Comments on: Was Vincent van Gogh Color Blind? It Sure Looks Like It

By: Bruce A Comeau

Bruce A Comeau — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:08:33 +0000

I have been told I have some color deficiency because the common charts with numbers on them are not clear to me. The colors are there to the point I see them plainly but not in the distinct pattern forming clear numbers. I see almost the entire spectrum of colors and light, only dark blue and black can be a hard pick in certain light conditions, but I maintain everyone has that same difficulty under those conditions.
When I made color wheel charts in school for a fine art class they were good. I don’t get it and it annoys me when someone discounts me for being color blind in a patronizing fashion when I CAN see ALL THE COLORS THEY CLAIM I CAN NOT! even your dramatizations of examples are plain to me as different, frame by frame.
My main irritation is with opportunities denied me because of an archaic and flawed system having labeled me as “color blind.” But as I am 58 now I don’t care.

By: Billy

Billy — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:11:38 +0000

First Kazunori Asada has repeatedly stated he is not making a conclusion merely an observation. And the claims about van Gogh’s color usage sounds like puffery to sell a painting that isn’t representational. IOW “Oh, I meant to do that”.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 17:46:09 +0000

It seems like this theory about color blindness comes from someone who has not researched a thing about Van Gogh–like reading what the artist said about his works or understanding the contemporary theories that surrounded art in the late 19th century.

In this case, does this “researcher” know what every first-year art history student does: that Van Gogh was interested in contemporary color theories of simultaneous contrast?

Van Gogh was not interested in painting an exact reality–but exploring the powers inherent in color and especially in unusual contrasts. So yes, his colors may *not* look like the “real world,” but they clearly reflect the color theories he wrote about frequently.

We are lucky enough to have 15 years worth of Van Gogh’s prolific letters, all of which are available on the web. Van Gogh wrote over and over about his interest in these widely-circulated theories of color–particularly Charles Blanc, who wrote about how colors are strengthened when placed directly next to their opposite on the color circle: http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let536/letter.html

On Blanc: http://www.colorsystem.com/?page_id=834&lang=en

Frustrated to see such an odd, unsupported, under-researched theory highlighted by the Smithsonian!

By: Joyce

Joyce — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 22:12:09 +0000

There is no proof that Van Gogh was colorblind. This is just someone’s hypothesis. No actual proof has been presented here.

By: Joe Hanson

Joe Hanson — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:52:49 +0000

HI, I’m Joe, referenced by Colin from the original post.

Many people have pointed out that the P and D panels of the color simulations look almost the same, if not identical. Protanopia and deuteranopia, while affecting different photoreceptor types, actually produce similar effects. Although the “red” photoreceptor is called “red”, the wavelengths that it recognizes overlap quite a bit with the “green”. You can see this here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Cones_SMJ2_E.svg/240px-Cones_SMJ2_E.svg.png

So having colorblindness affecting either of those, while different in name, is a similar color deficiency.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:31:33 +0000

It would be far more useful to provide the images as a downloadable packet, due to the limitations of color on the web.

By: Chad r

Chad r — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:30:56 +0000

I’m red-green blind, and c, p, and d all look the same to me. It’s neat to know that I’ve always seen “Starry Night” the way it’s intended to look lol

By: DanielP

DanielP — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:10:26 +0000

Funny that we could rave about Van Gogh’s use of color only to learn that maybe we don’t see what he actually intended.

On another note, the P and D panels look pretty similar to me as well. Maybe the yellows in the D panel are a little less saturated but that’s about the only difference that I can tell.

By: Daniel Fleming

Daniel Fleming — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:45:34 +0000

The top right and bottom left of both the cell divisions and the birds look the same to me…is that on purpose or am I colorblind in some way?
I am a painter as well so I suppose it would be a good idea to know.

By: Medic1532

Medic1532 — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:12:36 +0000

How about digoxin overdose derived from foxglove which is also the pigment used to provide the violet and puplish blues in his paintings. It causes vision changes

By: Dr. Wilfred Arnold

Dr. Wilfred Arnold — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:05:22 +0000

of possible interest:-

“Van Gogh’s yellow palette.” 20.7 minutes with narration

http://cas.umkc.edu/Chemistry/kcacs/Van%20Gogh%27s%20Yellow%20Palette/index.html

By: Pippa

Pippa — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:03:34 +0000

Ummm, they are all different! My mother has always thought she has a rare ‘colour difference’. She can’t tell blue from green, or pink from orange – so she will miss, for instance, a bank of bluebells which look the same colour as the grass. Looking at this I wonder if she actually has what you call deuteranopia? We’d be very interested to know. She can sail through colour blindness charts at the optician, but she definitely does see things quite differently. She tells me that the painter, Constable, saw the world just as she does because his paintings look like exact representations of it, while as to most people, I think, they are a bit dark. Her parents were first cousins, so it is possible she has a very rare form of colour blindness.

By: Colin Schultz

Colin Schultz — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:28:16 +0000

The P and D photos look the same to me, too, and as far as I know I have perfect colour vision.

By: Reta Murphy

Reta Murphy — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:02:50 +0000

Does it mean anything that the P and D photos look the exact same to me? Or should they look the same?