Drawings of Anatomy as a Collaborative Endeavour

Supervisors: Professor Simon Parson (Medical Education) and Dr Neil Curtis (Museum Collections)

This project proposes an examination of the collaborative nature of anatomical drawing, exploring the interdisciplinary negotiations required to produce works that are accurate and instructive as well as artistic.

Drawing as a means of representing anatomical understanding has been a key mechanism of learning since Leonardo’s work of the 15th/16th century, and continues today both using established techniques (for example the hand painted illustrations in the Thieme series of anatomical textbooks) and modern digital (for example the virtual anatomy software of Primal Pictures) approaches. Irrespective of modality employed, similar active and ongoing discussions between anatomist and artist are required.

Of particular interest to this enquiry is Aberdeen’s position within the rich history of anatomical illustration. This is to be considered through an in depth analysis of Professor Lockhart’s 1959 beautifully illustrated text ’Anatomy of the Human Body’: published in 1959 by Faber and Faber. The original drawings for Lockhart’s book are an important part of the University’s museum collections, held within the Anatomy facility. Preliminary investigations, made upon the anniversary of one of the key artists involved (Alberto Morrocco, RSA) has provided a wealth of information about the technical style used to convey anatomical detail, but also of the complicated conversations required to determine just what to illustrate, as some areas are correct for a dissection, while others are idealised.

Over 200 drawings will require detailed analysis, illustrations created by five different artists with different styles and techniques. We will carry out a practical study to create anatomical specimens and generate drawings in real time to improve our understanding of the working relationship required. Also part of the collection is a set of original watercolour illustrations of anatomical material made in-house in the late 19th century, study of which will further augment our findings, significantly for some of these, we still hold the original material from which the illustrations were made, providing an unusual opportunity to compare original with illustration. We also intend this study to lead to a greater understanding of the importance of the collection and perhaps see it become more accessible as a contemporary learning resource through digitisation.

The University’s Anatomy Museum has been the subject of a recent cultural historical study (Hallam, E, 2016, Anatomy Museum: Death and the Body Displayed, Reaktion) providing the historical context for this proposal and emphasising the international importance of the collection. The proposed study will attempt to contextualise its findings by asking how changes in anatomical pedagogy, technological developments in visualisation, and the emergent practice of ‘drawing as research’, have impacted upon the use of drawing in contemporary anatomy. This can also be considered as part of a wider concern in academic pedagogy with the role of visualisation, in which drawing, photography and note-taking are becoming increasingly important aspects of student learning and assessment.

We are therefore particularly interested in how we can use this study’s findings to introduce and utilise the abilities to draw anatomy as a learning tool for our students. In order for a student to draw a specimen be it gross or microscopic, there is a necessary level of understanding, which generates learning. Dr Iain Keenan of Newcastle University has initiated research into drawing systems, developing ‘ORDER’ to promote student’s learning through the procedure ‘Observe, Reflect, Draw, Edit, Repeat’. We aim to use this research to develop drawing procedures specifically tailored to support anatomical learning within Anatomy at Aberdeen. Meetings will be held with other anatomist and illustrator pairings, eg Professor Findlater and Mr Ian Lennox at the University of Edinburgh, who have collaborated extensively to describe their understanding of the working relationship. This wider view will be further expanded by visits to medical illustration degree courses (for example at Dundee University), which use both traditional and electronic techniques.

Applicants should ideally have a strong background in Art and be willing to work within a busy anatomy facility to fully engage in this project.

Application:

Please select ’Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anatomy’ from the list of programme options in the University of Aberdeen’s online postgraduate applicant portal to ensure that your application is passed to the correct school for processing. Then manually enter the name of the supervisor(s), project title and funder (Elphinstone) in the space provided.