Biochemistry 1939 Addition

John Steuart Curry Mural
The Social Benefits of Biochemical Research

The campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison has a long history of collaborative work that led to vitamin discoveries and applications. In 1936, the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Chris Christiansen, appointed the American regionalist painter John Steuart Curry as Artist in Residence. Curry chose many of the scientific successes during the early part of the 20th century as material for his canvases. In addition to his many works extolling the successes of US agriculture and the relationship between these successes and the land grant institutions, Curry?s famous 1942 mural on an interior wall in the Biochemistry building, The Social Benefits of Biochemical Research, depicted the power of these institutions in solving basic agricultural and human nutrition problems through research.

In this mural, white-coated scientists are shown leading children with rickets and other nutritional deficiencies from a darkened farmstead into the light of day, improving their health through the kind of research that has characterized the successful land grant institutions. The mural depicts the challenges pioneer farmers faced in raising livestock, as well as the appearance of nutritional disorders in humans that could not be described until the early part of the 20th century. Curry?s work is a powerful testament to the interdisciplinary nature of research at the land grant institutions and the solution of many basic problems in human and animal nutrition. Curry articulated a view that science offers a unique opportunity for healing agricultural woes, and the vitamin discoveries were an ideal framework for this artistic expression.

The mural description above was taken from Forgotten and Future Vegetable Phytoceuticals by I.L. Goldman. For more information click here.