PHOTO OF THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM: SHUTTERSTOCK

[Update: June 30, 2025: The Andy Warhol Museum has invested in six pairs of EnChroma colorblind glasses. The glasses will be available to borrow at the museum starting on July 14.]

Andy Warhol’s famous screenprints contain layers and layers of colors.

Screenprinting is, after all, the process of stacking multiple layers of colorful outlines and shapes until they work in unison to create an image.

The repetitive process is what some critics use as their main source of ammunition to decry Warhol’s specialized artform — anyone can do that! — but Warhol’s technique of stacking colors on top of colors is what makes this art really pop.

It’s too bad I can’t see the colors the way Warhol intended.

One in 12 men are color blind and 1 in 200 women are color blind, says Shannon Thompson, associate director of learning at The Andy Warhol Museum.

You can take a free colorblind test to see if you’re part of that statistic.

WEARING THE ENCHROMA COLORBLIND GLASSES AT THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM. | PHOTO BY AIDAN MCCLAIN

I have appreciation for Warhol. I realize the repetitive lines are what elevate screenprinting. (If you’re unfamiliar with the artform, my colleague Sean Collier gives a rundown on what it all means.)

The stacked layers create the illusion that different aspects of the print are coming forward toward you.

That is, if you can see the colors properly.

I — along with two other Protan colorblind individuals, meaning our colorblindness is red-green — had a tour of the museum’s exhibit “Good Business: Andy Warhol’s Screenprints,” led by Jennifer Nicol, the museum’s learning & public engagement department manager.

We started at the “Dollar Sign” prints. The series includes dollar signs made of different colors set against different colored backgrounds.

They seemed ordinary. Until I put on the glasses.

The separation of the stacked colors became more clear. The layers revealed themselves in an instant. Red truly became red — not the brown, muddy, unclear color I typically see that I think is red.

Not only did colors become more apparent, details did as well.

I more than once noted to the group that the images looked more clear with the glasses, almost like I was wearing prescription glasses. That’s when I realized how much my colorblindness impacts my ability to perceive art — and the world around me.

We made our way to the “Endangered Species” collection, which includes pandas, zebras, elephants and more threatened animals made up of colored outlines and fillings.

My eyes showed me the animals. The glasses brought them to life.

PHOTO BY AIDAN MCCLAIN

The animals looked like they wanted to jump off the print that contained them.

I can only compare it to a lenticular print. You’re familiar with them: One second you’re looking at something, only to have the image change when you move your head to a new vantage point.

A fellow group member expertly compared one print to a butterfly shadow box. When our eyes could see the artwork correctly, the colors looked like they were hovering above each other.

In some cases, the glasses revealed to me details in the print that I couldn’t see on my own. The Marilyn Monroe print on display shows the icon with her teeth gritted. To me, her red mouth looked closed. That is, until I put on the glasses. It was only then I could see her sneaky grin.

PHOTO BY AIDAN MCCLAIN

If you can’t find appreciation in Warhol’s screenprints, consider that what may seem ordinary to you is a world of new colors and wonder for someone else. If the museum invests in the EnChroma colorblind glasses, I can only hope they reveal the mastery in the screenprints that others aren’t privileged to see.

My experience at The Andy Warhol Museum was part of a focus group made of community members who experience color blindness. All available dates for the focus group have now passed, but the museum will use the information to decide if they will invest in the EnChroma glasses for colorblind individuals.