Known for his pastoral landscapes, still-life paintings of flower bouquets, and portraits — notably of his wife, Claudine — French painter Marcel Dyf is widely regarded as one of the last of the true Impressionists. His mastery of composition and use of soft colors influenced many artists, setting the standard for 20th-century Post-Impressionism.
Dyf was born Marcel Dreyfus in 1899 in Paris. As a child, he displayed artistic talent but briefly considered a career as an engineer before becoming a professional painter at 23, influenced by the likes of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer.
In 1922, Dyf set up a studio in Arles and initially painted landscapes, capturing scenes of the surrounding countryside in oil on canvas. He produced many landscapes depicting Provence, Brittany, Normandy and locales further afield such as Venice, Morocco and Israel.
It wasn’t long before Dyf’s works caught the eye of art dealers and collectors, and he was urged to exhibit in Paris at the Salon des Artistes Français, the Salon d’Automne and the Tuileries.
In 1935, he moved from Arles to Paris and, at the outbreak of World War II, joined the French Resistance. Following the war, during the 1950s, he met 19-year-old model Claudine Godat, who — despite their 36-year age difference — became his wife, muse and subject for many of his most well-known portraits. These include Claudine Songeuse, Claudine and the Red Rose and Claudine with Flowers.
Over the course of his career, Dyf created a substantial body of work — he made landscape paintings, portraits and figurative works. He also painted frescoes in the Museon Arlaten in Arles and produced decorative pieces in the town halls of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and St-Martin-de-Crau.
Following his death in 1985, Dyf’s paintings continued to be featured in numerous exhibitions. The General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône staged a retrospective of his early works in 1995. Four years later, a show that marked what would have been his 100th birthday was held at the L’Espace Dyf in Bois-d’Arcy.
Today, Dyf’s paintings and prints are highly sought by dealers and collectors of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.
Find original Marcel Dyf paintings and wall decorations on 1stDibs.
"The Golf" Oil on Canvas Impressionist Painting at Chiberta in Southern France
By Marcel Dyf
Located in New York, NY
Marcel Dyf was mostly known for his effortless way to captures the times of the people. Executing most works on-site, he truly was able to absorb the energy and the day, movement of ...
Canvas, Oil
Champ de ble - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas landscape circa 1960 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a golden wheat field, contrasted against dark hills in the distance. Sign...
Canvas, Oil
Le Moisson - Provence - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas figures in landscape circa 1950 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts doing a late summer harvest in Provence, France. Signature: Si...
Canvas, Oil
$42,989
Voiliers
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on canvas Canvas size: 24 x 28.5 inches Framed size: 33 x 38.5 inches Signed lower right
Canvas, Oil
Claudine in the Forest
By Marcel Dyf
Located in New York, NY
In our painting of Claudine, Dyf returns to one of his favorite genres, and with most likely his favorite model. Realized with dramatic suggestive strokes of thick paint, Claudine is...
Oil, Canvas
$28,322
Cale Du Logeo
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on canvas Canvas size: 15 x 18.5 inches Framed size: 20 x 23 inches Signed lower left
Canvas, Oil
Cannes et le vieux port - Post Impressionist Oil, Landscape by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed figures in landscape oil on canvas circa 1940 by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The piece depicts people enjoying a sunny winter's day at the port ...
Canvas, Oil
$41,320
Nature Morte
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on canvas Canvas size: 28.75 x 23.75 inches Framed size: 36 x 32 inches Signed lower right
Canvas, Oil
"The Gypsy" Pensive Girl Sitting in a Field Oil on Canvas Impressionist Painting
By Marcel Dyf
Located in New York, NY
Marcel Dyf was mostly known for his effortless way to captures the times of the people. Executing most works on-site, he truly was able to absorb the energy and the day, movement of ...
Canvas, Oil
MARCEL DYF Femme à sa Toilette, Modern Oil Painting, Framed, Mid-20th Century
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
H 30.25 x W 26.75 x D 2 in. (framed) Signed lower right: “DYF” Dyf Archives ID No. 2063 Provenance Christie’s East, New York, Modern Paintings, Drawings & Sculptures, November 10, 1992, lot 60 as Nu à sa toilette. Private collection Private collection, New York (Purchased from above) This item is in our New York City warehouse and can be viewed by appointment. Marcel Dyf’s 1950 oil painting...
Canvas, Oil
Paysans devant le village - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas figures in landscape circa 1950 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts workers tending to a field beside a rural village. Signature: ...
Canvas, Oil
Marcel Dyf Leccon De Musique
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Dallas, TX
Marcel Dyf (French, 1899-1985) Leçon de musique; Music Lesson Circa 1965, Oil on canvas Dimensions: 29 x 24 inches (73.0 x 61.0 cm) Framed: 36 x 31 Inches Signed lower right: Dyf T...
Paint
Djeuner Champtre
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Sheffield, MA
Marcel Dyf French, 1899-1985 Djeuner Champtre Oil on canvas 23 ½ by 28 ¾ in. W/frame 31 ½ by 36 ¾ in. Signed lower left Marcel Dyf (Marcel Dreyfus) was born in Paris on October 7,...
Oil
$65,701
H 22 in W 28.5 in
Dans les champs - Neo Impressionist Riverscape Oil by Leo Marie Gausson
By Léo Gausson
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed and dated neo-impressionist landscape oil on canvas by French painter Leo Marie Gausson. Gausson painted this picturesque view of then fields above Triel-sur-Seine, a small to...
Canvas, Oil
$2,705Sale Price|20% Off
H 21.26 in W 32.68 in
Summer Day on the West Coast of Sweden by Swedish Impressionist Alfred Wahlberg
Located in Stockholm, SE
Alfred Wahlberg was a distinguished Swedish landscape painter whose career spanned Germany, France, and Sweden. During his early years, he resided in D...
