Alphonse Nies was born in Luxembourg in 1924. An established local painter, he approached landscape painting with a matter-of-fact softness detached from the romanticising often associated with the genre, which was even the case in the 20th century. He managed to sublime the mundane and the common without having to exclude traces of human constructions.

In 1959, he was awarded the Prix Grand-Duc Adolphe alongside fellow artist Emile Kirscht.

Nies acted as secretary (1958–1968) and later vice president (1990–1992) of the Cercle Artistique de Luxembourg.

He passed away in 1992 while still in post.