The Property of a Connoisseur, London   ANDRÉ MARE (FRENCH 1887–1932)  Self-portrait as a gunnery officer Signed and. Mare (lower left); dated Sept 1915 and inscribed Ravin en dent de scie devant Massiges (lower right) Pen and black ink and watercolour 26 x 17cm (10 1/4 x 6 3/4in)  André Mare participated in the Camouflage unit during the First World War, applying Cubist theory to create trompe-l’oeil effects when disguising weapons and military materials from the Germans. He worked on the Somme Offensive of 1916, and assisted the Italians camoufleurs in 1917. Mare's training in camouflage is evident in his cubist watercolours, with many reflecting his war experiences. A pioneering figure of the Art Deco movement, during the 1912 Salon d’Automne he exhibited his controversial Maison Cubist alongside sculptor Raymond Duchamp-Villon and other artists. Mare later joined forces with Louis Süe and established a design practise specialising in Art Deco furniture and interiors. He died in 1932 of tuberculosis caused by being subject to multiple mustard gas attacks during the war.  Delouche, Danielle. “CUBISME ET CAMOUFLAGE.” Guerres Mondiales Et Conflits Contemporains, no. 171, 1993, pp. 123–137. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25730967. Daviet, Jean-Pierre. “Art Déco, Résonances De L'ancien Et Du Nouveau.” Vingtième Siècle. Revue D'histoire, no. 124, 2014, pp. 185–187., www.jstor.org/stable/24674853.