Irises by the Pond by Claude Monet

In his 60s, Monet started to develop cataracs, an eye disease that makes your eye sight seem like you are looking through a frosty glass. By 1914 the condition had become quite severe, and Monet complained that the colors he saw no longer had the same intensity they used to. Especially the color red was beginning to look muddy. It is interesting to see how this condition affected his paintings and choice of color palette in this period, as with this painting painted in 1914. We can understand what he meant with muddy reds from the rusty tones in the painting. Monet would later undergo eye surgery, changing his palette yet again. Interestingly, we can find some intense reds in his later paintings.