Dame Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra DSG celebrates the creativity and artistic achievements of Sir Roy Calne.
Combinations of dedicated talents often create remarkable results, as the medical and art practises of Sir Roy Calne (1930 – 2024) amplify. Roy revelled in his art practise and through its wide reach, brought learnings, both technical and relational, that fortified connections to people and places.
My friendship with Roy developed through a mutual understanding and passion for Art. Although he had been a Fellow of Trinity Hall, my Cambridge college, for many decades, we met for the first time only years after I left Cambridge. It was in Malaysia that we then connected, when he headed a College visit there in 1998. I had by that year effectively transitioned from Wall Street lawyer to cultural entrepreneur. We both understood the rainbow of learnings that art and culture can teach, including about country and community. Roy and I were kindred spirits in this realm of discovery, and we worked together on five exhibitions over a span of two decades, all of which brought focus on him as an artist.
Roy’s interest in painting began in his childhood, but it was the encounter with famed Scottish artist, John Bellany, that really advanced and mined his talent. Bellany was one of Calne’s transplant patients, and through that intimate relationship of ‘saving’ and care, he became an artistic mentor to Calne. They often painted together for the 6 weeks during his recovery in hospital. This close friendship continued until Bellany’s passing.
After that intersection of brushes, we see a vivid confidence growing in Calne’s use of colour and strokes. The significance of his aesthetic encounter with Bellany went far beyond the original dynamic of guidance. The vividness that came from their friendship helped to build Calne’s own stylistic confidence. We see a stronger sense of joy in the process of creating.
Calne painted gardens (his own being quite beautiful and offering source material), portraits of patients, landscapes and more. He painted wherever he went, and he went everywhere. He painted to connect to people. He painted to see more clearly and creatively. Roy was adept with oils and acrylics but better with watercolour and paper. He later ventured into sculpting and produced some fascinating pieces, including of dancers, footballers and trapeze artists. He would take up what caught his fancy and work with it until he had somehow resolved its depiction to his satisfaction. He wrote: “I have found that what I learn from sculpture can facilitate drawing and painting and the reverse is also true.” His last project involved digital drawing on his computer, inspired by David Hockney, and we produced a limited edition of prints. “Life is short, but the art is long,” and though Socrates here was speaking about the art of curing being long, Roy was familiar with both – the art of curing and the art of creating.
Roy Calne nurtured qualities of curiosity, celebration and fierce determination. He informed his greatness with constant self -challenge and big doses of humility. Roy was ever ready to take on quality critique of his work. He was truly delighted to be appreciated as an Artist. In this way, Calne’s contribution to medicine and art, should be seen as powerful inter-disciplinary constructs that informed and inspired not only Calne, but also the medical and other communities he engaged with.
Roy Calne leaves a legacy of many creative accolades: transplantation and cyclosporin; research and physical restoration; and so many memories of beauty and inspiration that live on through his works.