~J.J. Grandville

.

J. J. Grandville (3 September 1803, Nancy 
† 17 March 1847, Vanves, lângă Paris),
was the pseudonym
of  French caricaturist and illustrator
Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard. His early carreer
consisted of regular contributions of highly
satirical political caricatures for a series of
Parisian periodicals. He garnered a great deal
of popularity for this work but following the
reintroduction of censorship of caricatures in
France in 1835, he pursued a notable career as
a book illustrator. He illustrated a number of
standard works gaining a reputation as the premier
illustrator of works such as Gullivers Travels
and Robinson Crusoe. His fantastical ilustrations
featured a wonderful variety of inanimate objects
brought to life, mixed up animal creatures
(which he refered to as Metamorphoses),
crazy characters and an imaginative creativity that
predated and influenced the school of Surrealism.
.

. . . .

It is the far reaching influence of his work which
is of most interest. He influenced not only the
surrealists as mentioned above but also political
cartoonists, comic book illustrators and  fantasy artists.
His work is known to have influenced not only the
illustrator of the Alice in Wonderland tales John Tenniel
but their author Lewis Carrol. Look closely at his
work and you may also see something of his influence
in the animated films of Walt Disney.
.. . .
http://loverforbooks.blogspot.com/
2010/03/jean-jacques-grandville.html
..
There are 175 of Grandville’s illustrations available
online at the wonderful Visipix site HERE.