By Darla McCammon

Are you gaining an unwanted education in Pandemics, viruses, restricted travel, school closings, how to wash your hands and empty supermarket shelves? Have you seen some of the incredibly beautiful illustrations of the deadly Coronavirus? Seeing those drawings began a curiosity to search for the artists who created those illustrations.

I came across a number of names for medical illustrators, including Leonardo da Vinci who spent much time on studies of human anatomy as he tried to make his work as realistic as possible.

I also found the name: Frank H. Netter. Netter was born in 1906 in New York and dreamed of becoming an artist from a very young age. He went to art school on a scholarship and developed into a successful artist doing work for the New York Times and such famous magazines as The Saturday Evening Post. His family discouraged this art career and persuaded him to go to med school.

He was very bright and gained an internship in surgery at Bellevue.  At that time salaries were low in the medical field so he continued to take art commissions on the side. He made a quick $7,500 for five illustrations to be used on new medical products and the die was cast for his future He was able to use his medical knowledge to become a successful artist for the pharmaceutical industry. Today there is a high demand for medical illustrators. 

Netter had success after success with his ability to provide medical and anatomical illustrations. He began producing many materials including books such as his Collection of Medical Illustrations.  This evolved into many volumes and his career left a legacy honored over and over.

He provided many illustrations and volume after volume of helpful materials that are still in use today. You can check on Amazon.com and search his name to find hundreds of successful ventures into the field of medical illustration.  These jobs are in high demand today.

There are always new developments in medicine that need to be illustrated, explained, and understood.  What better way than to provide a detailed, accurate illustration?

Netter received many honors during his life.  Some seventeen of them were National awards of great esteem.  Netter passed away in 1991 but his work continues to be revered by anyone connected to the medical illustrator field of endeavor.

In 2013 Netter’s daughter, Francine Mary Netter published a book called “Medicine’s Michelangelo: The Life & Art of Frank H. Netter, MD.”

This book was issued the same year The Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University in North Haven, Conn. was dedicated and began accepting medical students.

Upcoming and Current Events (SPECIAL NOTE):

• Due to uncertainty with the pandemic Coronavirus outbreak, please contact individual event managers to determine cancellations, postponements, etc. We will monitor and report as accurately as possible and pray for your health and safety. We are then expecting a new and exciting artist, Christi Ziebarth, to exhibit from April through June. More on Christi soon.