Talks

PsychArt Workshop Hysteria and Surrealism - Life Drawing Workshop at St Margaret's House

Name: PsychArt Workshop Hysteria and Surrealism - Life Drawing Workshop at St Margaret's House
Start: 2026-06-30T19:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-06-30T21:00:00+01:00
Location: PsychArt Workshop Hysteria and Surrealism - Life Drawing Workshop at St Margaret's House

Time7pm

DateTue 30 Jun

Join us as we discuss how the surrealists copied 19th century medical photography portraying "hysteria," followed by a life drawing session with a model. In 19th century France, Dr Jean-Martin Charcot worked on treating “hysteria” at La Salpêtrière hospital using various treatments, including hypnosis and ether. He created medical photography books of multiple female patients in various poses "caused" by hysteria. These photos often showed female patients in a nightgown in bed, with labels such as "mockery", "menace" or "ecstasy". Dr Charcot also held live demonstrations, attended by people including Sigmund Freud and Edgar Degas, which is shown in A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière by André Brouillet. Many surrealist artists, including Salvador Dalí, saw these poses as unbridled emotion rather than illness, and used these as references in some of their art, and then held their own live demonstrations with actors. However, the women's voices are very limited in both of these narratives, which likely led to sexual fantasies about these women, in a way not unlike modern times. This is a life drawing workshop where we spend 10-15 mins discussing these pictures, their effect on...

Talks