Was Vincent van Gogh Colorblind?
Tags: Color Theory, Colorblindness, Paintings, Post-Impressionism, Van Gogh
Kazunori Asada, a Japanese medical scientist, has hypothesized that Vincent van Gogh was colorblind — a theory that would explain the artist’s use of clashing, often discordant colors.
Asada was incited to explore the theory after visiting a “Color Vision Experience Room” in Hokkaido, which provides visitors with the opportunity to experience vision as a colorblind person does.
To test his theory, Asada used a piece of software that filters light to simulate various degrees of colorblindness. Asada settled on a midrange spectrum deficiency to apply to several of van Gogh’s paintings, a process which subtly but significantly changed the overall color effect of each work: the reds became softer, the blues less notable, and the yellows muted to the point of drab.
Take Wheat Field behind St Paul Hospital with a Reaper, for example. The reds and oranges of the original (left) dissolve into something of a golden yellow, and the pink in the mountains becomes virtually indistinguishable. The effect (right) is much more in line with what you’d expect from a person with normal vision.
Kyle Chayka at BLOUIN Artinfo challenges the theory, reminding Asada that one of the commonalities among Post-Impressionist artists, including Paul Gauguin and André Derain, was an “unorthodox” pairing of colors.
You can see examples of Asada’s findings in his essay posted online.
Photos courtesy of Asada’s Memorandum
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