Meanwhile, "Silver Ball" (1930) by Arthur Dove presents circular and jagged shapes of dour color outlined with black Fauvist-style brushstrokes.

WSJ: Nature in America | A Landscape in Evolution | By Barrymore Laurence Scherer

As painting became more difficult, he focused intently on the sleek, stylized paper cutouts he had first started experimenting with in the 1930s, using scissors to create the sinewy shapes and swaths of color that he could no longer render directly on canvas.

WSJ: Matisse's The Thousand and One Nights in Pittsburgh

Some popular videogames, such as PopCap's Peggle and Zuma Blitz, now let gamers switch to colorblind modes, where color codes turn into shapes.

WSJ: New Outlook for Colorblindness

That happened with Dr. Waggoner's son at age 6, prompting the doctor to develop pediatric color-vision tests using shapes instead of numbers, now used by about 15% of school nurses.

WSJ: New Outlook for Colorblindness

Rods are very sensitive to light, shapes and movements and cones are not as sensitive, but they control the perception of color.

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