Synopsis:

This is a unique and very moving story for any artist!  In this lecture I review the life and works of Paul Klee and the impact of his unfortunate mysterious illness. The talk will show Klee as a poet, a writer, an accomplished musician, a teacher as well as being one of the most prolific artists of the 20th century. His work covered several 'isms' of post first world war German art. He also had a wicked sense of humour in his caricatures. Shortly after escaping from Nazi Germany, as one of the so-called 'degenerate artists', Klee developed the very rare auto-immune disorder, scleroderma. This is a disease that has been the subject of much of my research career.

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Profile:

Currently Alan Silman is a Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and Senior Research Fellow at Green Templeton College Oxford. Prior to this for 8 years he was Medical Director of the charity Arthritis Research UK (ARUK - now called Versus Arthritis). He is an epidemiologist with a particular interest in diseases of bones, muscles and joints.  He has authored over 700 research publications and a number of textbooks.  He is amongst the top 100 published scientists across all disciplines in UK universities.

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He is passionate about the arts and has researched intensively the medical history of well-known individuals. From these researches, he has developed a series of lectures addressing how the lives and outputs, of such individuals were affected by their health. These talks have been given widely to a number of audiences across the UK to U3A, Probus and other community and professional groups.