You are hereHome › College of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities (CASSH) › Department of Art and Design › Larson, Barbara › Odilon Redon and the Pasteurian revolution Style APAChicagoHarvardIEEEMLATurabian Choose the citation style. Larson, B. (2004). Odilon Redon and the Pasteurian revolution: Health, illness, and le monde invisible. Science in Context, 17(4), 503-524. doi:10.1017 /S0269889704000249 Odilon Redon and the Pasteurian revolution Details Type Academic Journal Article Title Odilon Redon and the Pasteurian revolution: Health, illness, and le monde invisible Contributor(s) Larson, Barbara (author) Located In Science in context ISSN 0269-8897 Volume 17 Issue 4 Start Page 503 End Page 524 Date 2004 DOI 10.1017 /S0269889704000249 Abstract Odilon Redon's dark-spirited charcoals and lithographs of the last quarter of the nineteenth century responded to developments in science, including the Pasteurian revolution. Rather than celebrating the progressive potential of science, Redon's noirs engaged national anxieties that attended scientific advances. His position was close to the Decadents of the 1880s who dwelled on themes of illness and decay While the artist's original biographer Andre Mellerio referred to the artist's fascination with Pasteur and his microbial world, where in a single drop of water "there arises the spectacle of giants of a gripping horror and a frightfol, predatory nature," the topic has virtually disappeared from Redon literature. By recovering the scientific/medical issues that stimulated Redon's creation, this article restores the subjects of pathogenic organisms and contagious illness to their rightful place in Redon's oeuvre. Further, it provides the reader with a discussion of the cultural context in which Redon's interest was generated. Subject(s) Odilon RedonPasteurian Revolution PID uwf:22981