A colorful, cubist depiction of a smiling face
Article

Ten visually impaired artists

Learn more about ten artists from history that had suspected or confirmed vision impairment, and how their eyesight influenced their work.

It’s easy to assume that in order to create any form of art, one must have perfect eyesight so they can paint rich landscapes like Claude Monet or draw sketches like Leonardo da Vinci. However, many would be surprised to learn that several of the most famous artists of all time were visually impaired- even Monet and da Vinci themselves. Today, I will be sharing ten ways that vision impairment has influenced classic art by highlighting ten famous artists throughout history that have either been confirmed to have or highly likely to have different types of vision loss from a variety of conditions.

Leonardo da Vinci and intermittent exotropia

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian renaissance man in the 1400s and 1500s with many talents and research interests, which included painting, drawing, sculpting, and many more. After examining six of his works across three different techniques (drawing, painting, and sculptures), researchers noted that the eyes of the subject in each of his works turned outward. The eyes were at an angle consistent with intermittent exotropia, meaning there were times where his eyes presented as normal and other times when one turned outward, leaving the vision in the other eye intact. Because of this condition, he often viewed people, places, and objects in 2D shapes, as if the world around him was a canvas come to life.

Source: Tyler, C. W. (2018, October 18). Evidence That Leonardo da Vinci Had Strabismus. Retrieved from https://JamaNetwork.com/Journals/JamaOphthalmology/Article-Abstract/2707245

Edgar Degas and retinopathy

Edgar Degas was a French artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s who is considered one of the founders of the French Impressionist movement, with over half of his artistic pieces relating to dance. His eye condition was first noticed in 1870 while visiting his family home, when he noticed that he had trouble painting in the bright sunlight, likely as a result of photosensitivity. His central vision was primarily affected, causing many of his later paintings to appear blurry. His sister had similar vision loss and lost her sight completely in her 30s, so it is believed that the condition was genetic.

Source: Karcioglu, Z. A. (2007). Did Edgar Degas Have an Inherited Retinal Degeneration? Ophthalmic Genetics, 28(2), 51-55.

Guercino and esotropia

Guercino was an Italian artist in the 1600s that used the Baroque art style in the over 200 paintings and altarpieces he created during his lifetime. He got the nickname Guercini from the Italian word for “squinter.” His biographer says that he developed strabismus suddenly one night after he woke up to an “extremely loud and unusual noise” that resulted in his right eye permanently turning inwards, a condition known as esotropia. Many of his works showcase subjects with odd or unusual facial features much like his own unique features, a theme that is most prominent in his caricature drawings.

Source: Damen, G. (n.d.). Guercino Caricatures | Princeton University Art Museum. Retrieved from http://ArtMuseum.Princeton.edu/Story/Guercino-Caricatures

Auguste Renoir and myopia

Auguste Renoir was a French artist in the 1800s and early 1900s who was a member of the Impressionist movement and well known for portraits. He’s also recognized for having myopia (also known as nearsightedness), meaning he had difficulty seeing items that were far away. However, he did not have any known visual correction and actually considered the condition to be an advantage when painting landscapes, since they looked perfectly blurred, an interesting contrast to his more detailed portraits.

Source: Polland, W. (2004). Myopic artists. Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica,82(3p1), 325-326.

Francis Bacon and dysmorphopsia

Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British artist from the 1900s that was known for his surreal and somewhat creepy artwork (which I don’t recommend looking at before going to sleep). In many interviews with art critics, he talked about how images appeared to be constantly changing, almost like an optical illusion. This is reflected in his work, which features heavily distorted images that feature abnormalities in face depiction. This runs consistent with dysmorphopsia, a brain condition that affects a person’s ability to perceive objects. The origin of his condition was never diagnosed, but common causes include meningioma tumors, brain injury, or carbon monoxide poisoning.

Source: Safran, A. B., Sanda, N., & Sahel, J.-A. (2014). A neurological disorder presumably underlies painter Francis Bacon distorted world depiction. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience8, 581.

