Marcel Dyf is born October the 7th 1899 in Paris.

His parents, industrialists, are originally from the Alsace region. Very young, Dyf starts drawing and visiting the Louvre. His childhood summers spent in Normandy leave him with a lifelong affection for the sea and for maritime skies.

Having finished his studies, his first employment takes him to Southern Morocco. Marvelling at the beauty of the scenery, he makes the decision to dedicate himself to painting and to art.

He moves to Arles in Provence, where his tough apprentiship begins. But how exhalting it is to work in this mythical place, welcomed and aided by a great number of friends who are part of the local intelligenzia.

"The tour de force is very rare. He had the elegance and the reserve of a Lord and yet the simplest of people were very much at ease with him. Often as broke as a gypsy, his spirit remained as rich as that of a mecene. He had grace and charisma to the point that, if it so happened that you did him a favour, it would seem to you as if, quite on the contrary, it was he who was obliging.

He was charm personified, and this almost harmed his painting. His art gave the impression of being so easy that it seemed superficial, whereas in fact it was knowing, demanding, rigourous and well-organised.

Which as years go by, becomes more and more evident. It is now that we can measure to what extent his art was audacious."


From 1944 onwards, Dyf exhibits three times at the Petrides Gallery in Paris, returns to Arles, then moves to St. Paul de Vence.

In 1954, in Cannes, his wedding with Claudine, then a return to the Paris region.

From this moment onward and up to his death on September the 15th 1985, his works are exhibited at Frost & Reed Gallery, London.