"This talk considers how the American artists Abbott Thayer, John Singer Sargent, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens responded to tuberculosis, one of the major contagious diseases of the late nineteenth century. Their painted and sculpted depictions of individuals associated with tuberculosis exist in a lively tension with what doctors then knew about the disease. Rather than illustrate these medical concepts, artists adapted scientific ideas for their own ends, creating works of art which alleviated suffering and functioned as a form of therapy."
