In its latest exhibition [2014], the National Gallery examines how generations of painters have created and used colour. But how do people who are “colour-blind” view art?
Visitors to the Making Colour exhibition, which opened in London this week, can feast their eyes on the rich tones of lapis lazuli, vermilion and verdigris.
In the National Gallery’s colour-themed show, the paintings include a blue room containing Claude Monet’s Lavacourt under Snow (1878-81) and – in the red room – Edgar Degas’s Combing the Hair (La Coiffure) from 1896.
But to anyone who has a colour vision deficiency, commonly known as colour blindness, the bold reds that dominate the Degas work may look very different.
The subject of colour blindness is tackled in an interactive part of the exhibition devoted to the science behind colour vision.
Claude Monet’s Lavacourt under Snow (1878-81) is also part of the exhibition
The retina at the back of eye contains light sensors called cones. The three cone types – red, green and blue – are stimulated by different wavelengths of light.
Most colour-blind people have three types of cone, but they are sensitive to a different part of the spectrum.
By Tim Masters – who has first hand experience of colour blindness
The earliest sign that I was colour-blind was, according to my parents, when I drew a picture of Doctor Who’s Tardis – and made it shocking pink.
When I tell people I’m colour-blind some assume I see the world in black and white.
That’s far from the truth. I can see rainbows. I just don’t see them in the same way as most people…
Source: BBC News: How the colour-blind see art with different eyes.
First Night Design 
I went to this exhibition which was excellent and Degas’s painting shown here is one of my favourites. There’s also been an excellent documentary on BBC recently on colour…. I think we are only just beginning to understand how different we all are – and that does include the way we see colour. I hope your day is filled with beautiful colour….Janet. xx
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I agree. We grow up thinking we’re all human so we’re all the same but whether it’s the way we see colour or the nature of our politics, there are as many ways of viewing the world as there are shades of colour. Hope your weekend is filled with magical hummingbirds! xx
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“There are as many ways of viewing the world as there are shades of colour….” How wonderful it would be if everyone had this understanding. Hummingbirds definitely here this weekend and I hope with you. xx
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It’s a fascinating topic. I have a photographer friend who is colour blind. His images are stunning.
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Vive la difference, I say!
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This is an interesting addition to an art exhibition, and undoubtedly a valuable one. I am not colour-blind, but I do have issues with mauve/purple and seem to see them differently to some other people. It is vaguely possible that this is related to having Glaucoma, I suspect. I can see the number 6 in the test circle though!
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Make sure you have the Glaucoma test regularly! I have to have it checked as my father had it. I’m not colour blind but Mr FND is. This meant that in our flat in London, we never painted because every time he tried the orangy yellow watercolour effect I was looking for on a patch of wall, it was far too red and I couldn’t get out at the time to search for the colour I wanted!
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I have the test at Norwich hospital once a year, and eye drops every day. I am not too serious a case at the moment, fortunately.
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How interesting, Sarah. I’ve heard about this for years, but it is so well explained in this post. Thanks for sharing.
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Pleasure, Cynthia.
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How each of us sees colour is so different, even when we’re not colour-blind. When my clients ask me for a coral polish for their nails their version is almost always different to mine. I have about four ‘corals’ and they can be called anything from pink to orange. The same happens with shades of blue and green.
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I have the same problem with the blue nail varnish on my toes with my chiropodist who lovingly paints nails as well. You should be a fly on the wall!
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I can almost hear the debate as I read your comment, lol.
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Combing hair is such a popular inheritance from Japonisme. I must try to understand it. Thank you and cheers.
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I have always thought that such extravagant combing in earlier centuries was related to cleanliness; in other words, combing until every last speck of dirt was stripped out of hair in a world without shampoo. And surely it’s also a way to spread the natural oils so that the hair shines. My tuppenny-ha’penny-worth!
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It’s a good explanation. It makes sense.
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Thanks, Sarah. Fascinating. You’re right, there are as many people as ways of seeing the world.
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I love the whole science of vision and light, and how the color we see is actually the color reflected. So something we see as red is not red, because the red light has bounced off it. I think we each see the world through our personal filters including our eyes and every one of us sees it differently. A cool metaphor for life.
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Absolutely! I said something similar below.
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Very interesting! Thanks for the great article!! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!
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Pleasure, Patrick. Happy Christmas to you and yours!
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