No "major" painter is known to be color deficient. Are there truly no color deficient artists, or have they not been recognized? The historical literature cites criteria for recognizing color deficiency in artists, but they are hard to apply without knowing the intentions of an artist. The work and commentary of a color-deficient artist who works currently in Paris are presented as an example. He uses a limited palette of colors, based on advice from colleagues as much as his own perceptions, and he uses colors in ways that do not always fit with expectations for color deficiency. Biographies of earlier painters suggest that there were a few whose color sense was poor, but these painters used assistants to help. The color sense of others, such as the English landscape painter John Constable (1776-1837), has been questioned because of a preponderance of suspicious color, such as murky green. However, there are good reasons to doubt that Constable was color deficient. It is instructive to know how proven color deficiency has influenced an artist's style. When medical information is unavailable, the best advice for the diagnostically-inclined observer is just to enjoy the art.

Color Perception↗

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An artist with a color vision defect: Charles Meryon.

Charles Meryon, an important artist of the 19th century, had a congenital defect in color vision. Meryon recognized this defect during his study of art, and he gradually gave up painting in favor of etching. This biographical article includes reproductions of some of Meryon's etchings and one oil painting. "Ghost Ship." Two palates display the principal colors of the spectrum, as seen normally and as seen with a color vision defect. "Ghost Ship" reveals the color-defective artist's typical preference for blue and yellow.

Art↗

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[Blindness in painters].

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was the inventory of historical painters who were blind, and the analysis of their attitude in the face of the blindness. METHODS: The population study was extracted from the dictionary of painters by Benezit. The method of the study was ophthalmological, to assess precisely the type and the etiology of the blindness; and psychological and artistic to study the reactions of the painters. RESULTS: Blindness was found among 85 painters. They were 5 cases of transitory blindness; 20 cases of unilateral blindness; and 60 cases of bilateral definitive blindness. The psychological attitudes of the painters were either negative, with depression, and even suicide (5 cases); or positive, with perseverance to paint till to blindness, teaching of the painting after blindness. CONCLUSIONS: The small number of painters with a blindness caused by a precise etiology was disappointing, but the variety of the reactions gave a good account of the attitude of the painters who became blind.

Blindness↗

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[Fechner's paradox: clinical symptomatology].

The Fechner's paradox is a visual phenomenon characterized by the fact that the monocular luminosity seems greater than the binocular luminosity. It's a simple and non-dissociating method for the clinical study of the binocular vision. In pathology, the Fechner's paradox may be abolished, or inverse, or may exist spontaneously. The abnormalities were induced by strabismus, or by some others ocular diseases disturbing the binocular vision (unilateral cataract, retinal lesions).

Humans↗

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