Surgery by Dorothy Kay

Abstract

The oil-on-canvas painting, entitled Surgery, was painted by Eastern Cape artist, Dorothy Kay, in 1937 and donated to UCT by her daughters. The original, depicting a patient undergoing a cholecystectomy, hangs in the UCT department of surgery.^a The surgery depicted in the painting was performed by Dr Bruce Macrae, and assisted by Dr T Oates. The anaesthetist was Major “Pom” Moore-Dyke, who, in 1943, was instrumental in the foundation of SASA. In the completed work, the artist portrays members of her family. Her husband, Hobart (Dr WHA Kay, FRCS, Ireland) is clearly seen facing the viewer. The artist’s daughter, Patricia, poses as the nurse on the left, and the scrub sister on the right depicts the artist herself.¹