He received his instructions in art from his father Victor Casimir Zier [fr] and later became a pupil of the painter Jean-Léon Gérôme.

[2][3] Charles VI et Odette appeared at the 1880 Salon;[4] these two paintings and also Esther (1883) were purchased by the French State.

[2][5] His Julia (Julie, 1875) on a Roman theme was shown at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition and was awarded a gold medal.

Two of the adventures of the comic book series Bécassine (1917 and 1918) were illustrated by Zier while the original artist Joseph-Porphyre Pinchon served in World War I.

[7][8] A number of published books were illustrated by him, such as The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas,[6][9] Aphrodite by Pierre Louÿs,[2][10] Le Roman comique by Scarron,[2] La cantiniére du XIIIe siècle by Georges Le Faure,[10] Les Trésors de la fable by Auguste Louvet [fr], Voyages et aventures du Capitaine Marius Cougourdan by Eugène Mouton,[11] Seulette and Le Trésor de Madeleine by Pierre Maël [fr],[11] A l'abordage by Henry de Brisay [fr],[12] Papillonne by Zénaïde Fleuriot.