Neurology
Of The Arts: Painting, Music, Literature
by F. Clifford Rose, Editor
Imperial College Press, London, 2004
452 pp., illus. Trade, $88 / £65
ISBN: 1-86094-368-3.
Reviewed by Amy Ione
The Diatrope Institute
PO Box 6813, Santa Rosa, CA 95406-0813
ione@diatrope.com
From the end of the twentieth century
a great deal of attention has focused
on the brain. Many, as a result, have
thought about whether neurology might
now provide additional insight into the
workings of the artistic mind. Specific
cases accentuate this possibility. For
example, in the 1970s, Oliver Sacks worked
with an artist, Jonathan I., who became
colorblind after his car was hit by a
truck. Prior to the accident Mr. I. painted
abstract, colour-rich images and experienced
colours when presented with musical tones.
After the accident he lost his ability
to see colour and even lost the experience
of colour in response to sounds. Despite
this, he continued to paint in black and
white, refusing to put aside the driving
force of his life. More recently, while
conducting a class critique in May 1997,
the Berkeley artist and professor Katherine
Sherwood was struck suddenly with a searing
headache. Thirty seconds later, the right
half of her body was paralyzed. A thin-walled
collection of arteries in the left side
of her brain had collapsed, and she suffered
a massive stroke. Only 44 years old at
the time, Sherwood was determined to return
to painting and has done so. One of the
most noteworthy aspects of Sherwood’s
story is the degree to which she, like
Mr. I., was resolute in her determination
to continue her artistic activities. In
this case she did so despite finding her
painting hand was paralyzed, and eventually
she returned to teaching as well. Sherwood
now claims that although her stroke erased
some skills, it also led her to learn
new ones, such as a new objectivity about
her work.
These contemporary cases are recent additions
to the literature connecting neurology
and art. Neurology and the Arts,
edited by F. Clifford Rose, brings many
topics within this literature to light,
combining them in a source book compiled
from papers delivered at the 2001 Mansell
Bequest Symposium of the Medical Society
of London. These essays, I believe, offer
great insight into case studies that have
not received enough attention to date.
Indeed, it is not easy to choose specific
highlights from a high quality collection
that reaches from anatomy to the neurological
circumstances of historical artists such
as da Vinci, Goya and van Gogh.
George K. York, a neurologist, sets the
tone in the opening essay where he notes,
"thinking neurologically is a creative
act in the same way that thinking artistically,
musically or scientifically is creative.
Neurologists may not be able to say where
the artistic process is located in the
brain, but they can at least have the
pleasure of knowing what it is to be creative."
These words not only encourage the reader
to think about creativity per se
but also aid in taking the idea of creativity
to another level when they come upon later
essays that examine the art of well known
neurological figures. For example, Christopher
Gardner-Thorpe’s essay on "The Art
of Sir Charles Bell" points out that although
best known as an anatomist, physiologist,
and neurologist, Bell’s skills as
an artist had a major impact on medicine
and anatomical training in art. Indeed,
his success in illustrating the body and
offering medical descriptions communicated
information that would have otherwise
been hard to capture when he lived, before
the advent of photography. In addition,
Gardner-Thorpe’s discussion of Bell’s
watercolour work offered more insight
into his feeling for art, although I wish
the reproductions had been in colour.
Similarly intriguing are the range of
ideas that point to neurological references
and misconceptions often found within
the literature. For example, it is often
claimed that the disease depicted in Masaccio’s
St. Peter Healing the Sick with His
Shadow is polio. Yet this is one of
several instances where the polio label
is probably unlikely since the first known
epidemic of this disease dates to the
18th century. Similarly, there
are so many stories surrounding van Gogh
that separating the reality from the mythology
is an art in itself. F. Clifford Rose’s
careful analysis of ten possible diagnoses
of his aberrant behavior (e.g.,
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, epilepsy,
substance abuse, etc.) was quite illuminating.
After reading through these summaries
I feel better prepared to evaluate the
various conclusions in relation to his
long list of maladies.
Perhaps the most noteworthy quality of
the book is its style. Laypeople will
find the articles are accessible, while
doctors and neurologists are likely to
find the content fascinating. Leonardo
readers will be particularly delighted
with the balanced treatment the authors
bring to the subject matter. Almost without
exception they reach far beyond the theoretical
and metaphoric arguments that predominate
in the humanities literature. "Normal
and Pathological Gait as Inspiration for
the Artist" is one of the many selections
that will certainly engage Leonardo
readers. Geneviève Aubert’s
research in this article was prompted
by her interest in Arthur Van Gehucten
(1861-1914), a pioneer in the use of cinematography
for documenting clinical neurology. She
successfully integrates new works (such
as the Belgium composer Renaud De Putter’s
interpretation of Van Gehuchten’s
neurological films).
Some material spoke to gaps in my
own body of knowledge; a reaction that
I am certain would be the same for other
readers. For example, there are many sources
that have suggested El Greco suffered
from astigmatism (which would have caused
his retinal images to be vertically narrower
than they should be). The astigmatism
argument has long been used to account
for the elongation of his painted saints.
Perceptual laboratory experiments, however,
have documented the fallacy in this argument
(Anstis, 2002). Until reading F. Clifford
Rose’s "The Neurology of the Arts:
An Overview", I was unaware that there
is an alternative scientific interpretation
to El Greco’s elongated style. He
cites J. R. Heron’s "El Greco and
muscular dystrophy?" where Heron argues
that the distortions in El Greco’s
paintings might not be artistic license
so much as deriving from the neuromuscular
disorders of the in-patients of St James
Hospital, Toledo. The examples include
the dystrophic facial muscles of San Sebastian,
the hand wasting of Santiago el Mayor,
the pes cavus of the angel in The
Crucifixion, the peroneal muscular
atrophy of St John in The Baptism of
Christ and the facioscapulohumeral
dystrophy in Adoration of the Shepherds.
Finally, even in the rare instance when
an author became a bit technical, I found
the articles engaging and useful. Some
topics, such as epilepsy, are included
in both the visual arts and literature
sections. This gives the reader an opportunity
to consider the condition from more than
one perspective. Although I tend to focus
on visual arts in my own work, I found
the sections on literature and music equally
compelling. The music section, for example,
includes essays that cover the parts of
the brain linked to perception and memory,
as well as amusia (a neurological
deficit in music perception, recognition
or production, attributable to a central
cause), and the effect of music on intelligence
and learning (the Mozart effect). The
section on literature relates to Shakespeare,
Dostoyevsky, Conan Doyle, James Joyce
and the poetry of one of England's most
famous neurologists, Henry Head. In summary,
I highly recommend Neurology of the
Arts to all who are looking for a
greater understanding of how the brain
and the nervous system work together.
It is an accessible book, and one that
a reader need not read from cover to cover
to enjoy, although all of the contributions
can be recommended.
References:
Anstis, S.M. (2002). "Was El Greco astigmatic?"
Leonardo, Vol. 35, No. 2, p.
208.
Heron, J. R. (1979). "El Greco and muscular
dystrophy?" Br. Med. J. II, 256.
