???Freud on Fifth??? Exhibit Displays Freud???s Scientific Drawings at The New York Academy of Medicine

NEW YORK CITY, May 12??? We all know Sigmund Freud as the father of psychoanalysis, but there is another side of Freud that remains unfamiliar to many: the neuroscientist. Before identifying the id and the Oedipus complex, before laying the groundwork for millions of patients to take to the couch, Freud spent years investigating nerve transmission in fish, brainstem function in humans, and other hard-core neurological pursuits. Much of the time, Freud recorded his observations by drawing pictures of what he saw through a microscope ??? and those drawings are now on display for the first time in the United States at The New York Academy of Medicine.

Drawing by Sigmund Freud, "On the spinal ganglia and spinal cord of petromyzon."

Freud???s stockpile of must-see scientific drawings and diagrams from throughout his nearly 60-year career has been largely absent from public view, but not any longer. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Freud???s birth on May 6, 1856, the Academy is hosting a fascinating exhibit of 30 drawings and diagrams that Freud created between 1876, as a 20-year-old student, through 1933, four years before his death. The three-month exhibit opened May 11 and will trace the intriguing evolution of Freud???s career from neurology to psychoanalysis by showcasing his late19th century drawings of nerve tissue and cells, alongside his early-20th-century diagrams of the working human mind.

Called ???Sigmund Freud???s Drawings and Diagrams of the Mind: From Neurology to Psychoanalysis,??? the exhibit is located in the Library of the Academy, at 1216 Fifth Avenue (at 103rd Street) and will continue through Aug. 26. Hours are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free. This celebration of Freud???s early contributions is presented in cooperation with the American Psychoanalytic Association and the Arnold Pfeffer Center for Neuro-Psychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.

???This is the Freud you don???t know,??? said Miriam Mandelbaum, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Academy. ???This is Freud as he has not really been presented in popular literature. His scientific training is overlooked.???

The drawings have never before been displayed together in an exhibit. Some have been published in rare books and periodicals, while others are facsimiles of original drawings on display at the Freud Museum in London. The exhibit will also include images in about twenty books and journal articles that Freud wrote between 1876 and 1933, many drawn from the Academy???s extensive collection and others from private collectors.

???This complete collection of Freud's diagrams includes some famous icons of psychoanalysis and other relatively unknown, rarely-seen images,??? said Lynn Gamwell, curator of the exhibit and Director of the Art Museum at the State University of New York at Binghamton, which organized the project.

Nineteenth-century scientists used drawing as a tool to record observations that they made looking through a microscope, and Freud was no exception. His early drawings were simple diagrams of cells and nerve tissue of the eel, lamprey fish, and crayfish. As a young medical student at the University of Vienna, Freud also spent a substantial amount of time unsuccessfully searching for the testicles of the eel, and thus he was unable to define the fish???s mating habits. His sketches from this research will be displayed in the exhibit.

???Is it not remarkable that the future discoverer of the castration complex began his scientific career by searching, without success, for the missing testicles of the eel???? Mark Solms, director of the International Neuro-Psychoanalysis Centre, writes in the exhibit catalog.

The next phase of Freud???s research focused on anatomical studies of the human brainstem. He learned his way around this complex adult organ by first studying undeveloped fetal brains. An intriguing set of drawings in the Academy exhibit illustrate this work as well as Freud???s theories regarding the function of different parts of the brain. As Freud???s interest turned to the study of language, one of the human brain???s most complex functions, he continued to produce compelling drawings. But because ???function??? cannot be seen under a microscope, drawings became increasingly rare???though not absent???in Freud???s writings as he transitioned to psychoanalysis. He grew more concerned with abstract processes of the human mind that could only be observed in his new laboratory???the consulting room with the couch???and were more difficult to illustrate.

By the time that Freud was wholly concerned with psychoanalysis, he no longer focused on a presumed anatomical basis for the driving forces behind complex brain processes. This is reflected in the fact that he created far fewer diagrams in his late career.. Among Freud???s theoretical drawings included in the exhibit is a depiction of his theory of the relationship between sexuality and various mood states, and a famous drawing from ???The Interpretation of Dreams??? (1900) that was Freud???s first diagrammatic representation of the mind as a purely psychological entity.

Freud was well aware that he would never be certain that his conclusions regarding abstract mental processes were correct, Solms writes. But it is fitting to celebrate the life of a scientist who was willing to admit that ???reality in itself will always remain unknowable.???

???Many things in nature exist that cannot be seen,??? Solms writes in the exhibit catalog. ???It is the fundamental task of science to discover such things, which bring order to the observable world; for they explain it. All of Freud???s work was an attempt to do this with respect to the human brain, or nervous system. This is clearly reflected in his drawings.???

For a listing of worldwide events celebrating the anniversary of Freud???s birth, visit http://www.sigmund-freud.co.uk/authors/8/American-Psychoanalytic-Association. An exhibit directly across from the Academy, at the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Ave.), will showcase some 75 cartoons relating to ???the shrink and the shrunk??? that have been published in The New Yorker in the past 80 years. Visit http://www.mcny.org/exhibitions/future/366.html for details.

Copies of the exhibit catalog are available for purchase at the Reference Desk in the Academy Library's main reading room for $25.00. Catalogs may also be ordered by mail for $25.00 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling by sending a check for $30.00 payable to the Binghamton University Art Museum to:
Binghamton University Art Museum
PO Box 6000
Vestal Parkway East
Binghamton, New York 13902

Founded in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit institution whose mission is to enhance the health of the public. The Academy is a leading center for urban health policy and action working to enhance the health of people living in cities worldwide through research, education, advocacy, and prevention.

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Posted on May 12, 2006

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