J. J. Grandville

Born Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard in Nancy in 1803, he worked under the name J. J. Grandville and became one of France's most distinctive illustrators and caricaturists. Early in his career he gained attention for sharp political and social satire, especially images that gave human bodies animal heads or twisted familiar scenes into comic, unsettling visions.

His books and prints include Les Métamorphoses du jour, Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, and the fantastical Un autre monde. He also illustrated writers such as La Fontaine, Swift, Defoe, and Cervantes, bringing a restless imagination to fables, travel tales, and comic literature.

Although he died in 1847, Grandville's art kept finding new admirers. Later critics and historians have often seen him as a precursor to surrealism because of the way his images mix satire, dream logic, and visual invention.