William MacKay
Encyclopedia
William Andrew Mackay 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
during World War I
.
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.
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.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. Those three murals, completed in 1936, were installed beneath the rotunda in the Roosevelt Memorial Hall of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York. Less known but also important, he was a major contributor to the development of ship camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Background
As described in a New York Times obituary (July 28, 1939, p. 11), Mackay was born in Philadelphia to Frank F. and Elizabeth J. Mackay. After high school, he studied at the City College of New York, the Académie JulianAcadémie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris, and the American Academy in Rome
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome.- History :In 1893, a group of American architects, painters and sculptors met regularly while planning the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
. As a muralist, he completed projects for the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, the Minnesota State House of Representatives
Minnesota State Capitol
The Minnesota State Capitol is located in Minnesota's capital city, Saint Paul, and houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Governor...
, and other locations.
Ship Camouflage
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.