Crafty, real name Victor Eugène Géruzez ((1840-05-24)24 May 1840 in Paris – (1906-05-26)26 May 1906 in Saint-Martin-de-Nigelles[1]) was a French comic writer and illustrator, specialising in books about horses and hunting on horseback.
Biography
He was the son of Nicolas Eugène Géruzez and Désirée-Antoinette Sales. He was married on 7 March 1874 in Paris, to Louise Marguerite Gabrielle Vavin, the daughter of Alexis Vavin. They had two children, Claire Hélène and Jean Pierre Eugène.
His drawings were first published in Le Centaure, a review established by Léon Crémière, who also published his first two books, Snob à Paris and Snob à l'exposition ("Snob at the Paris Exposition").
He was a contributor to several reviews, newspapers and periodicals including Le Journal Amusant, La Vie Parisienne, L'Éclipse, Graphic, L’Esprit Follet, and Le Journal Pour Rire.
He provided many of the illustrations for Les Chats by Champfleury (1870) and Enfants by Alphonse Daudet (1873). He also illustrated a book by his brother Paul.[2]
Anciens et nouveaux sports. Paris sportif, texte et dessins par Crafty [Sports Ancient and Modern. Sporting Paris] (in French). Paris: Librairie Plon, E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie. 1896.
le Comte de Comminges, Captain of the 15th Horse (1901). Dressage et menage [Dressage and maintenance] (in French). Paris: Plon-Nourrit et Cie.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Illustrated by Crafty.
^Geruzez, Paul (1895). À pied, à cheval, en voiture [By Foot, By Horse, By Car] (in French). Calmann Lévy.
^Ballereau, Jean-François (2010). Dictionnaire encyclopédique du cheval [Encyclopaedia of Horses] (in French). Belin.
Sources
Schurr, Gérard (1989). Les Petits Maîtres de la peinture 1820–1920 : valeur de demain [Minor masters of painting 1820–1920: Tomorrow's value] (in French). Vol. VII. Paris: Les Éditions de l'Amateur.
Bénézit (1999). Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs [Critical and Reference Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, Artists and Engravers] (in French). Paris: GRÜND.