ART MEETS MEDICINE
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ZAO WOU-KI
(b. China; d. Switzerland)
15.10.63, 1963
Oil on canvas
63¾ x 69"
Generously funded by Martha Holding Jennings in honor of Dr. Penn G. Skillern in 1964
Deaccessioned in 2007


© Zao Wou-Ki - ProLitteris, Zürich

This work was the first artwork to be purchased for a public area. In 1964 a delegation of physicians was sent to New York to buy a painting with donated funds and returned with a large abstract expressionist piece — stylistically very current with the period. The bold painting got a mixed reception, and after this instance, there were no art purchases for two decades.