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. 2009 Feb 27;364(1516):497-501.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0250.

Revisiting Abbott Thayer: non-scientific reflections about camouflage in art, war and zoology

Roy R Behrens  1
Affiliations

Revisiting Abbott Thayer: non-scientific reflections about camouflage in art, war and zoology

Roy R Behrens. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. .

Abstract

This paper reviews the achievements of Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921), an American painter and naturalist whose pioneering writings on animal camouflage addressed shared concerns among artists, zoologists and military tacticians. It discusses his beliefs about camouflage (both natural and military) in the context of his training as an artist, with particular emphasis on three of his major ideas: countershading, ruptive (or disruptive) coloration and background picturing.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Four stages in a demonstration of countershading, from left to right: (a) a flat expanse of paper; (b) the artistic tradition of shading (or top–down lighting), by which a flat surface takes on the appearance of volume; (c) countershading, by which the undersides of animals are lighter than the surfaces that have greater exposure to sunlight; and (d) the flat expanse of tone that comes from shading being cancelled out by countershading. Author's diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A photographic record of one of Abbott Thayer's demonstrations of countershading, using two wooden duck decoys. The one on the left (which is visible) is the same colour as the surrounding Earth, but has not been countershaded, while the one on the right (which is all but invisible) has been carefully countershaded. Photograph from Thayer (1908).
Figure 3
Figure 3
In part through Thayer's influence, disruptive coloration was widely used for military camouflage during World War I, especially for merchant ships (it was called ‘dazzle painting’) because it made it harder for German submarine (U-boat) gunners to accurately aim their torpedoes. Shown here is an American dazzle-painted ship, c. 1918. Author's collection.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A watercolour painting by Gerald Thayer of a ruffled grouse, by which he hoped to demonstrate ‘background picturing’, the resemblance between the animal's surface patterns and its customary forest setting. First reproduced in black and white in Thayer (1908), it also appears in colour in Thayer (1909).
Figure 5
Figure 5
A photograph of the Thayers’ demonstration of how to use a cut-out silhouette to arrive at an appropriate camouflage pattern for any figure. First reproduced in Thayer (1918).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Behrens R.R. Bobolink Books; Dysart, IA: 2002. False colours: art, design and modern camouflage.
    1. Bowditch N.D. William L. Bauhan; Peterborough, NH: 1970. George de Forest Brush: recollections of a joyous painter.
    1. Boynton M.F. Abbott Thayer and natural history. Osiris. 1952;10:542–555. doi:10.1086/368563 - DOI
    1. Cary J. Time Life Books; New York, NY: 1965. The horse's mouth.
    1. Chapman F.M. Appleton Century; New York, NY: 1933. Autobiography of a bird lover.

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