Toch, Maximilian

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TOCH, MAXIMILIAN

TOCH, MAXIMILIAN (1864–1946), U.S. paint chemist. Born in New York, Toch graduated in chemistry and law before entering his father's paint business. He became an expert on the authenticity of paintings. He was professor of industrial chemistry at Cooper Union, New York (1919), and professor of the chemistry of artistic painting at the National Academy of Design, New York (1924). During World War i he invented the "Toch system" of camouflage. Among his books are Chemistry and Technology of Mixed Paints (1907), How to Paint Permanent Pictures (1922), and Paint, Paintings and Restoration (1931).