Maximilian Toch
Maximilian Toch was an American paint manufacturer and industrial chemist who developed a concrete filler method that was used in the construction of the Panama Canal. He was the co-owner of the New York firms Toch Brothers and the Standard Varnish Works, where he was head of research and production. Before and during World War I, he was a major contributor to the development of ship camouflage in the United States, as well as an early practitioner of the use of chemistry in the authentication of works of art.
Background
According to an obituary in the New York Times, Toch was born and raised in New York. He attended Cooper Union and New York University as an undergraduate, then completed his graduate studies at Columbia University. He also earned degrees in law. He taught chemistry and chemical engineering and industrial chemistry at colleges and universities, including Cooper Union, Beijing University, Columbia University, City College of New York, and the National Academy of Design.Ship camouflage
According to the New York Times, in which Toch is referred to as "America’s first camoufleur", his contribution to ship camouflage included originating the color adopted by the U.S. Navy as standard "battleship gray". By his own account, he had camouflaged fortifications in Panama as early as 1915, the success of which led to his being assigned to camouflage shipyards and docks on the East Coast of the U.S. during World War I.In 1917, a ship concealment plan devised by Toch, known as the Toch System, was one of five camouflage measures approved by the U.S. Naval Consulting Board for use on merchant ships. He became convinced that it was largely impossible to lower the visibility of a ship, but that a better objective would be course deception, popularly known as dazzle camouflage.