'Philip Sandblom has given the ultimate gift to medicine, to literature, and to the creative arts. He shows us how we are jointly engaged in the highest calling possible. Together -- and only together -- can we physicians, artists, writers, and patients delve to the deepest levels of comprehension of the human conditions of mortality and suffering with the vision bestowed upon us by the arts. In effect, Philip Sandblom has rehumanized the practice of medicine and reconfirmed the necessity of beauty in our lives.'

Rita Charon, Bernard Schoenberg Professor of Social Medicine & Professor of Medicine, Columbia University

A pioneering work in the field of Medical Humanities first published as Creativity and Disease in 1982, Creativity and illness now appears in a new, extended version based on the definitive Swedish edition published in 2022.

A renowned surgeon, Philip Sandblom was also a connoisseur of the fine arts, and throughout his life he was fascinated by the interplay between art and ill health. Having started out as a student of the impact of illness and disability on the works of pictorial artists, he gradually integrated music and literature with his analyses.

Some 150 artists, composers, and authors crowd the pages of this book. Most of these creative spirits are famous names, including Keats, Hölderlin, Woolf, Mahler, Mozart, Goya, Kahlo, and Klee; but Sandblom brings out aspects of their works that only a medical expert would discern.

In lively style, this book demonstrates the effects of ill health on the artistic impulse, surprising the reader by pointing out that illness is not always detrimental to creativity. Abundantly illustrated, it combines portrayals of human suffering with celebrations of the human spirit manifested in consummate artistry.