About Nunzio Vayana

  • Biography

    Nunzio Vayana

    It is not widely known that Italian-American artist Nunzio Vayana (1878-1960) was involved in the development of camouflage during World War I. Beginning in May 1918, while living and teaching near South Glastonbury CT, he worked with two other artists, Albertus Jones and James Goodwin McManus, and with students in a sketching class to apply paint in such a way as to “conceal something by making it look like nothing.” They claimed that this was better than the commonly-practiced alternative of making something appear to look like something else. They announced that they were “willing to enter the service of the government to demonstrate the worth of their theory in any way it can be worked out.”

    Their on-going r...

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