Dubbed the “Audubon of moths” for his prolific paintings of the Great Saturniid’s, John Cody is a true renaissance man. Prior to practicing psychiatry for 30 years, he trained under Ranice Crosby in 1950 as a medical illustrator in the Johns Hopkins Department of Art as Applied to Medicine. While he did not practice as a medical illustrator, his training at Hopkins continues to impact his paintings of the Saturniid moths in which John strives to show the beauty of all living creatures.
Dr. Cody and his daughter Loren Shaiken have donated fifteen of these magnificent paintings to the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine. They are currently on display in the new Wilmer Ophthalmology Robert H. and Clarice Smith Building on the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus.
Dr. Cody and his three children, Loren, Andrea, and Graham, have donated his paintings to three separate institutions: The Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland; The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, PA; and The Sternberg Museum of the Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS.
Dr. Cody is also the author of four biographies including After Great Pain: The Inner Life of Emily Dickinson; The Life and Times of Wagner; Max Brödel: The Man Who Put Art in Medicine (co-authored with Ranice Crosby); and Ranice W. Crosby: A Tribute to Fifty Years of Teaching.
For more information and to see more of the paintings click here.