Marcel Dyf
1899 – 1985
Having trained originally to be an engineer, Dyf decided in his early twenties to give up his career and become an artist. He moved to Arles in 1922 to pursue his calling and he kept a studio there until 1942. He had little formal artistic training but developed his own distinctive style. Whilst in Arles Dyf was commissioned to paint a number of large historical and decorative works,
His work was interrupted by the war, during which he fought with the resistance. His studio having been reduced to rubble in the fighting, he returned to Paris. Thereafter he divided his time between Paris and the South. His pictures began to sell through galleries in Cannes, Nice, Marseille and Strasbourg. In Paris he exhibited and sold his paintings through the Salon d’Automne, the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon des Artistes Français.
Noted for his bright fresh colours and spontabeous style, Dyf’s work has always been highly sought-after. This is an exceptionally large and vivid example of Dyf’s work.