Author: William Schupbach

The idea of man’s evolution from animals is an ancient one. Some statements on the subject by the Greek philosopher Anaximander (ca. 610–after 546 BC): “The first living creatures were born in moisture, enclosed in thorny casings, and as their… Continue reading

Inaugurating the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, the exhibition China through the lens of John Thomson 1868-1872 opened at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow on 4 February 2011. It was opened by Professor Nick Pearce (Director of the Institute for… Continue reading

Lithograph by C. Felixmüller, ca. 1922. Wellcome Library no. 727758i This is a home birth in the 1920s. In other times or places, the two – subsequently three – people involved might have had moral support from women friends of… Continue reading

In this oleograph (Wellcome Library no. 26596i) from Bombay, the apsara (nymph) Menakā attempts to seduce the yogi Viswāmitra. She succeeds, and a daughter Sakuntalā was born of their union. We might notice that, in this work by the Indian… Continue reading

Tate Britain’s splendid exhibition of the works of the mighty Muybridge enters its final week: the last day is Sunday 16 January 2011 (open 10.00–18.00). It of course does full justice to his well-known photographs of things in motion which… Continue reading

The drug bazaar, Constantinople. Watercolour by J.F. Lewis. Wellcome Library no. 45051i Good to see Brian Sewell writing in a mellow mood (though not for long) in yesterday’s ‘London Evening Standard’. [1] The usually acerbic art critic gave a half-page… Continue reading

During the year since World AIDS Day 2009 the Wellcome Library has continued to add to its already substantial collection of AIDS posters. This (left) is the first to be received from Tajikistan; indeed it is only the ninth work… Continue reading

Probably everybody reading this has at some time sat in a chair designed by Robin Day, the designer who died on 9 November 2010 aged 95. His stackable plastic chairs, and their derivatives, are ubiquitous in British schools, hospitals and… Continue reading

Robert Gooch by John Linnell, 1831. Wellcome Library no. 3701i Some 9,000 of the Wellcome Library’s portrait-prints and -drawings are catalogued in the Wellcome Library catalogue, but most of the records are very brief: they omit much of the information… Continue reading

This Japanese woodcut (left: click on image to enlarge;  by K. Egawa after a painting by Ryūrikyō, 18th century. Wellcome Library no. 730398i) can be considered from several points of view, one of which is its unwitting role as an illustration… Continue reading