Lecture
Alan Silman
Sunday 18.01.2026
Alan Silman
Paul Klee: The Unique Artist Who Charted His Own Declining Health in His Outputs
Sunday 18.01.2026
How to watch
This lecture starts on 18 January at 5:00pm (UK).
Summary
In another of Alan Silman’s series of Famous People and their IIlnesses, he brings his focus on the life of artist Paul Klee (1879–1940)), who fled Nazi persecution because of his degenerative art only to suffer his own awful degenerative disease. Audience warning: you may need your Kleenex handy.
Alan Silman
After graduating as a doctor, Alan Silman trained in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene. He then took up an academic role in the Department of Epidemiology at the London Hospital where he also trained in rheumatology. He was appointed as Director of Arthritis Research UK’s Epidemiology Research Unit, Manchester University in 1988. In 2007 he changed role and became the first medical director of the Arthritis Research UK charity. In 2015 he left ARUK to return to academic research in epidemiology and took up the role of Professor of Musculoskeletal Health at Oxford University. He has advised the UK government on the safety of medicines including vaccines and is currently part of the national panel reviewing the quality of epidemiological research in UK Universities. He has written a number of books and numerous articles. During the Covid-19 pandemic he wrote a blog for lay audience aimed at explaining the emerging data, which reached 100 countries. He has a passionate interest in Jewish history and culture and for 20 years has lead tours to many countries in Europe and Asia.