Xanthopsia and van Gogh's yellow palette

Abstract

A survey of van Gogh's work from 1886 to 1890 indicated that paintings with a yellow dominance were numerous, episodic, and multi-regional. His underlying illness, by his own admission, affected his life and work; furthermore, episodes of malnutrition, substance abuse, environmental exposure, and drug experimentation (all evident from correspondence) exacerbated his condition. Accordingly, we reviewed plausible agents that might have modified the artist's colour perception. Xanthopsia due to overdosage of digitalis or santonin is well documented elsewhere, but evidence of useage of either drug by van Gogh cannot be substantiated. It is unlikely that ageing of the human lens was an influence because of the artist's youth. Sunstroke is too restrictive to fit the multiplicity of regions and motifs. Hallucinations induced by absinthe, the popular liqueur of the period, may explain particular canvases but not the majority of 'high yellow' paintings. Van Gogh's proclivity for exaggerated colours and his embrance of yellow in particular are clear from his letters and, in contradistinction to chemical or physical insults modifying perception, artistic preference is the best working hypothesis to explain the yellow dominance in his palette.

Vincent van Gogh’s yellow vision

“…Over 150 physicians have ventured a perplexing variety of diagnoses, ranging from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, neurosyphilis, interictal dysphoric disorder, sunstroke, acute intermittent porphyria, temporal lobe epilepsy precipitated by the use of absinthe in the presence of an early limbic lesion, to Ménière's disease. [4][5][6][7] Whatever van Gogh's exact diagnosis may have been, it is highly likely that after admission to the asylum at Saint-Rémy in 1889, his physician, Dr Paul-Ferdinand Gachet, prescribed digitalis, which is why medical historiography strongly supports the hypothesis of van Gogh having suffered from digitalis-induced xanthopsia. In Portrait of Dr Gachet, 1890, the foxglove plant is presented in front of Dr Gachet; digitalis is extracted from foxglove plants.…”

On van Gogh and the Foxglove Plant

“…Two notable side effects are xanthopsia, a color disturbance favoring yellow hues, and halos. As it turns out, a review of van Gogh's later works showed a particular proclivity towards yellowish hues [10]. This was exemplified in several of his paintings during his later years ( Sunflowers, The Yellow House, The Old Mill, and Café Terrace , all painted in 1988).…”

“…commun.]. Arnold and Loftus [10] argue that van Gogh wrote about his predilections towards yellow in his letters, and this is less consistent with a visual perception disturbance and more indicative of the artist's proclivities. However, it is worth noting that this does not explain the halos seen in some of his later paintings.…”

“…In addition, the halos around the stars in his Starry Night (approximately 1889) are unmistakable (color painting available online: www.googleimage.com). This in turn led to speculations that, if indeed van Gogh was taking digitalis, then his ‘yellow period' [10] and the halos may have been due to the coronas he experienced. This view was not favored by several van Gogh art enthusiasts who view the toxic effects of digitalis or any other poison, such as of lead, on the creativity of the painter as very controversial; van Gogh was suffering from intermittent symptoms, but in between he was well and a very productive, truly great artist.…”

“…In this painting, the doctor is depicted with his head on a desk, with the foxglove plant at his side, painted in melancholic purple hues. Whether this foxglove plant was included in the painting as a symbol of medicine itself or as a reference to his therapy, this is still a topic of some debate [9,10]. …”