SUPERB ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR - by MAURICE MILLIÈRE (1871-1946) size with its period frame under glass 51x60 cm Period: 1920s Here is a beautiful original drawing made in watercolor and charcoal on paper by the artist Maurice Millière. It represents the portrait of a young woman. This is indeed an original drawing. The work is signed in the lower part and dates from the 1920s. Very beautiful work that comes from a castle. Maurice Millière, born in Le Havre on December 12, 1871 and died in Yport on April 5, 1946, is a French painter, illustrator and lithographer. He is one of the inventors of the "little woman of Millière, a smiling Parisian". Maurice Millière was born in Le Havre in 1871. He came from a working-class background in Le Havre; his father was a salesman for a merchant. Millière began by studying painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre. He was in Paris from 1889 and entered the Arts Décoratifs and also attended some of the Beaux-Arts workshops in Paris. His first notable graphic works were posters and scores for, among others, the Le Boulch company and Le Divan Japonais (1899). From 1917 onwards, he published large quantities of representations of women in skimpy attire: first in Fantasio (1917), then Bagatelles, La Vie parisienne, Le Frou-frou, Le Sourire, le Gai-Paris, etc. At the end of 1920, he joined the République de Montmartre, a charitable association. Contemporary with those of Louis Icart, his "little women" were to enjoy great success outside of France: during the 1920s, American periodicals reprinted his creations, as well as those of Suzanne Meunier or Georges Léonnec, other designers of female figures, associated at the time with "Gai Paris", in other words with the Montmartre district and its many cabarets. Millière's little women were a source of inspiration for Alberto Vargas and Enoch Bolles, precursors of the "pin-up style". These women were also depicted on postcards, posters, menus, etc. Part of this production, certainly erotic, was devoted to much more daring representations and therefore marketed discreetly: these were watercolors depicting dominant women, indulging in flagellation, which were successful in England. He stayed in the Antilles where he drew and painted pictures, notably of West Indian women. Several of these works were exhibited at the salons of the National Society of French Artists and the Colonial Society of French Artists. He illustrated a book that appeared in 1929 Madinina "Queen of the Antilles": study of Martinican customs. In August 1930, he was named knight of the Legion of Honor with the colonial title. The following year, he exhibited his paintings at the Salon des artistes français, and his drawings at the Salon des humoristes. He had opened a painting and drawing course in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He died on April 5, 1946 in Yport. Carefully sent by colissimo, superb, very decorative piece in perfect condition. Dimensions: 51cm x 60 cm. (20'' x 23.6'') Type:Watercolor Artistic movement:French school Genre:Impressionism Characteristics:Framed, Signed Theme:Character