Biography of Milliet

Paul-Eugène Milliet was the son of a military policeman and lived most of his life as a soldier. Milliet grew up in army barracks and his military career had been progressing well by the time he was temporarily stationed in Arles in 1888. Milliet's regiment had just returned from Tonkin (then French Indochina, now the region around the Gulf of China in Vietnam). During that campaign Milliet had contracted an illness and looked forward to convalescing in the south of France.

In August Milliet made a brief journey to Paris and was entrusted with thirty six of Vincent's studies to give to the artist's brother, Theo. He stayed in Arles for the rest of the summer and into early autumn, finally leaving around 1 November for Algeria. In the years to follow Milliet had a distinguished career in the military, serving in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and during the First World War. He retired with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and had received the decoration of Commander of the Légion d'Honneur.

In 1930 a writer, Pierre Weiller, was looking for a new apartment in Paris and went to meet with his prospective landlady. Upon arrival Weiller was met by the landlady's husband, none other than Paul-Eugène Milliet, by then retired from the military. Weiller quickly recognized Milliet and interviewed him about his acquaintance with Vincent van Gogh. He later wrote an article "We've Tracked Down Van Gogh's Zouave" based on that interview.¹

Milliet died in Paris during the German occupation of World War II.

The Zouaves

The Zouaves were a group of light infantry personnel in the French army. The Zouave soldiers were mainly from Algeria and, though European, their uniforms showed arabesque influences. In addition to his portrait of Milliet, Vincent van Gogh would depict another Zouave in five other works:

• The Seated Zouave
• The Zouave (Half Length)
• The Zouave (Half Length)
• Zouave Sitting, Whole Figure
• Zouave, Half-Figure

Interestingly, there was an American offshoot of the Zouaves that few know about today. During the American Civil War, regiments on both sides often chose special names and uniforms for themselves. On the Union side there were a number of regiments that modeled themselves after France's Zouaves. They wore short blue jackets, yellow shirts and red pantaloons and were often seen in battle around 1861. By 1863, however, the American Zouave regiments became more uncommon.

Relationship with Van Gogh

Paul-Eugène Milliet was atypical of many who chose a life long career in the military. Milliet had a keen interest in art and was enthusiastic about painting and drawing. It was only natural that he and Van Gogh would gravitate toward one another in Arles. Van Gogh wrote to Emile Bernard: