(1998). Aging Through the Eyes of Monet
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Color Vision in Art and Science Oftrint from ColorVision Perspectivesfrom Different Disciplines 'O 1998Walter de Gruyter& Co.,Berlin-NewYork 1. Aging through the Eyes of Monet John S. Werner l.l Introduction Abstract Expressionism.In science,the physical principles pertaining to light and color laid down One of the most eventful periods for our under- by Newton in the preceding century (Newton, standingof color, both in art and in science,oc- 1704) were used to discover processesof color curred between 14 November 1840 and 5 De- coding by the eyeand brain. In short,the way both cember 1926 - the life span of Oscar Claude artists and scientiststhink about color today was Monet. In art, Monet's life encompassedthe peri- shapedfrom 1840to 1926to a degreethat may be od betweenthe Romantic pictorial tradition and unparalleledby any other period of 86 years. Fig. 1.1:Claude Monet (1872) Impression: Soleil levant (Le Port du Havrepar la brume).[Impression: Sunrise (Portof Le HavreThrough the Mist.l Oil on canvas,48 x 63 cm. (After restoration.)Mus6e Marmottan, Paris. (Photocredit: Giraudon/Art Resource, New York.) 1. Aging through the Eyes of Monet Fig. 1.2: Pierre Auguste Renoir (1875-76) Torse de femme au soleil. [Tbrso of a Womanin the Sun.J Oll on canvas,81 x 65 cm. Mus6e d'Orsay, Paris. 1.2 A Link betweenSunlight and Aging Art and sciencehave at least one purposein and so too did the way he portrayedthe world. One common: to enrich the human spirit. Whatever mustadmit, of course,that changesin Monet'svi- elseone might sayabout Monet, he has certainly sion are confoundedby changesin his style of' enrichedour civilization.For when he unveiledthe painting, notwithstandingthat his statedgoal was painting shownin Figure L I at the first exhibition always to portray the subtle modulationsof light of the Soci6tdAnonyme des Artistes in 1874,he without interpretation.Monet once said: became the de facto leader of a movementthat When you go out to paint, try to forget what ob- rvouldalter the courseof Westernart history.This jectsyou havebefore you, a tree,a house,a field painting was originally called "The Port of Le or whatever.Merely think, here is a little square Havre" but is now known by its subtitle ofblue, herean oblongofpink, herea streakof I "lnrpression:Sunrise," from which a schoolof art yellow,and paint it just as it looks to you, the I u'as given its name,Impressionism. The picture exactcolor and shape,until it givesyour own captures what we now expect from an Im- naive impression of the scene before you. pressionistpainting light, atmosphere,color and (Perry,1927, p. 120) movement,all in the serviceof renderingthe feel- Monet's changingportrayal of nature throughout ingsof the moment. his life has drawn attentionto importantprocesses The Impressionistswere individualists, with dif- of visual aging but has also perpetuatedmyths ferentstyles, preferred subject matter, and aspira- aboutthe agingvisual system. The purposeof this tions.What united them, however, was a rebellious chapteris to offer a personalinterpretation of spirit againstthe ParisSalon and a desireto cap- color scienceand art in Monet'slifetime, with an ture the fleeting effects of light and color. analysisof his agingeye as it maybe derivedfrom Consider Pierre Auguste Renoir's Torso of a his art and asrelated to currentresearch on senes- Ilbntanin the Sun (Fig. 1.2)presented in the sec- cenceof humancolor vision. ond Impressionists'exhibit in 1876.Although he preferredto paint the humanform, he did so in a n,aythat captured the delicateshades and shadows E thatwere previously not recordedon canvas.But it 1.2 A Link betweenSunlight I was not just the handlingof light and color that andAging made the movementcontroversial; those pretty picturesof the Impressionistshad said"No" to the PaulC6zanne once remarked (Barnes, 1990, p. 6) classicalpictorial tradition. Great art no longer that "Monet is just an eye but my god what an hadto depictkings, popes and saints; ordinary ex- eye!" The humaneye is shown schematicallyin periencewould do. Figure1.3. Light, if it is to be seen,must first travel Someoneonce asked Renoir how it is thathe ob- throughthe variousocular media, the cornea,the tained the delicateflesh tones of his nudes for anteriorchamber filled with aqueous,the lensand shich he becamefamous. and he said in effect.I the vitreoushumor. It thenpasses through the lay- just keep painting and painting until I feel like ersof cellscomprising the retina,shown in an en- grabbing (Vollard" 1925).When pushedfurther largedview, where it can be absorbedby the rods about the possiblescientific basis of his tech- andcones, the receptorcells that initiatevision. niques,Renoir said that if anyof his work couldbe