“Andy Warhol’s death: not so simple after all”. This headline in the New York Times followed Dr. Ryan’s presentation to the Pacific Coast Surgical Association.
The article went on to say, “Warhol’s death shouldn’t be seen as quite such a surprise. Since his retirement four years ago, Dr. Ryan, a jovial and sporty Seattleite, has been digging into Warhol’s medical history… Dr. Ryan has found that the surgeon who performed Warhol’s final operation was working on someone with almost 15 years of gallbladder trouble and a family history of the same — Warhol’s father had his gallbladder removed in 1928, the year his famous son was born.”
Dr. Ryan is the Emeritus Virginia Mason Chief of Surgery speaking at Skyline today, Friday May 4th at 3:30 PM in the Mount Baker Room.
Not only the medical history of Warhol will be discussed, but we’ll see a number of images of Warhol’s art. Dr. Ryan “got a push in that direction from his brother-in-law Hal Foster, a distinguished scholar who writes on Pop Art.”