Dora Vallier (1921–1997)

Dora Vallier was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. She studied Byzantine art and earned a doctorate at the University of Padua. In 1950, she settled in Paris, where she began her career as an art historian and critic.
She went to work for the art and literary journal Cahiers d'art, through which she met Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, and many other modern artists.

She studied the works of Serge Poliakoff, Jacques Villon, and in particular Henri Rousseau, of whom she became a world-recognized specialist. She edited the 1963 Flammarion edition of monographs devoted to Rousseau.
In 1967, she published L'Art Abstrait, a book that traced the history of Abstract art in painting and sculpture. Subsequent works highlighted the importance of Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevitch, and offered readers illustrated introductions to 20th century art.

In 2013, her work was presented as part of an exhibition at the Zervos museum in Vézelay.

A 2013-2014 exhibition at the Musée d'art moderne in Paris dedicated to Serge Poliakoff highlighted Dora Vallier's studies of the painter. She also oversaw many catalogues and wrote or collaborated on articles and reviews in publications such as L'Œil, XXe siècle, and Arts News.