About Color Blindness

Did you know that one in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are color blind―13 million in the US, 30 million in Europe and 350 million worldwide? People with red-green Color Vision Deficiency (CVD, or “color blindness”) only see about 10% of the one million hues and shades visible to those with regular color vision. That’s why at work, school, in daily life or when viewing art, it is hard for them to see red or green or any colors containing them.

To the red-green color blind, red looks brown, pink seems gray, green appears tan, yellow or gray, and purple looks blue. Colors seem dull, “washed out” and difficult to tell apart. In fact, below is an example of how the color blind see Oleanders, by Martin Johnson Heade, here at the Harn Museum of Art.

Color blindness comparison of viewing "Oleanders" by Martin Johnson Heade with and without Enchroma glasses

To ensure everyone can enjoy the beauty of the art on view at the Harn, we are offering EnChroma Color Blind Glasses for visitors to check out at our Visitor Services desk.