Turner's vision


Turner’s vision has been debated before, but McGill’s diagnosis is a specific one: The painter suffered some color blindness, affecting his reds and blues, and saw the world through cataracts. The latter would have resulted in his perceiving "exactly that effect of dazzling shimmering light we see in the paintings.




When we study impressionist art with insights gained through contemporary science and research, some interesting speculations can surface. A few years ago a theory about Vincent Van Gogh raised questions about a possible visual impairment that may have influenced his painting style. A medical treatment common at the time, derived from the foxglove plant, caused its patients to experience perceptual distortions. What it suggested was that Vincent painted the world as his eyes saw it, rather than voluntarily distorting what he saw. A similar theory has emerged about British impressionist J.M.W. Turner...

From Reason magazine:

Turner’s vision has been debated before, but McGill’s diagnosis is a specific one: The painter suffered some color blindness, affecting his reds and blues, and saw the world through cataracts. The latter would have resulted in his perceiving "exactly that effect of dazzling shimmering light we see in the paintings.

Posted: Wed - March 3, 2004 at 11:56 PM        

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