From Studio to Surgery: Women, Art, and the Visualization of Medicine

Explore the pathologies of the past and discover the untold stories of talented women who transformed medical publishing in early 20th-century Montréal. Shut out of professional medicine, they found a new path through medical illustration using extraordinary artistic skills and scientific knowledge to document disease, advance medical discovery, and help shape the future of medicine.  Between the operating room and the morgue, a handful of specialized illustrators get an up-close look at human anatomy — literally.

With the support of Digital Museums Canada, the Permanent Archives Centre and the RBC Centre for Arts and Heritage of the McGill University Health Centre have organized an exhibition highlighting the previously little-known stories of ten pioneering women whose work not only supported the medical profession but also helped to shape it.

Discover a selection of works from this extensive exhibition, available online and in person, featuring medical illustrations preserved in the MUHC’s permanent archives.

Date: Launch October 26, 2026

Location: McGill University Health Centre

Glen site - The Institute

Block E, Level S1

Developed with the support of Digital Museums Canada, an investment program managed by the Canadian Museum of History.