@ARTICLE{10.21494/ISTE.OP.2024.1111, 

TITLE={Édouard Chatton, a scientist close to art}, 
  
AUTHOR={Catherine Jessus
, Marcelino Suzuki
, Vincent Laudet, }, 
	
JOURNAL={Art and Science}, 
	
VOLUME={8}, 

NUMBER={Special issue}, 
	
YEAR={2024}, 

URL={https://openscience.fr/Edouard-Chatton-a-scientist-close-to-art}, 
	
DOI={10.21494/ISTE.OP.2024.1111}, 
	
ISSN={2515-8767}, 
	
ABSTRACT={Édouard Chatton (1883-1947) was a major biologist of the first half of the 20th century, who devoted his life to the study of the microscopic organisms that live in all waters of the planet, the protists. Initially a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, he became a professor at the universities of Strasbourg, Montpellier and the Sorbonne. He directed the marine stations at Sète and Banyuls-sur-Mer. His discoveries laid the foundations for modern cell biology, and he conceptualized the distinction between prokaryotes and eukaryotes in the living world. His scientific drawings reveal his remarkable talent as a draftsman and colorist. Édouard Chatton was also an amateur painter, mastering oil paint, watercolor and pastel. Did the painter’s artistic eye influence the scientific illustrations produced by the researcher? Did the scientific objects of the biologist influence the painter’s aesthetic approach? If the two types of practice - scientific drawings and paintings by the amateur painter - do not seem to interpenetrate, there is a third type of production that leaves room for questioning. These are large cardboard sheets covered with drawings, used to illustrate Édouard Chatton’s amphitheater lectures. These harmonious, surprisingly colored boards, filled with undulating, strange and enigmatic shapes, are charged with marvelous beauty and exude an immediate aesthetic seduction. Discovering them is an original opportunity to tackle the question of the convergence between art and science.}}