Illness Makes Surgeon Into Artist - At the opening of the exhibition today Left to right: Miss Christine Foyle, Sir Harold Gillies, surgeon and artist with Viscount Portal, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, looking at some of the paintings. Sir Harold Gillies the well-known plastic surgeon hold the first exhibition of his paintings at Foyles, Charing Cross Road.He first taught himself to paint in 1932 when Illness kept him to his bed and now at 65 he is a member of the, Royal Institute of Oil painters and always try to encourage his patients to paint, too.Most of his pictures have been painted while on fishing trips to Ireland, Norway and Ireland. January 14, 1948. (Photo by Barratt's Photo Press Ltd.).