Frédéric Auguste Cazals (1865–1941), French, A French illustrator, caricaturist, and painter, this artist captured the bohemian spirit of late 19th and early 20th-century Paris with wit and a keen eye for social satire. Though less celebrated than contemporaries like Toulouse-Lautrec, his work thrived in the vibrant underground of Montmartre, where cabarets and literary circles fueled his sharp, often irreverent style. Best known for his caricatures, he depicted writers, actors, and politicians with exaggerated flair, blending grotesque humor with an underlying warmth. His illustrations for avant-garde journals and books—particularly those of Symbolist poets—reveal a delicate balance between mischief and reverence for his subjects.
Beyond satire, he experimented with etching and watercolor, crafting dreamlike scenes that hinted at Decadent and Art Nouveau influences. Financial struggles and shifting tastes relegated him to the margins of art history, but his legacy persists in the energy of his linework and his unflinching portrayal of Parisian life. Friends with figures like Verlaine and Mallarmé, he was as much a chronicler as a participant in the era’s creative chaos. Today, his work offers a wry, unsentimental window into a world of absinthe, ink, and endless reinvention.