Claude Monet and cataracts

Claude Monet was a French artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s that is considered one of the founders of French Impressionism. He is best known for his works depicting nature and the passing of time. From 1912 to 1922, his vision steadily declined due to cataracts that affected his color perception and vision acuity. Colors often looked muddy and had a yellowish tone to them, which he found highly frustrating, though he refused to get surgical treatment for this issue since he feared that his sight would get worse. Many of his paintings appear slightly blurry as a result of his failing vision, since that is how he perceived the world around him.

Source: Marmor MF. Ophthalmology and Art: Simulation of Monet’s Cataracts and Degas’ Retinal Disease. Arch Ophthalmol. 2006;124(12):1764–1769.

Georgia O’Keeffe and macular degeneration

Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist in the 1900s who is known for her paintings of flowers, New York skyscrapers, and landscapes of New Mexico. She began experiencing symptoms of age-related macular degeneration in 1964, describing it as a cloud entering her eyeballs. As her vision declined, she enlisted assistants to help her in painting her work, though would not give them credit as she said their contributions were “equivalent of a palette knife.”

Source: The Vision and Art Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.VisionAndArtProject.org/Artist/Georgia-OKeeffe

Rembrandt van Rijn and stereoblindness

Rembrandt van Rijn was a Dutch artist in the 1600s who is considered one of the greatest artists in the history of art, being trained as a draughtsman, printmaker, and painter. Many of his self portraits show his eyes turning outwards, which would cause a lack of depth perception, also known as stereoblindness. In turn, this lack of depth perception contributed to monocular vision, meaning each eye sees differently. This was often viewed as an advantage as it meant he could easily notice details in his subject that his peers with binocular vision (meaning vision is the same in both eyes) might not catch.

Source: Livingstone, M. S., & Conway, B. R. (2004). Was Rembrandt Stereoblind? The New England Journal of Medicine351(12), 1264–1265. http://DOI.org/10.1056/NEJM200409163511224

Mary Cassatt and diabetic retinopathy with cataracts

Mary Cassatt was an American artist in the 1800s and early 1900s who was a member of the Impressionist movement. Many of her paintings depict the public and private lives of women, with a special emphasis on mothers with children. She was good friends with Edgar Degas who was impressed by her art, and was the only American artist to participate in Impressionist exhibits. At the age of 56, she began to lose her sight, describing it as growing dimmer and dimmer, and was diagnosed with cataracts and diabetic retinopathy over a decade later. She switched from using oil paintings to pastels, favored large canvases over smaller ones, and started to draw more bold lines in her work instead of intricate details. She also used fewer colors due to her color vision deteriorating.

Source: CASSATT, MARY (1844 – 1926). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://Psyc.UCalgary.ca

Pablo Picasso and strabismus

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist in the late 1800s and most of the 1900s who worked in a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpting, printmaking, ceramics, and more. He lived in France for a large part of his adult life and is credited with helping to found the Cubist movement. Some researchers believe that his interest in Cubist painting stemmed from his lack of depth perception- he preferred to show off his skills in shading, perspective, and occlusion whenever possible in his 2D works.

Source: The nerve blog. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://Sites.BU.edu/ombs/2012/02/21/Inside-The-Mind-Of-Creative-Geniuses/

After learning about how vision impairment affected each of these ten prominent artists, it’s evident that having vision loss is not always a bad thing, but can be used to capture unique beauty and details that may otherwise go unseen. By knowing about these eye conditions, people can view the world through the eyes of their favorite artist- whether that be with crossed eyes, blurred eyes, or in another way entirely.

By Veronica Lewis/Veronica With Four Eyes, Veroniiiica.com
Back to Paths to Technology’s Home page

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Vector image of a chalk slate with "2+3" and an apple.
Guide

How I am using MyMathLab with low vision

Ipad displaying Chapter 3 of A Very Wimpy Kid with two-fingers making the Read All VoiceOver gesture.
Guide

Screen reader for low vision students?

TumbleBooks logo: Character with blue pages, white hands and white feet. Hands are waving in the air as the character is about to cartwheel.
Guide

TumbleBooks: Audio narrated picture books for low vision