In 1894, a young man by the name of Max Brödel came from his home of Leipzig Germany to work alongside prominent surgeons at the new Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Experienced in drawing human anatomy, Brödel was tasked with helping the surgeons at Hopkins explain surgical procedures via precise, meticulously detailed illustrations intended for publication. 

Today, surgical iIlustration remains a vital niche area of practice within the field of medical illustration where artists create visually rich, stimulating imagery of surgical techniques for a variety of publication outlets including textbooks, journal articles, online use, patient education materials, and more. Medical illustrators now employ a variety of contemporary techniques in addition to those perfected by Max Brödel.

Traditional tools such as graphite, pen and ink, and colored pencil are used by many to establish the initial view and quality line work while digital software tools such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and 3D modeling and rendering tools are used to add in important color and textural information. Training in audience targeting and visual communication further enhance the medical illustrator’s ability to deliver quality visual imagery tailor–made for the intended audience.

The Cutting Edge: Contemporary Surgical Illustration is a celebration of surgical illustration showcasing the works of talented Colorado–based medical illustrators as well as a special guest artist Corinne Sandone, the current Director of the Johns Hopkins Graduate Program in Art as Applied to Medicine​.

• Image, right: "Esophagectomy" by Corinne Sandone 
• Co-curated by Travis Vermilye, Assistant Professor, Visual Arts, College of Arts & Media, University of Colorado Denver and Simon Zalkind, Independent Curator and Art Consultant
• Denver Post review "A Denver Art Exhibit Meant to Get Under Your Skin" by Ray Mark Rinaldi
• UCH Insider article "The Cutting Edge Offers Arresting Body of Works" by Tyler Smith