Frank H. Netter

Frank H. Netter
Born	25 April 1906 New York City, US
Died	17 September 1991(1991-09-17)(aged 85)
Education	New York University School of Medicine
Known for	Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy
Medical career
Profession	Physician surgeon
Sub-specialties	Medical illustrator
Signature

Frank Henry Netter(25 April 1906 – 17 September 1991) was an American surgeon andmedical illustrator.The first edition of hisAtlas of Human Anatomy— his "personalSistine Chapel"— was published in 1989; he was a fellow of theNew York Academy of Medicinewhere he was first published in 1957.

Biography

Early life, training, and medical career

Frank Henry Netter was born in Manhattan at53rd StreetandSeventh Avenue,and grew up wanting to be an artist. In high school, he obtained a scholarship to study at theNational Academy of Design,doing so at night while continuing high school. After further studying at theArt Students League of New Yorkand with private teachers, he began a commercial art career, quickly achieving success and doing work for theSaturday Evening PostandThe New York Times.However, his family disapproved of a career as an artist and he agreed to study medicine. After getting a degree at theCity College of New York,he completed medical school atNew York Universityand a surgical internship atBellevue Hospitaland attempted to begin practicing medicine.However, as Netter put it: "This was in 1933—the depths of the Depression—and there was no such thing as medical practice. If a patient ever wandered into your office by mistake, he didn't pay."

Early medical art career

Having continued doingfreelanceart during his medical training, including some work for his professors, he fell back on medical art to supplement his income. In particular, pharmaceutical companies began seeking Netter for illustrations to help sell new products, such asNovocain.Soon after a misunderstanding wherein Netter asked for $1,500 for a series of 5 pictures and an advertising manager agreed to and paid $1,500 each - $7,500 for the series - Netter gave up the practice of medicine.

Career with CIBA

In 1936, theCIBA Pharmaceutical Companycommissioned a small work from him, a fold-up illustration of a heart to promote the sale ofdigitalis.This proved hugely popular with physicians, and a reprint without the advertising copy was even more popular.

Quickly following on the success of the fold-up heart, fold-up versions of other organs were produced. Netter then proposed that a series of pathology illustrations be produced. These illustrations were distributed to physicians as cards in a folder, with advertising for CIBA products on the inside of the folder, and were also popular with physicians. CIBA then collected these illustrations in book form, producing theCIBA Collection of Medical Illustrations,which ultimately comprised 8 volumes (13 books).

Beginning in 1948, CIBA also re-used illustrations by Netter in another series of materials to be given to physicians, theClinical Symposiaseries. These were small magazine-like brochures that typically featured an extensive article on a medical condition, commonly with about a dozen of Netter's illustrations. This series was produced until 1999.In 1989, Netter'sAtlas of Human Anatomywas published, assembled from his previous paintings and correlated by updated diagrams.

CIBA's Medical Education Department (East Orange, NJ) filtered the paintings for printing, in an effort that The Big Green Books "might appear more 'even' over time."This sometimes resulted in a considerable reduction of color variation from the originals. Digital re-scans of the originals continue to be published by the current copyright owner to the collection, Elsevier Medical Publishing. Selected original paintings have been exhibited internationally.

Netter's career was described in a commemorative video by Ciba-Geigy in 1988.

Skepticism

Netter was skeptical of the claims ofalternative medicineandfad diets.He wroteFad Diets Can Be Deadly(1975) which debunked the misleading claims of fad diets.

Legacy

In all, Netter produced nearly 4,000 illustrations, which have been included in countless publications.In perspective, that number represents an image researched, sketched, and completely painted for every three business days for over 50 years.

The vast bulk of Netter's illustrations were produced for and owned by CIBA Pharmaceutical Company and its successor,CIBA-Geigy,which has since merged withSandoz Laboratoriesto becomeNovartis.In June 2000, Novartis sold its interest in Netter's works to MediMedia USA's subsidiary Icon Learning Systems, which in turn has sold the portfolio toElsevier,which continues to make his work available in various formats. HisAtlas of Human Anatomyand other atlases have become a staple of medical education.

Dr. Netter's contribution to the study of human anatomy is epochal. He has advanced our understanding of anatomy more than any other medical illustrator since the 16th century, whenVesaliusintroduced drawings based on cadaveric dissections.

— Dr.Michael DeBakey

TheFrank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine at Quinnipiac UniversityinNorth Haven, Connecticutopened its doors in 2013.

Awards and honors

• 1966,Townsend Harris Medal,City College of New York
• 1969,The Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award,American Medical Writers Association
• 1973,Distinguished Service Award,National Kidney Foundation
• 1979,Resolution of Commendation,Florida State Legislature
• 1981,Distinguished Service Award,American College of Cardiology
• 1981,Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science,New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry
• 1985,Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science,Georgetown University
• 1986,Life Achievement Award,Society of Illustrators
• 1986,The Solomon A. Berson Medical Alumni Achievement Award,New York UniversitySchool of Medicine
• 1986,Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science,Université de Sherbrooke,Canada
• 1986,Lifetime Achievement Award,Association of Medical Illustrators
• 1986, Dedication of theNetter Library,CIBA-Geigy Corporation
• 1987,Honorary Member,Radiological Society of North America
• 1988,Honorary Award for Contribution to Knowledge of Musculoskeletal System,American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
• 1988,Honorary Fellowship,Medical Artists Association of Great Britain
• 1990,Award of Special Recognition,Association of Medical Illustrators
• 1990,Honorary Member Award,American Association of Clinical Anatomists

Selected publications

• Fad Diets Can Be Deadly: The Safe, Sure Way to Weight Loss and Good Nutrition(1975)
• Clinical Symposia: Surgical Anatomy of the Hand(1988)
• The Netter Collection of Medical Illustrations(1994) [with Richard Parker]
• Interactive Atlas of Clinical Anatomy: The Clear, Easy Way to Put Anatomy Into Practice(1997)
• The Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations(1983)
• Atlas of Human Anatomy(1989, 2010)

Bibliography

• Frank H. Netter (January 1981), "Frank Netter: The Man, The Artist, The Surgeon",Medical Times(condensed reprint fromThe Saturday Evening Post,1976)
• The Five Senses,CIBA-Geigy Corporation, 1992,ASINB00A17MKVE(memorial portfolio and essays)
• Netter, Francine Mary (his daughter) (2013).Medicine's Michelangelo: The Life & Art of Frank H. Netter, MD.Quinnipiac UniversityPress.ISBN978-0989137607.

External links

• "Frank H. Netter, MD",Netter Digital Images,Elsevier, archived fromthe originalon 2012-10-23,retrieved2013-01-12- Short biographical article by the current publisher and copyright-owner
• "Netter",US Elsevier Health Bookshop,retrieved2013-01-12- Via NYAM
• Netter Images,retrieved2013-01-12- The official Facebook page of the Netter Team at Reed Elsevier
• Working with Netter.- A brief account of medical illustrator, Craig Luce, working with Dr. Netter on Vol8, Part III (Injuries) of the Ciba Collection, 1989-91