Dazzleships in Dry Dock at Liverpool

During the First World War, battleships were painted with bold geometric patterns as a form of camouflage called “dazzle.” The irregular shapes broke up the ship’s form, making it difficult for enemy submarines to accurately determine its course. Wadsworth depicts a freshly painted vessel in dry dock, towering over the men completing their paintwork. With its clarity of line, strong contours and subdued machine power, the painting exemplifies the concerns of the British artistic and literary movement Vorticism.