Between birth & death many of lifes most critical moments occur in hospital & they deserve to take place in surroundings that match their significance. In this spirit from the early Renaissance through to the modern period artists have made immensely powerful work in hospitals across the western world enhancing the environments where patients & medical staff strive towards better health. Distinguished art historian Richard Cork became fascinated by the extraordinary richness of art produced in hospitals encompassing work by many of the great masters
- Piero della Francesca Rogier van der Weyden El Greco William Hogarth Jacques-Louis David Vincent van Gogh Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Fernand Leger Marc Chagall & Naum Gabo. Corks brilliant survey discovers the astonishing variety of images found in medical settings ranging from dramatic confrontations with suffering (Matthias Grunewald at Isenheim) to the most sublime celebrations of heavenly ecstasy (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in Venice). In the process he reveals arts prodigious ability to humanize our hospitals alleviate their clinical bleakness & leave a profound lasting impression on patients staff & visitors.