Newark New Brunswick/Piscataway  Stratford Camden

University Libraries Special Collections

September 1 - November 30, 2006

UMDNJ-George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences
Exhibition Gallery
30 Twelfth Avenue, Newark, New Jersey

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 in Lecture Hall B610, 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 and 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 and atlases known as "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.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (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.

Traveling Exhibit:

A State of Health: New Jersey's Medical Heritage [PDF]

Through 150+ striking artifacts, documents, books, and pictures from more than forty collections, 'A State of Health' explores epidemics, children's health, healers and hospitals in New Jersey and spotlights the notable contributions that the state's research centers and pharmaceutical industry have made to medical science.

Major sponsors: Rutgers University Libraries, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Historical Society. The exhibition was made possible by generous support from the Saffron Endowment for the History of Medicine, American Home Products Corporation, C.R. Bard, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Schering-Plough Corporation, Warner-Lambert Company, the University Libraries of UMDNJ, the New Jersey Historical Commission, and the Veterans Biomedical Research Institute.

For reference service and information contact:

Robert Vietrogoski
Special Collections
vietrora@umdnj.edu
(973) 972-7830
FAX (973) 972-7474

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