The Anatomy plates above come from a French book published in 1745 by Gautier D’Agoty titled “Essai D’Anatomie.” The illustrations represent incredibly detailed head & neck anatomy that must certainly have been some of the best images of the time.
Joseph Duverny dissected the human cadavers and D’Agoty used the mezzotint method of engraving and printing to create the plates. The mezzotint technique is known for the luxurious quality of its tones and rich dark areas. They are beautiful, albeit macabre, representations of the human body.
The original copy of “Essai d’Anatomie” is currently a member of the Rudolph Matas Library at Tulane University. The images were restored, bound, and digitized by William Kitchens William Kitchens on May 6, 2008.
“Escape into Reality” is a Painting/Sculpture from Czech artist, Michael Trpák. It is made of cement, wood, and acrylic paint. In the description of his work, Michael tackles 2 of the biggest questions in the art world: What is Art & Why does Art Matter? I’ll let you read it for yourself:
“Escape into reality is a combination of a painting, a relief and a sculpture, it outlines a transition between real and virtual world, between 2d and 3d form, between sensed and tangible … Art tries to be new and discovering, so is an artist a scientist or an inventor? Modern art is a conceptual one and it can seldom defend itself, so does it make an artist a rhetorician or a philosopher? If art needs a form to convey an idea, should an artist be a skillful craftsman? If art is supposed to be digital, is an artist due to be an expert on information technologies? Is an artist a diplomat or a strategist who can present nothing like something and make the viewers believe in it? Who actually is still an artist and who is not? As long as an artist can be all and exercise anything, why everybody is not an artist? Will any object become a piece of art being exhibited in a gallery and will a person who places an object in a gallery become an artist? What is then the purpose of art? – To convey an idea or draw attention by means of a special, ingenious or more sophisticated form to things around us? Or should art be made use of as an aesthetical supplement and is more likely to be the design? If art is supposed to be another form of communication, does it need any commentary? Or – is art something what is useless and that´s why there are galleries to make it usable? As it is difficult to find a boundary between real and virtual, it is impossible to limit the art. I don´t know what a painting thinks about itself if it does think anything at all, nor I know if form is important for art. Supposing there is no form, energy, which can be turned into form, remains ……… Boundaries don´t exist……………”
To me, art is simply creativity, and in this broad sense, art is in all of us. While I don’t identify everyone as an “artist,” I believe we all have the capacity to make art. As Greek philosopher Aristophanes said in the 4th century B.C., “Let each man exercise the art he knows…” But how do you determine if art is “good”? Of course that is open to interpretation, but I personally appreciate art for its ability to inspire and make us think in a novel and exciting way, just as Michael Trpák has accomplished here.
Lisa Nilsson has returned for an encore in Paper Anatomy made from the extremely tedious process of Quilling. I wrote about her work in the past, and here’s an excerpt:
“She created these masterpieces by meticulously rolling and shaping narrow strips of Japanese mulberry paper in a technique called paper filigree or quilling. As you can imagine, each section takes several weeks to complete.”
This time around she features a canine cut right down the middle. An interesting note from Lisa’s site is that “The peach-colored shape located where the brain meets the sinuses is the olfactory bulb. This structure is forty times bigger in dogs than in us and enables dogs to sense smell to a degree one hundred thousand to one million times greater than humans.”
The second image is a sagittal view of an angel with an ornate circular background. It was apparently inspired by Fra Angelico’s AnnunciatoryAngel (seen below).
And I bet you can’t guess what the last 2 images represent… Praying Hands. The section passes through the large knuckles at the bases of the thumbs. buy intagra online https://apwh.org/wp-content/languages/en/intagra.html no prescription
I like this Map Anatomy concept from artist, Shannon Rankin. Shannon is from California and now currently works and lives in Maine. Here’s a quote from the artist regarding her interest in maps:
“Maps are the everyday metaphors that speak to the fragile and transitory state of our lives and our surroundings. Rivers shift their course, glaciers melt, volcanoes erupt, boundaries change both physically and politically. The only true constant is change.”
It’d be nice to see the topography of the maps relate a bit more to the actual anatomy, but nonetheless, the compositions are nice. For more map-inspired works and some geometric installations, check out Shannon’s website.
The Anatomical Basis of Medical Practice is a controversial medical textbook that Duke professors, R. Frederick Becker, James S. W. Wilson, and John A. Gehweiler, created in 1971 to inspire young medical students to learn anatomy. Duke underwent an overhaul to its medical curriculum in 1966 that lead to a drastic reduction to its anatomy training. Dr. Becker, though passionate in his teaching, was known to be rather eccentric. He had cut-outs of Male & Female Playboy Centerfolds posted around his office that he used to teach students surface anatomy. Dr. Becker was quoted discussing his controversial book:
“In our own student days we discovered that studying surface anatomy with a wife or girlfriend proved to be not only instructive, but highly entertaining. Since the majority of medical students still tend to be males, we have liberalized this text by making use of the female form. But, more to the point, we have done so because a large portion of your future patients will be women and few texts have pointed out surface landmarks on the female.”
This book was eventually banned as the feminist movement strengthened. Of note, “Robust, healthy males” were also included in the book for the female medical students.
Dan Beckemeyer, hailing from O’Fallon, Illinois, is the graphic designer responsible for the images above. They are from his series titled Systems. He used hand-made abaca paper to create these highly detailed images of human anatomy. He first drew the skeletal system, then stitched blood vessels before finally adding felt for the muscle mass.
I really like how the piece has an unfinished, natural look. It also enables you to see the different layers of depth.
