Artists and anatomy - traveling exhibition

Magazine Antiques, Nov, 1997 by Miriam Kramer

Accurate representations of the human body have been considered an important feature of Western art since classical times. The writings of the Greek physician Galen (129-c. 199) were the basis for most anatomical knowledge for artists for more than a thousand years. In fifteenth-century Italy the study of human anatomy by artists moved forward, largely due to the efforts of Antonio Pollaiuolo (c. 1431-1498) and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The former, according to Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), was one of the first artists to undertake dissections to reveal the underlying structures that control the appearance of the human body. Leonardo also conducted dissections, and the results can be seen not only in his paintings but also in the drawings and notebooks he considered so vital for his artistic work.

The importance of the study of anatomy to artists has long been understood. To this day the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris employs a surgeon to lecture to students, and the Royal Academy of Arts in London has a professor of anatomy on its staff.

A traveling exhibition exploring the relationships between artists and anatomy has been organized by the Hayward Gallery in London for the Arts Council of England and is on view at the Royal College of Art in London until November 24. Deanna Petherbridge, a professor of drawing at the Royal College of Art, is the curator of the exhibition. Future showings will be listed in Calendar. Entitled The Quick and The Dead: Artists and Anatomy, the exhibition comprises some 180 works from forty collections. They range from studies by Leonardo of blood flowing through the aorta and of a left leg in three positions showing the bones, muscles, and tendons, to a bronze sculpture of the male and female urogenital systems by Kiki Smith. Also included are works by Ford Madox Brown, John Singleton Copley, Max Ernst, Theodore Gericault, and Wenzel Hollar.

An illustrated catalogue with contributions by Petherbridge and Ludmilla Jordanova of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, accompanies the exhibition and may be ordered from South Bank Publications at 171-921-0894.