Dr George Edelstyn: Portrait of a pioneer in cancer research and treatment

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting my portrait of Dr George Edelstyn to Action Cancer, as well as the children and grandchildren of Dr Edelstyn, who had travelled from England to be there.

Action Cancer have recently moved premises, into a fantastic facility providing more services for those who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families. Despite moving premises, the history of Action Cancer is something that the charity hold dear to them therefore they felt a portrait of their founder would be ideal for their new facility.

Dr George Edelstyn, an oncologist at Belvoir Park Hospital founded Action Cancer in 1973, with the purpose of funding research into chemotherapy as well as providing support to patients and their families during the treatment processes. Dr Edelstyn was the pioneer of combination cancer chemotherapy.

The feedback I received from his family, and the staff from Action Cancer was a very humbling experience.

When I was asked to create the painting, firstly I was honoured to have been considered and, secondly, after researching and reading about the work of Dr Edelstyn I felt privileged to be provided the opportunity to capture the work and life of such a great man in a portrait. Producing a piece of art based on someone you don’t know can often be a hard task but with the internet, various blogs and news pieces, with contribution by academics, I was provided with a great basis to help me understand his work which in turn I hope I have captured in recreating this portrait as a painting.

I would like to would like to thank Action Cancer for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the charity in this way, and also to extend my thanks to the Edelstyn family, who yesterday, were so warm and kind to myself, my work and my family who attended the unveiling.

 

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