The following biographical materials are from the Askart.com website:

“Charles Levier aka Maurice Verrier (1920-2004)

Throughout the world are to be found his [sic] paintings in countless private and public collections by the highly successful French painter, Charles Levier. Among those who are collectors are Mr. And Mrs. Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Adlai Stevenson, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Prince and Princess Poniatoski, Mrs. Dan Topping, Mr. And Mrs. Dean Martin and many others.

He was born in 1920 of a French father and American mother in Corsica. He held a fascination with color and form that led him, at age seventeen, to the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs for private studies. World War II came along and Levier served in the French Army in North Africa, later becoming Liaison Officer with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services.

Coming to America, to live, he divided his time between the USA and France, preparing for his first one-man show, which took place at the Galerie Constantine, in Lyons in 1949, followed by an American debut in Los Angeles in 1950. The year 1955 found him exhibiting at the Galleries de Colisee in Paris and then returning to America where an old friend, Dr. Lilienfeld of Van-Diemen, Lilienfeld Gallery in New York City began to present his paintings.

Dr. Lilienfeld's taste was widely respected and his scholarship much reported since he had helped to compile and write biographies for the definitive are reference work in German, Thieme-Becker. His personal enthusiasm for and recommendation of Leviers work was instrumental in establishing him as a significant artist, and proved a most valuable introduction to innumerable collectors.

For over thirty years, Levier has enjoyed an important position with countless exhibitions around the world. E. Benezit, Dictionnaries des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, vol. 6, page 630, confirms Levier’s solid price structure by listing prices obtained for his works at public auction in New York City over thirty years ago (1961), at $900-$1,500.

He is represented in the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and the Menton Museum in Paris. In the USA, his work can be found in the permanent collection of the Atlanta Museum, the Seattle Museum, the Evansville Museum, the New Orleans Museum and the San Diego Museum. 

SOURCES:

Gregg Juarez, Director, Galerie Juarez, Palm Beach, Florida.”

The following data from Askart.com warrant the conclusion that presale estimates of $1,500-$3,000 are reasonable and justifiable.

Title/Subject: Rue Montmartre Signed. Acrylic on canvas. 29.88 in. x 24.02 in. sold for $3,319 on 06/15/2011-06/20/2011 at Galerie Fischer Auktionen AG, Lucerne, Switzerland

Title/Subject: Large Urban Painting Signed. Oil on canvas. 39.75 in. x 29.25 in. sold for $2,640 on 4/30/2011 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions, Beach, FL

Title/Subject: Bouquet Sauvage Signed. Oil on canvas. 24.49 in. x 20.24 in. sold for $3,224 on 02/08/2011 at Christie’s London

Title/Subject: Village Street Scene Signed. Oil on canvas. 22 in. x 30 in. sold for $3,050 on 01/16/2011 at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco

Title/Subject: Reims Signed. Oil on canvas. 25.63 in. x 32 in. sold for $4,400 on 01/08/2011-01/09/2011 at Brunk Auctions, Ashville, NC

Title/Subject: Still Life With Pitcher Signed. Oil on canvas. 29.50 in. x 23.50 in. sold for $1,600 on 11/13/2010-11/15/2010 at Ivey-Selkirk, St. Louis, MO

Title/Subject: La Mappe Rose (The Pink Map) Signed. Oil on canvas. 30.25 in. x 40.50 in. sold for $3,600 on 09/15/2007 at Rago Arts and Auction Center, Lambertville, NJ

Title/Subject: Still Life Signed. Oil on canvas. 24 in. x 30 in. sold for $1,755 on 03/23/2007 at Pook & Pook, Downington, PA

Title/Subject: The White Barn Signed. Oil on canvas. 20.50 in. x 25 in. sold for $1,849 on 08/22/2006-08/24/2006 at James D. Julia, Inc., Fairfield, ME

Title/Subject: Barque De Peche III Signed. Oil on canvas. 24 in. x 30 in. sold for $1,800 on 06/05/2002 at Alderfer Auction Company, Hatfield, PA