall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Less known but also important, he was a major contributor to the development of ship camouflage in the United States during World War I.
Ceiling Mural. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson BuildingSt. Nicholas (serial) (1873)
Mackay played a major role in the development of U.S. ship camouflage during World War I, although there are conflicting accounts of the extent of his contributions. According to one report, he experimented with low visibility ship camouflage as early as 1913 (Perry 1919, pp. 138–139). In that source, he is said to have painted a vessel with red, green and violet splotches (not unlike a Pointillist painting), with the result that, when viewed from a distance, the ship appeared “to melt into sea and sky,” making it less visible than if it had been painted with a flat “battleship gray,” as had been the earlier practice.
A later account describes Mackay’s testimony in 1917 at a meeting of the U.S. Navy Consulting Board in Washington D.C. (Crowell 1921, p. 496). In that presentation, he used a toy-like spinning device to demonstrate the visual effects of one or more rotating colored disks (comparable to Maxwell’s disks). One of these disks had been painted with equal components of red, violet and green, while another had green and violet sectors. When the disks were spun, the former appeared as an indistinct gray, while the second produced the appearance of a color described as “the blue of sea water.” On the basis of these demonstrations, Mackay argued (as he had in 1913) that low visibility hues could result when red, green and violet colors were viewed from a sufficient distance.
After the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, a scheme devised by Mackay was one of five camouflage “measures” approved by the U.S. Navy Consulting Board for official use on merchant ships. His proposal was subsequently patented in 1919, as U.S. Patent No. 1,305,296, titled “Process of Rendering Objects Less Visible Against Backgrounds.” During World War I, he also served as the head of the camouflage section of the New York District of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, for which he supervised the artists who applied camouflage patterns to merchant ships in that district’s harbors (Warner 1919).
One of the artists who worked with Mackay during World War I was John D. Whiting, who wrote a semi-fictional book about his own wartime experiences (Whiting 1928), in which it is said that Mackay started a camouflage training school, and published a Handbook on Ship Camouflage in 1937.
^ ab"William A. Mackay, Mural Painter, 63. Executed Themes in History Museum Depicting Works of Theodore Roosevelt. DIES ON A SUBWAY TRAIN. Painted Many Public Building Murals. Was Camouflage Artist in World War". New York Times. July 28, 1939. Retrieved 2013-12-04. William Andrew Mackay, the mural painter, died Wednesday of a heart attack on an Interborough subway train at 125th Street and Broadway. He was 63 years ...
Further readingedit
Behrens, Roy R. (2009), Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage. Dysart, Iowa: Bobolink Books, pp. 236–238. ISBN978-0-9713244-6-6.
Behrens, Roy R. (2012), Ship Shape: A Dazzle Camouflage Sourcebook. Dyart, Iowa: Bobolink Books. ISBN978-0-9713244-7-3.
Crowell, Benedict (1921), The Road to France: The Transportation of Troops and Military Supplies 1917-1918. New Haven CT: Yale University Press.
Perry, Lawrence (1919), Our Navy in the War. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Warner, Everett L. (1919), “Fooling the Iron Fish: The Inside Story of Marine Camouflage” in Everybody’s Magazine (November), pp. 102–109.
Whiting, John D. (1928), Convoy: A Story of the War at Sea. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Andrew Mackay.
External linksedit
Optical Science Meets Visual Art: The Camouflage Experiments of William Andrew Mackay (full text online)
WWI Ship Camouflage
Ships camouflage
December 03, 2023
william, mackay, artist, william, andrew, mackay, 1876, july, 1939, american, artist, created, series, murals, about, achievements, theodore, roosevelt, those, three, murals, completed, 1936, were, installed, beneath, rotunda, roosevelt, memorial, hall, americ. William Andrew Mackay 1876 July 26 1939 was an American artist who created a series of murals about the achievements of Theodore Roosevelt Those three murals completed in 1936 were installed beneath the rotunda in the Roosevelt Memorial Hall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York Less known but also important he was a major contributor to the development of ship camouflage in the United States during World War I Ceiling Mural Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson BuildingSt Nicholas serial 1873 Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Ship Camouflage 1 2 Death 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksBiography editMackay was born in 1876 in Philadelphia to Elizabeth J and Frank F Mackay 1 After high school he studied at the City College of New York the Academie Julian in Paris and the American Academy in Rome As a muralist he completed projects for the Library of Congress the American Museum of Natural History the Minnesota State House of Representatives and other locations Ship Camouflage edit Mackay played a major role in the development of U S ship camouflage during World War I although there are conflicting accounts of the extent of his contributions According to one report he experimented with low visibility ship camouflage as early as 1913 Perry 1919 pp 138 139 In that source he is said to have painted a vessel with red green and violet splotches not unlike a Pointillist painting with the result that when viewed from a distance the ship appeared to melt into sea and sky making it less visible than if it had been painted with a flat battleship gray as had been the earlier practice A later account describes Mackay s testimony in 1917 at a meeting of the U S Navy Consulting Board in Washington D C Crowell 1921 p 496 In that presentation he used a toy like spinning device to demonstrate the visual effects of one or more rotating colored disks comparable to Maxwell s disks One of these disks had been painted with equal components of red violet and green while another had green and violet sectors When the disks were spun the former appeared as an indistinct gray while the second produced the appearance of a color described as the blue of sea water On the basis of these demonstrations Mackay argued as he had in 1913 that low visibility hues could result when red green and violet colors were viewed from a sufficient distance After the U S entered World War I in 1917 a scheme devised by Mackay was one of five camouflage measures approved by the U S Navy Consulting Board for official use on merchant ships His proposal was subsequently patented in 1919 as U S Patent No 1 305 296 titled Process of Rendering Objects Less Visible Against Backgrounds During World War I he also served as the head of the camouflage section of the New York District of the Emergency Fleet Corporation for which he supervised the artists who applied camouflage patterns to merchant ships in that district s harbors Warner 1919 One of the artists who worked with Mackay during World War I was John D Whiting who wrote a semi fictional book about his own wartime experiences Whiting 1928 in which it is said that Mackay started a camouflage training school and published a Handbook on Ship Camouflage in 1937 Death edit He died on July 26 1939 of a heart attack on a subway train at 125th Street and Broadway 1 See also editDazzle camouflage Everett WarnerReferences edit a b William A Mackay Mural Painter 63 Executed Themes in History Museum Depicting Works of Theodore Roosevelt DIES ON A SUBWAY TRAIN Painted Many Public Building Murals Was Camouflage Artist in World War New York Times July 28 1939 Retrieved 2013 12 04 William Andrew Mackay the mural painter died Wednesday of a heart attack on an Interborough subway train at 125th Street and Broadway He was 63 years Further reading editBehrens Roy R 2009 Camoupedia A Compendium of Research on Art Architecture and Camouflage Dysart Iowa Bobolink Books pp 236 238 ISBN 978 0 9713244 6 6 Behrens Roy R 2012 Ship Shape A Dazzle Camouflage Sourcebook Dyart Iowa Bobolink Books ISBN 978 0 9713244 7 3 Crowell Benedict 1921 The Road to France The Transportation of Troops and Military Supplies 1917 1918 New Haven CT Yale University Press Perry Lawrence 1919 Our Navy in the War New York Charles Scribner s Sons Warner Everett L 1919 Fooling the Iron Fish The Inside Story of Marine Camouflage in Everybody s Magazine November pp 102 109 Whiting John D 1928 Convoy A Story of the War at Sea New York Bobbs Merrill Company nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Andrew Mackay External links editOptical Science Meets Visual Art The Camouflage Experiments of William Andrew Mackay full text online WWI Ship Camouflage Ships camouflage Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title William Mackay artist amp oldid 1167376848, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
