Self-Portraits Chronicle a Descent Into Alzheimer’s - New York Times.
The paintings starkly reveal the artist’s descent into dementia, as his world began to tilt, perspectives flattened and details melted away. His wife and his doctors said he seemed aware at times that technical flaws had crept into his work, but he could not figure out how to correct them.
“The spatial sense kept slipping, and I think he knew,” Professor Utermohlen said. A psychoanalyst wrote that the paintings depicted sadness, anxiety, resignation and feelings of feebleness and shame. - Denise Grady, NYT
I just got off the phone with my parents, after stumbling across this article and having it stop me in my tracks. My mom just turned 80 and just as quickly was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She was devastated, having seen two close friends slip away into not knowingness; she does not want that future for herself.
My mom is a fighter, however, and is coming to terms with her future and working to do everything she can to hold it off. She has always been my center and my guiding light, and I will work to help her remain here, in the present, with us.
Looking at these faces, however, I can't help but see my future - a future of knowing that my mother will not know who I am, and that one day, I also may no longer recognize my own children.
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