Born in September 11, 1881 from a family of musicians Jacques Lehmann (known as Jacques Nam) is a French sculptor, engraver, draftsman and lacquerer. His initiation to art took place in his early childhood when, already fascinated by animals, Jacques trained by drawing his parents' cats. This mischievous-eyed feline will become the fruit of its reputation.
Student at the Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1898 in Gérôme's studio, he was encouraged to draw animals by him. Jacques likes to complete his animal studies by getting lost in the zoological garden of Antwerp. He became fascinated by wild animals, birds and reptiles and began to learn the technique of Indian ink.
It was in 1900 that he began his career as an illustrator and caricaturist under the pen name of Jacques Nam, publishing cartoons in reviews such as: Nos Loisirs; Le Rire ; Le Sourire ; La Vie Parisienne and illustrating political life in Le Figaro; L'Echo or La Liberté. Mobilized and then assigned to the camouflage section during World war I, he made sketches that are seenable today on display at the Musée des Deux Guerres in Paris. The man makeit out alive and continues to develop his career as an illustrator. So much so that in 1926 he illustrated Le Chat dans la Littérature et les Arts , a work by Jacqueline Conan Fallex. In 1929 the artist illustrated a poem by Colette, Sept Dialogues de Bêtes , then a second in 1935, illustrating the poem Chats . During this second association a limited series of 380 etchings is published. From this collaboration was born a strong friendship between the woman of letters and the illustrator.
Nam continues his career by frequenting many men of letters such as Jean Cocteau with whom he shared his passion for cats, Paul Léautaud or Guy de Maupassant. The Grammont prize rewarding a favor for animals was awarded to him in 1970 and in 1971 he exhibited in London with the painter and engraver Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, especially known for Le Chat Noir de Paris.
After living a quiet life punctuated by encounters and felines Jacques Lehmann, from his pen name Jacques Nam, passed away in his studio Niccolo street in Paris in 1974.
