An illustration by Frank Netter done for the Ciba Company during the 1930s. Dr. Frank Netter was a surgeon during the great depression, though as a child growing up in Manhattan, he aspired to be an artist. As it turns out, Netter became both a great artist as well as a doctor and selling his artwork to his professors helped pay for his college education at New York University and two different prestigious art schools. Netter would open a private practice in New York, but the devastating financial effects of the Great Depression didn’t bode well when it came to his patient’s ability to pay for his services. Netter continued to sell his illustrations and paintings until one of his customers paid him $7,500 for a series of five pictures to be used in an advertising campaign. Netter had originally priced the entire series at $1,500, but for whatever reason, his client didn’t blink at the high price tag which for the time, was considerable. Netter quit the medical game in 1934 and became a full-time artist specializing in medical illustrations at the age of 28. Netter’s best clients were pharmaceutical companies which used his work prolifically during the 193…
