Author: Associate Professor Felix Behan, AM

‘The aim of art is to present not the outward appearance of things but their inner significance,’ Aristotle.

The adage ’a picture is worth a thousand words’ was coined from the advertising industry in the USA by Fred Barnard. The Chinese variant ’hearing something a hundred times isn't better than seeing it once‘ has a Confucian link.  

When one hears multiple stories of portraits by artists, personality traits always surface. The College art collection is a compendium of these facets, in which the style and nature of good surgeons are recalled forever. It is regretful some personality facts are not recorded, except from snippets and recollections of past experiences.  

The Archibald Prize is the ultimate example of Australian portrait painting and controversies always erupt—as happened recently with the Gina Rinehart portrait by Vincent Namatjira OAM. The subject became another example of the ‘Streisand effect’ where suppression amplifies the hidden alternative of confidentiality and the gallery turnstiles doubled in number of visitors wanting to see the image!

Likeness is the basic criteria of good portraiture, whether you like it or not. When Gertrude Stein, an American poet, playwright and art collector had her portrait painted by Pablo Picasso in the early 20th century, Stein was critical of the outcome. She said to Picasso, “I do not like it as it does not look like me” and Picasso undaunted, said, “It will”.  

William Dobell’s controversial portrait of Joshua Smith is another example; it was rejected by the purists as a caricature and not a portrait. Although Dobell won the court case, he lost a good friend. Incidentally, Dobell painted the portrait of George Bell as RACS president (1949-51).

Dobell had a keen eye for clinical accuracy, as revealed in the portrait of Joshua Smith, whose image revealed what I thought was maxillary hypoplasia but needed the opinion of an expert. Professor Anthony Holmes, former Head of the Craniofacial Unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne responded to my enquiry with an excellent clinical synopsis of the Smith facial deformity:

“He does have a ‘syndromal’ face with marked maxillary retrusion (perhaps hypoplasia), which includes the infra-orbital rims and zygomas  … possibly a mild Treacher-Collins syndrome.” So, I was right, but I got the words wrong.

The A.W. Beasley book of College presidential portraits was compiled thanks to John Hanrahan when he was  RACS president (1991-1993) and this volume is a good summary of images and portraits of various personalities in the College. The book was the background for this idea to resurrect a few words of wisdom from some of these preeminent forebears.

Sir Hugh Devine (by W B McInnes): One of the original advocates for the formation of a surgical college reflecting his organisational ability.

George Bell (by Joshua Smith): From a rural background and actively involved in the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A Sydney hospital block was named after him.

Sir Harold Dew (by William Dargie): Sitting for the English Fellowship, the examiners remarked about the quality of the Hydatid Disease (1927) publication and Dew casually acknowledged, “I wrote it”.  

Sir Ivan Jose (by Ivor Hele): Adelaide's busiest surgeon, with a special interest in urology, cramming 14 working hours a day into12.  

Sir Douglas Miller (by William Dargie): During his presidency, Sir Miller accepted the burden of chairman of the editorial committee for the ANZ Journal of Surgery, holding this role for 15 years.

Julian Ormond Smith (by William Dargie): Julian was a prominent sportsman at Melbourne Grammar and received his English Fellowship in 1929. His friendship with Thomas Dunhill, gave him entry to the RMH. During WWII he was something of the buccaneer in his personality. He was the uncle of Julian Smith, the present editor of the ANZ Journal of Surgery.  

Sir Benjamin Rank (by Coral Nerelle): Benny Rank was a man of vision and determination locally and internationally and a great organiser. He walked comfortably in the company of kings and commoners. He was  a great believer in the advantages of teamwork in producing results. He had confidence in his own abilities and never shied from giving his opinion.

Stanley Francis Reid (by J. Freidin posthumous portrait): Appointed at Prince Henry’s Hospital where he met J. Freidin who painted his portrait from photographic images.

Sir John Loewenthal (by R. Hannaford): He had his critics, but his charm solved problems, even at the committee level.  

John Wellesley Evan Raine (by Valerie Beere): Noted for his gentle, quizzical manner at the Council table and established the Court of Honour.  

Sir Edward Hughes (by Paul Fitzgerald): A brilliant colorectal surgeon from his training origins at St Mark’s in London. A man of big ideas and concepts.  When presenting his series of abdomino-peroneal resections to the American College of Surgeons they were incredulous of his case numbers and ability. His famous adage continues to echo around every hospital colorectal unit  – “if you don’t put your finger in, you put your foot in”.

Donald (Scotty) Gordon Macleish (by Judy Cassab): When some of the senior surgeons in their later years were doing vascular procedures and needed help, Scotty saved their bacon.

Thomas Reeve (by R Hannaford):  A master head and neck surgeon from the Royal North Shore Hospital whose surgical skills matched his personality.