Welcome to Art, Vision, & the Disordered Eye ©

Eliana Coldham, Vanessa Cooney, Donald Kline, & Marcela Salamanca

For painters who "paint what they see", their eyes are their window to the world, and any significant change in vision will affect their portrayal of that world. Some painters, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Mary Cassatt experienced visual change that had profound effects on their work. Although less clear cut, visual change may have also affected the work of many painters including Vincent van Gogh, and Rembrandt van Rijn.

This website will allow you to explore some of the known and possible visual changes of some well-known artists and the possible impact of these changes on their art. Simulations of some of these disorders are included to give you an impression of the world as those painters might have seen it.

EXPLORATION

To learn more about a painter of interest to you, click on either the painter's picture or associated link at the left of this page and you will be taken to a generic description and simulation of his or her disorder. From there, you will be able to explore that visual disorder in the context of his or her life.

Cassatt | Cezanne | Degas | El Greco

Monet | Rembrandt | Renoir | Van Gogh

VISION & AGING LAB - PACE PROGRAM

Department of Psychology, University of Calgary

2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4

Questions or comments can be e-mailed to: Dr. Donald Kline

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Deep appreciation is expressed for the invaluable assistance of Andrew Coldham

(Tarantella Systems), Mike Mattson (U of C., Learning Commons),

and Roger Gagnon (Vision & Aging Lab).