Camille Hilaire was born in Metz in 1916. He began painting and drawing at a very young age, visiting his local library where he copied works by Holbein. He moved to Paris where he studied at The School of Beaux-Arts and worked in Andre Lhote’s studio. He exhibited his work from 1942 at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon des Indépendants, and Les Peintres Témoins de Leur Temps.
Hilaire taught at Beaux-Arts in Nancy until 1958, when he was appointed professor of drawing at his almer mater in Paris.
Hilaire won many prizes in his lifetime, including the Second Prix de Rome, the Grand Prix de la Casa Velasquez, and the Prix Robert Antral. He held many solo exhibitions, including two in New York in 1954 and 1956. A retrospective of his work was held at the Palais de la Méditerranée, Nice, in 1969.
Hilaire was highly influential on French painting of the mid-twentieth century, and was highly popular in his lifetime. Many prints were made after his paintings and his work can be seen in the museums of Jakarta, Dunkirk, Metz, Nancy, The National Museum of Modern Art in Paris