Skin diseases and visual arts

Background: in recent years, the medical problems of artists (especially dancers and musicians) have been the subject of research. Notwithstanding, very few data about dermatoses of visual artists are available. Objectives: evaluating the frequency and clinical characteristics of skin diseases in visual artists. Materials and methods: at the Accademia di Belle Arti (School of Arts) in Naples, Italy, a specific questionnaire was administered to students and teachers. Those who reported skin rashes of any kind were clinically evaluated. Results: 231 subjects (84 males, 147 females) aged between 19 and 41 years (mean age 22.5 years) devoted to various artistic activities answered the questionnaire. The largest category was that of the designers represented (36.4%), followed by painters (20.8%). Previous or current dermatoses were found in 120/231 (51.9%) of the subjects. The most frequent pathology was found to be actual chronic hand dermatitis which was diagnosed in 38/120 (31.7%) subjects. The clinical pattern was xerotic and desquamative dermatitis in 32/38 (84.2%), while in 6/38 (15.8%) it was vesicular. Patch testing revealed contact sensitization in two painters with hand dermatitis; they reacted respectively to epoxy resin and to formaldehyde, occupationally relevant allergens. Conclusions: our data seem to indicate that hand dermatitis is a not uncommon occurrence in visual artists and apparently correlated with the profession.