He is credited with being a major supporter and champion of the contemporary artists of his period, providing exposure and emotional support to numerous then-unknown artists, including Paul Cézanne,[1] Aristide Maillol, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Louis Valtat, Pablo Picasso,[1] André Derain, Georges Rouault, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent van Gogh.

After his matura (final exams) in La Réunion, he went to study jurisprudence in France from 1885, for a while in Montpellier, then at the École de droit in Paris, where he received his degree in 1888.

[3] This was followed by exhibitions of Manet, Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh (4 – 30 June 1895); for Gabriel Mourey, French correspondent of The Studio in Paris, this was simply a matter of "Scylla and Charybdis".

He was also concerned about the quality of the productions, always trying to have the best materials and the best technicians: for lithography he relied especially on Blanchard, for woodcuts on Tony Beltrand [fr; es] and for etchings and engravings on Louis Fort.

The following year he published L'Album des peintres-graveurs, in which artists such as Albert Besnard, Jacques Émile Blanche, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Henri Fantin-Latour, Armand Guillaumin, Hermann-Paul, Edvard Munch, Odilon Redon, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, József Rippl-Rónai, Théo van Rysselberghe, Jan Toorop, Félix Vallotton and Édouard Vuillard.

Made in lithography, for the next edition he opted for the woodcut, more appreciated by collectors: Imitation of Christ, illustrated by Maurice Denis, was a sales success.

[9] The Miserere (1916-1927) is one of the most original and creative series of prints of the early 20th century, in which the artist combined different techniques: the drawing was transferred to copper plates by means of heliogravure, on which Rouault worked with acid and etching tools, achieving unique tones and values in the history of engraving.

It is a set of one hundred prints—most of them etchings and some drypoint—of diverse subject matter, divided into several sequences; the largest (about forty) revolve around the theme The sculptor's workshop, centered on the relationship between a sculptor, his model and his work, an autobiographical reference in which the model is Marie-Thérèse Walter, his partner at the time; another group revolves around the theme of The Rape, while there are several dedicated to the figure of The Minotaur, among which stands out Blind Minotaur in the Dark, considered one of the best of the series; there are also three portraits of Vollard.

[13] With war approaching, Vollard set out in July 1939 from his cottage in Le Tremblay-sur-Mauldre to travel to his mansion on the Rue de Martignac [fr], where he had stored 10,000 artworks.

[3] After his death, Vollard's executor was fellow dealer Martin Fabiani [fr], who was instructed to divide his collection between his heirs: Madelaine de Galea, an alleged mistress; and his brother Lucien.

[3] Due to the Nazi invasion of France, which started on 10 May 1940, Fabiani hurriedly shipped 560 paintings to Étienne Bignou's art gallery on 57th Street in New York City in the United States, where prices were likely higher.

The paintings left on the SS Excalibur from Lisbon, Portugal on 25 September 1940, but the ship was intercepted by the Royal Navy and H. Montgomery Hyde in Bermuda on 3 October.

[16] Post-war, on 19 April 1949, the London prize court agreed to the release of the pieces to Fabiani, who returned the works to Vollard's sisters.

Šlomović had amassed a collection of about 600 works, most of them prints or drawings, with a few important oil paintings, by a combination of exchange, gift, purchase, and donation.

Vollard had put him in direct contact with the most prominent artists of the day and often asked him to act as agent for art selling or purchasing purposes.

A legal battle is currently (2014) underway to determine the ownership of the Belgrade collection, including the Šlomović heirs, the Vollard beneficiaries, and the Serbian government.