“The Doctor” print donated to VMH by Schaller family from former Waukon artist Les PurDue

The Schaller family of Waukon recently donated a painting entitled “The Doctor” to Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, according to the wishes of the late artist, Les PurDue, formerly of Waukon.

PurDue painted this replica in 1970 when he lived in Waukon, working at Northern Engraving. His wife, Kay, was an RN at Veterans Memorial Hospital. When the PurDues moved away from Waukon a few years later, he gave this original painting to his friends, Chuck and Meg Schaller, to enjoy and eventually give to Veterans Memorial Hospital one day.

The Schaller family enjoyed this replica of the very renowned painting for many years. They recently had it reframed and donated it to Veterans Memorial Hospital, as PurDue had requested many years earlier.

PurDue’s replica is of the famous, original 1891 painting of “The Doctor” in Great Britain, by artist Luke Fildes. It depicts a Victorian doctor observing the critical stage in a child’s illness while the parents gaze on helplessly from the periphery. The painting has been used to portray the values of the ideal physician and the importance of the relationship between physician and patient, showing the physician’s professional and personal commitment.

According to the National Library of Medicine and the British Journal of General Practice, the main focus of the painting is the worried but sympathetic physician and the sick child. Everything else is in the shadows. The child had experienced a ‘crisis’, the critical stage of a potentially life-threatening illness. The ‘dawn’ light through the window represents recovery and hope as the child survived the night. The concentrated focus of the doctor on the child shows the patient as a person and individual and the doctor as a compassionate care giver with empathy for the patient’s suffering. The Journal states, “This work is considered one of the most famous depictions of the practice of medicine and has been described as ‘iconic’.”

Sir Luke Fildes (1843–1927) was a well-known Victorian painter of the social realist movement and provided the illustrations for Dickens’ last novel “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” (1870). In 1947, the original print was reproduced on a United States postage stamp for the centenary of the American Medical Association.

The picture received much praise from contemporary critics and was received positively by this doctor writing in the British Medical Journal in 1892:  “What do we not owe to Mr. Fildes for showing the world the typical doctor, as we would like to be shown - an honest man and a gentleman, doing his best to relieve suffering? A library of books in our honour would not do what this picture has done and will do for the medical profession in making the hearts of our fellow man warm to us with confidence and affection.”

In addition to painting, Les PurDue enjoyed fishing the trout streams of Allamakee County, which he returned to do many times after moving from the area.  He passed away in 2020, but was still having art shows nearly up through his final years.

Purdue’s replica of “the Doctor” is currently on display in the Meditation and Healing Center inside the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Hospital, for anyone who would like to view it in person.