Shed Talk with Fiona James: A Closer Look at Scientific and Medical Themes in Art
The latest in our series of talks, the idea being to encourage a more questioning approach to an artist, works of art and/or an artistic movement.
(Main image: A Surgical Operation (1935) by Reginald Brill. Source: Wellcome Library/Wikimedia Commons.)
From the Renaissance to more modern eras, paintings of scientific and medical subjects have appealed to artists. Such subjects can offer us valuable insights into contemporary beliefs and practices but also reveal the wide range of intentions that motivated artists to include medicine, disease and sickness as a subject in their work.
While the talk does not offer a comprehensive survey, it will attempt to look at such diverse aspects as art as scientific investigation (anatomical study); the popularity of surgical scenes and the operating theatre as a live spectacle.
It will also consider art as satire and commentary on quack science and medicine (Dutch painting and Hogarth), as well as the more personal responses of artists such as Goya and Frida Kahlo to medical treatment and their own doctors.
About a Closer Look
Our series of “a Closer Look…” aims to take a longer, slower look at artistic movements, paintings and artists. Each talk is followed by an opportunity for members of the audience to contribute their own observations or questions.
We hope you will join Fiona James for the first of our Closer Looks at art this year.
Licensed bar. Doors open at 6:30pm.
Please note that tickets bought on the door on the night cost £9.50 and £6.50 respectively