A Year of Making Art, Day 230: Monet & Cassatt Also Had Cataracts

December 5, 2007  Day 230

Today is the day of my second cataract operation, and I guess I am more nervous about it than I thought I would be.  I was up for three hours in the middle of the night, and then had to get up at 6 a.m. in order to have breakfast before the "no food" cutoff time of 6:30.  I went back to bed after that, and got up again at 8:30.  I don't want my eye to be tired and bloodshot when it is operated on!

This morning's drawing was the last one made with one eye that can see and one that can't.  At least, that's the way it's supposed to turn out (that my left eye will also be able to "see" soon). 

   Drawing #235  9" x 12"

While I was awake in the middle of the night, I read the Tuesday science section in the New York Times (12/04/07).  There was an article about "ailing artists' eyes" which discussed the various eye problems of well-known artists, and the effects on their art.  Claude Monet and Mary Cassatt both had cataracts, and it changed their painting dramatically.  As the article states, "cataract surgery was possible in the early 1900s, but it didn't always work."

As Monet aged, his painting became less detailed, with bolder strokes, moving away from impressionism toward abstract expressionism.  His colors also changed.  According to the article, he acknowledged once that he was "trusting solely to the labels on the tubes of paint and to the force of habit."

For Mary Cassatt, sadly, two cataract operations failed and she eventually had to give up painting.  I am very lucky to be living in a time when removing cataracts is a relatively simple procedure with excellent chances of success.

I had another reminder of the change in my color vision this morning when I was preparing Adrian's pills for the week.  When I opened one bottle, it was filled with the brightest pink pills!  I closed my right eye and they looked like a pale lavender, then with my left closed, a glowing hot pink. 

(Note:  There is a gap between the dates I'm writing and posting in order to give me time to get ahead.)