Rick Janson Art Studio

Last month I had the annual visit with my optometrist and somehow the discussion turned to art (it often does with me anyway). I had said to her that I wondered how my vision issues are or will manifest themselves in my painting?

At this point I do have the start of cataracts, but we’re nowhere near the point of requiring surgery. How much it impacts my work is anyone’s guess at this point.

Monet was also diagnosed with cataracts and refused surgery for years owing to his reluctance to undergo a procedure that would change his colour perception. He was particularly alarmed when Mary Cassatt underwent similar surgery without the results she was seeking.

It would appear the cataracts were changing his colour perception all on their own. Cataracts tend to make your vision more brown, which effectively filters out the blue light. That left Monet’s colour choices increasingly dark.

By 1918 Monet was reported to be selecting his colours based on the label on the tubes. After he finally underwent cataract surgery, he intended to destroy many of the works produced during this period of vision impairment, including several of the water lilly paintings that ended up in the Paris Orangerie. However, it wasn’t as if his vision entirely went back to normal. Reportedly, following cataract surgery, many people see an excess of blue and yellow light. In Monet’s case, it took two years for his brain to adjust to his new vision. He underwent a second surgery in 1923, but still required special glasses with colour filters to do his work.

Edgar Degas also had vision issues later in life, making it difficult for him to distinguish the subtle colour differences needed for oil painting. Both Degas and Mary Cassatt took up pastels in the later career, making their work much more linear in nature. Degas also shifted more into sculpture.

Vincent Van Gogh was also diagnosed with xanthopsia, a vision deficiency that is said to make the sufferer see more yellow.

Other well-known figures in the art world thought to have vision problems include El Greco (1541-1614) and Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669), although in their case it is largely speculative based on the work they produced. There was a case made that El Greco’s elongated figures owed to an astigmatism, but as another art historian suggested, if that was the case he should have self-corrected when it came to applying his drawing to canvas.

It does raise the question of how much of these artists unique vision was really their unique vision, and how much was a matter of choice.

The Impressionists frequently come up in this category, although it is extremely dubious that their choices that revolutionized the art world were entirely the result of bad vision.

Yesterday I got new glasses (see above). I’m seeing a little better, but somehow doubt it will make all the difference.

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Hoping to have some new art for you tomorrow. Come back for a peak!

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