Art Complementing the Science
This Gallery displays and interprets the art inspired from within Plastic surgery, a discipline depending heavily upon an appreciation of human proportion, form and aesthetics. Sir Harold Gillies the “Father of British plastic surgery” was himself a keen artist, who took lessons in his early career, in the belief that it would help him better record his innovative work. It is also telling that he chose to employ the word ‘art’ in the title of his magnum opus of 1920, ‘The Principles and Art of Plastic Surgery’, indicating the significance of artistic principles in his surgical practice.
Before photography came into widespread use, Plastic Surgery embraced more professional artists producing graphic art, or “Medical Illustrations”. Meticulously recording the nature and progress of often multi-staged reconstructive surgical procedures upon individual patients. Then as now, these images also became invaluable for surgical teaching and training. But these were often artists capable of works of great artistic merit in their own right. Their subject matter ranging from the human aspects of what they witnessed in medical environments, to portraiture, landscapes, and even cartoons.
Here you can find the works produced by those artists “Illustrating Plastic Surgery” together with general Artworks they produced, those held by the BAPRAS Collection, and a selection of works demonstrating the depth of artistic talent within the membership of the Association.