The clinically normal eye appearsrather stable subjectedto scientificanalysis, he would not con- overmuch of thelife span.Barring disease or trau- siderit art. Sucha reactionis not atypicalin the ma, senescentdeterioration is seldomnoticed until historyof art, but it is somewhatatypical for the mid- to late-life.At first glance,then, aging of the lmpressionists.Many of them had a deep and eye is a phenomenonof later life. Unfortunately, abidinginterest in color science.Camille Pissarro, first impressionscan be quitemisleading. A clos- for example,studied scientific literature in order er look at the visual systemshows that it is con- to perfecthis useofcolor. stantly changing throughout life (Weale, 1982; The eyesof Monet changedover his life span, Werneret al.. 1990). I . Aging through the Eyes of Monet . Fovea/ Lens Fig. 1.3: Schematic cross-sectionof the human eye with the retina shown in an enlarged view. The ocular media include the cornea, aqueous contained in the anterior chamber, lens and vitreous humor. The retina, shown in a magnified view, includes five principal cell types, photoreceptors (rods and cones), horizontal cells, bipolars, amacrines and ganglion cells (the axons ofwhich form the optic nerve). One factor that is believedto contributeto age- than the usual cumulative exposureto sunlight. relatedchanges in the eyeis exposureto light itself Even as early as 1867, at age27, Monet had troub- (Werner,1991). This factormay be especiallyper- le with his vision following hours of painting in tinent to understandingMonet. Although other sunlight, and he receivedmedical advice to aban- artistshad paintedin the open,Monet was perhaps don his outdoorpainting (Stuckey, 1995). Several the first to do so on a large scale and seemingly times thereafter he reported visual disturbances under all weather and seasonalconditions. His following a day of painting in the sun. careful observationsofthe varying effectsofsun- To understandthe effects of light on the eye, it light and his insistenceon painting en plein air is necessaryto define the spectrumof optical ra- virtually guaranteedthat he would receive more diation. The visible spectrum includes wave- 1.2 A Link betweenSunlight and Aging A C D E r G H ar hl It. b- in n- ''ia";;,, al K ES Fig. l.-1: Extractedlenses of humansat various ages:(A) six months, (B) eight years,(C) 12 years,(D) 25 lt rcers. (E) 47 years,(F) 60 years,(G) 70 years,(H) 82 years,and (I) 91 years.Also shown are three types of iirtrractoLrslenses: (J) nuclearcataract, age 70; (K) cortical cataract,age 68; and (L) mixed nuclearand cor, 'e- ticul cataract,age 74 years.(From Lerman, 1980.) 1. Aging throughthe Eyes of Monet lengthsbetween about 400 and700 nm. At 400nm distributedthroughout the eye are variousantioxi- the light normally appearsviolet in the light- dant molecules(e.g., superoxide dismutase, o-to- adaptedstate, and shorterwavelengths are called copherol, glutathione, melanin, selenium and ultraviolet(or UV) light. Becauseof absorptionin ascorbicacid) that neutralize phototoxic reactions. the stratospheric ozone layer, very little light Especiallyimportant in this respectis thepresence below 300 nm reachesthe earth'ssurface so, for of the yellowmacular pigment around the fovea(a ( practicalpurposes, the UV spectrumof sunlight depressionin the retina wherethe conephotore- I encompassesthe rangefrom approximately300 to ceptorsare most denselypacked and which pro- ( 400 nm.At the otherend of the visiblespectrum at videsour bestspatial resolution; it typicallycorre- : 700 nm, the light normally appearsred under spondsto the center of gaze) which not only ( lightadaptedconditions; longer wavelengthsare reducesthe intensityof short-wavevisible light I calledinfrared. reachingthe retina, but which also consistsof Theenergy contained within a singlequantum is carotinoidpigments that areexcellent atneutraliz- inverselyrelated to its wavelength;quanta in the ing someof the phototoxicreactions that occurin UV may containenough energy to altermolecules the eye (Kirschfel4 1982).A secondline of de- in the eyethat absorbthem, primarily by initiating fenselies in theability ofcells to replacetheir parts a cascadeofoxidative reactions that are harmful to by molecularrenewal. Visual cells continuously re- cells.This type of light damageis usuallycalled constructor replacevirtually all of their partsex- photochemicalor actinic(Werner and Spillmann, cept DNA (Young,1982). As a result,damaged 1989).These photochemicalreactions occur as constituentsof cells are replacedin a piecemeal long as we are exposedto high-energyphotons fashion.A third defenseagainst the most damaging and becausewe are exposedto them from birth, wavelengthsof light resultsfrom the tendencyof we can be assuredthat cellular deterioration,or thesewavelengths to be absorbedby