Jean-Gabriel DOMERGUE is a French painter often described as “the inventor of the pin-up girl” because of his portraits of 1920s Parisian women with big eyes and slender necks. Born March 4, 1889 in Bordeaux, he studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. At the age of 17, he exhibited works at the Salon des Artistes Français and, in 1920, he received the prestigious Prix de Rome. Although he began his career as a landscape painter, from the 1920s he devoted himself entirely to portraits of women, painting up to 3,000 works throughout his life. He was a sought-after portrait painter in aristocratic circles and also worked as a designer for famous couturiers including Paul Poiret and Henry Marque. In 1955, Domergue was appointed curator of the Jacquemart-André museum in Paris, then was made Knight of the Legion of Honor and member of the Academy of Fine Arts. He died on November 16, 1962 in Paris.