Medicine + Technology + Art

Alexandre Cabanel, Birth of Venus, 1863

 

     I am surprised why I did not realize that the connection between art and science earlier before studying this week’s course materials. So many examples of content or style can prove that art and medical science are interrelated throughout the history of art.

     First, artists under Academicism had to know well about the medical anatomy before making great artworks. As nudes are the popular subject matters of academic paintings, artists had to master the proportion of human body in order to paint accurately and mimetically. With the knowledge of medical anatomy, academic artists are able to show the eternal beauty of human bodies.

Egon Schiele, Self Portrait Grimacing, 1910

     Second, some artists use medical knowledge as the source of their artworks. For example, Egon Schiele, an Expressionist, used the photos of patients in medical journals as the reference to his self-portraits. He was inspired by the malformed body shapes and then painted his self-portraits with distorted body shapes and proportions.

     Third, artistic principles are also used in medical areas. For example, plastic surgery is based on artistic essence to improve the appearance of people. With plastic surgery on their butts, females can make them look sexier. Additionally, I personally think that some celebrities such as Kim Kardashian became famous with the help of plastic surgeries.

    

     Art and medical science are closely related. Sometimes, medical science helps artists create better artworks and sometimes medical areas such as body modification are based on the artistic essence.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Schiele#/media/File:Egon_Schiele_-_Grimassierendes_Aktselbstbildnis_-_1910.jpeg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_art#/media/File:Alexandre_Cabanel_-_The_Birth_of_Venus_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg