During both the first and second world wars, Canadian, American and European artists, including Donald Cameron Mackay, Ellsworth Kelly and Grant Wood lent their talents to the military development of optical camouflage. Both naval and civilian ships were painted in strong geometric patterns and bold contrasting coloration so as to deceive the enemy. These patterns came to be called Razzle Dazzle. Optical deception was subsequently taken up by an entire generation of artists who directly or indirectly learned the lessons of camouflage. This unexpected genesis of geometric abstraction had a critical impact upon the development of modernist art. With work by Arthur Lismer, Jack Bush, Yves Gaucher, Guido Molinari and many others.