Elie Miller-ranson (1907-1989) "african Landscape" 49.5x60.5cm Oil On Panel

It was in Mornac-sur-Seudre (Charente-Maritime) that Elie Miller-Ranson was born on May 3, 1907. Very young, at the age of six, he began to paint. At ten, he took lessons from several teachers - Charles ESCUDIER (Paris, 1848), Paul RICHER (Chartres 1849 - 1933) and more particularly Jean LECROART Belgian artist. He presented works for the first time at the age of thirteen at the Salon des Arts in Royan, where he received critical acclaim. From the age of 16 to 19, he continued his artistic studies by going to the National School of Fine Arts in Paris and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He was then appointed professor of drawing in Saint-Louis-du-Sénégal in 1925. Seduced by the beauty of African landscapes, he devoted part of his work to translating the atmosphere of these regions and rendering their color and poetry. He soon abandoned the profession and began long treks in what was then French West Africa. It was in Dakar that he did his military service in 1927. He escaped the raging yellow fever epidemic. There he decorates the offices of the State Malor, the Hotel of the Brigade General, the Hotel of the general commanding the troops of French West Africa. He is encouraged by the compliments of his superiors. He decides to create and organize in 1928 - 1929, with friends, the society of Friends of the Arts of Dakar. He was appointed and renamed General Commissioner each year until 1939. He himself encouraged painters and created an annual collective exhibition. He did not limit his production to expressing the love he had for the generous nature of colonial countries. . He also produced many portraits and in particular of official personalities, for example: that of General BREVIE - Governor of Côte d'Ivoire JF former head of Public Works of Côte d'Ivoire and a bust, also in bronze, of Me Thérèse NARS which adorns a square in Dakar. He receives other official orders which he carries out during numerous trips. He was charged with the decoration of several palaces, those of the government of the Congo, in Sudan, in Abidjan where he remained for a year and a half and decorated the war memorial there. Several private exhibitions are also dedicated to him in Abidjan. Twenty-two years old in 1929, he is received at the Salon of French Artists of which he will remain a permanent member. He will also be a member of the Société des Beaux-Arts de la France d'Outre-mer.Two years later, in 1931, he was received out of competition at the colonial exhibition in Paris and in 1937, he won the General Government of French West Africa. The same year he exhibited at the Dakar Chamber of Commerce. Thirsty for discoveries and travels, he left the African continent to make a trip to South America where he was received in Rio de Janeiro by the French ambassador, the Marquis d 'Ormesson who commissioned two paintings from him. He exhibited in Sao Paulo, Santos, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Back in Africa he arrived in Morocco in 1940, to settle there permanently after the war. He then presented numerous personal exhibitions, particularly in Casablanca at the Hôtel Majestic gallery and at the Venise Cadre gallery where he exhibited regularly twice a year and also in many other galleries. He also exhibited in Marrakech, Rabat, Kenitra (ex Port Lyautey), Agadir, Fez, Meknes... He was then best known and appreciated for his flower paintings. His talent, his extreme sensitivity made him become a specialist in flowers, like the painter Pierre REDOUTE ST. HUBERT (Belgium, 1759 - Paris, 1840) painter of roses. His bouquets with splendid and dazzling colors of striking realism earned him great success, renewed at each exhibition. In France, he participated in several events where he obtained several distinctions. He received the first prize in West Africa in 1938. 1964 he was appointed Commander of the French Overseas Merit and of the Sovereign, Malagasy, African and Asian French-speaking States and their friends. He was appointed Officer of the National Overseas Merit on July 14, 1965, the same year won the Berthe Morisot prize and in 1968 the Goya prize at the Castres museum. In 1973, he received the Grand Prix des Fleurs at the Paris Salon, in 1975 the medal of the City of Paris and in 1984 the Grand Aquitaine to Mauléon as well as a silver medal from the City of Bordeaux by Jacques CHABAN DELMAS, Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux. He died on May 21, 1989 in Casablanca. Many artists such as Étienne DINET (Paris, 1861 - Bou Saada , 1929) - Hippolyte Lazerges (Narbonne, 1817 - Mustapha, 1887) - Georges Rochegrosse (Versailles, 1859 - Algiers, 1938), were so impressed by Africa that they decided, like Elie MILLER-RANSON, to settle there permanently .