Press Release

August 28, 2006
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Kaylyn Kendall Dines
(973) 972-3000
dineskd@umdnj.edu

Internationally Recognized Physician's
Medical Illustrations on Display at UMDNJ
- Exhibit Features the Works of Dr. Frank H. Netter,
Medical Illustrator Extraordinaire -

NEWARK — The public is invited to visit University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30 to view a free exhibit of illustrations created by an internationally recognized physician whose artwork highlights various aspects of the medical and dental professions.

The exhibit entitled, "Frank H. Netter, M.D.: Medical Illustrator Extraordinaire," will be held at the UMDNJ-George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences, 30 Twelfth Avenue in Newark, on Monday through Thursday between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.; Friday between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.; Saturday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.; and Sunday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

In addition to the exhibition, on Thurs., Oct. 5, at 3 p.m., UMDNJ's library will sponsor a lecture entitled, "Teaching with a Sable Brush: The Life and Art of Frank H. Netter, MD," which will be held at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave., Newark.

Dr. Netter was a prominent illustrator of medical literature for the New Jersey based pharmaceutical company, Ciba-Geigy. He developed illustrations for the well-known anatomical atlases entitled, The Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations, and contributed hundreds of illustrations to the company’s journal, Clinical Symposia.

"We are excited about presenting this exhibit of 35 gouache paintings by Dr. Frank Netter, who is known as the ‘Dean of Medical Illustration.’ Dr. Netter is hailed as the foremost medical illustrator whose volume of work expresses humanity in art. Most 20th century medical students and resident physicians used Dr. Netter’s atlases in pursuit of their medical education," said Lois Densky-Wolff, head of the Department of Special Collections at the UMDNJ-George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences. "Dr. Netter’s medical illustrations of the human body help explain how the body works."

Dr. Netter was a trained commercial artist before entering medical school. He graduated during the Great Depression. To supplement his income in a new surgical practice, he accepted commissions from publishers and physicians to produce a wide range of medical illustrations. As his freelancing activities increased, he developed second thoughts regarding his medical career and eventually transitioned from practicing medicine to pursuing his medical career in art. Netter’s genius was in melding artistic expression with medical knowledge to produce a body of work that was clear, highly accurate, and beautiful to behold. In a fifty-year career associated with Ciba-Geigy, Netter produced more than 3,600 paintings.

The "Teaching with a Sable Brush: The Life and Art of Frank H. Netter, M.D.," lecture on Oct. 5 will be presented by Ann Wood Humphries, an independent curator who is an authority on Dr. Netter’s work. Drawing on research conducted using Dr. Netter’s personal files; Ms. Humphries’ presentation tells the story of his career. Dr. Netter’s career is put in the context of the artistic and cultural climate of his life and times, beginning with his art academy years and influences, his medical training, various special projects and commissions, and culminating in the research methods used to produce his life’s work, the famous Netter Collection of Medical Illustrations. Personal anecdotes and illustrations convey the vivid personality of the man behind the legendary Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations, known as the "green books."

In 1996, Sandoz and Ciba joined to form Novartis in one of the largest corporate mergers in history. The Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in East Hanover, N.J., has loaned this portion of the Netter Art Archives to the UMDNJ-George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences for display. For more information about the exhibit, please call 973-972-7830.

UMDNJ is the nation 's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.