Canvas, Oil
$2,367Sale Price|30% Off
H 18.71 in W 25.6 in
Harvest Time by Hjalmar Sandberg, Swedish Artist, Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1876
Located in Stockholm, SE
Hjalmar Sandberg (1847-1888) Sweden Harvest Time, 1876 oil on canvas canvas size 14.96 x 18.11 inches (38 x 46 cm) frame 18.70 x 25.59 inches (47.5 ...
Canvas, Oil
$790
H 7.88 in W 7.88 in D 0.99 in
Fragment 10 (dreamy woman back skin female figurative painting soft Earth tones)
By Rudolf Kosow
Located in Quebec, Quebec
"Fragment" by Rudolf Kosow is a deeply introspective miniature painting on wood that subtly plays with shadow and light to evoke a sense of hidden depths within the human form. This ...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
$860
H 7.88 in W 7.88 in D 0.99 in
Fragment 9 (dreamy woman back skin female figurative painting soft Earth tones)
By Rudolf Kosow
Located in Quebec, Quebec
"Fragment 9" by Rudolf Kosow is a striking miniature painting that employs a minimalist yet impactful use of color and form to convey deep emotional and psychological states. The art...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
$3,200
H 32 in W 44 in D 2.5 in
"Place de la Concorde, Pari" Post-Impressionist Street Scene Oil Painting Framed
Located in New York, NY
A beautiful oil on canvas painting by the French artist, Salvadore Demone. Deomne was a Parisian painter known for his vibrant cityscapes that depicted the times of his generation. T...
Canvas, Oil
$4,850
H 40 in W 30 in D 1.5 in
Kumulipo, Source of Life - Mid Century Modern Surrealist Hawaiian Visionary Art
By Marguerite Blasingame
Located in Soquel, CA
Symbolic and surreal landscape with figure eminating life force by Marguerite Louis Blasingame (American; 1906-1947), circa 1940-45. Marguerite and her husband Frank Blasingame...
Oil, Canvas
$1,028Sale Price|46% Off
H 23.63 in W 28.75 in
Spanish fishermen on the beach Spain oil on canvas painting mediterranean sea
By Gabriel Casarrubios
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Gabriel Casarrubios Martín (1953) - Fishermen - Oil on canvas Oil size 60x73 cm. Frameless. Gabriel Casarrubios Martín (1953) The Toledo artist trained in Fine Arts in Madrid, at t...
Canvas, Oil
$7,500Sale Price|66% Off
H 30 in W 36 in D 2 in
Port-Villez Neige Original French Landscape Impressionistic Riverscape Painting
By Georges Charles Robin
Located in Preston, GB
French Landscape Impressionistic Riverscape Painting by Modern French Artist, Georges Charles Robin (1903-2003). View of the River Seine, France, during the snow melt. Oil on Canvas, Signed on the lower right (faintly). Presented in an authentic period frame with canvas slip. Art measures 29 x 23 inches Frame measures 36 x 30 inches (approx.) Born in Paris in 1903, Georges Charles Robin was a student of Paul Michel Dupuy...
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Gesso
$1,947Sale Price|20% Off
H 25 in W 35 in D 3 in
Oil Painting of a Tree-Lined River Lake Landscape in the Irish Countryside
Located in Preston, GB
Oil Painting of a Tree-Lined River Lake Landscape in the Irish Countryside by 20th Century Artist, Allan Ardies (1918 - 2014). An impressionist vintage original oil on canvas in good...
Canvas, Oil
View of Sainte Anastasie France
By Robert Mendoze
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
View of Sainte Anastasie France. Signed and dated 2001. Robert Mendoze was a French Post Impressionist painter who was born in 1930- 2014. After gradua...
Oil, Canvas
$3,217Sale Price|35% Off
H 40 in W 36 in
Impressionist view of people in St. Marks Square in Venice
By Pam Masco
Located in Woodbury, CT
Wonderful Impressionist view of St. Marks Square, Venice. Pam Masco was an American from Massachusetts, and a graduate of the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1976). She was married to the English artist John Heseltine. Her work is in well-known private and corporate collections and has been shown at the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Watercolour Society and other London Galleries as well as in the Provinces. She travelled throughout the U.S.A. and Europe and painted American and European subjects, portraits, landscape and figure compositions, still life and interiors. From 1978 she was involved in drawing, painting, technical painting courses, watercolour and graphic design. She illustrated for major British and American publishers until 1988. Authors include Bruce Chatwin...
Canvas, Oil
Still Life
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on Canvas Canvas Size: 21.75 x 18 inches Framed Size: 28 x 25.5 inches Signed Lower Right
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 34 in W 39 in
Amandiers en fleurs - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas landscape circa 1960 by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a view of farmland with almond trees in bloom. Signature: Si...
Canvas, Oil
Claudine Reading
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on canvas Canvas size: 18 x 21.5 inches Framed size: 26 x 29.5 inches Signed lower right
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 32 in W 37 in
Le champ de coquelicots - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting - Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas figures in landscape by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts workers picking flowers in a poppy field in St Paul de Vence,...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 32 in W 37 in
Claudine à la capeline - Post Impressionist Portrait Oil Painting by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas portrait by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a painting of Claudine seated at a table upon which are a ceramic vase filled with flowers, a basket of fruit a green wine glass and a crumpled napkin. Claudine is wearing red skirt with a white blouse over which her long red hair...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 26 in W 30 in
Lavoir sur la rivière - Impressionist Oil, Figures in Riverscape by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Beautiful signed oil on canvas riverscape circa 1969 by sought after French impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts two women in a wash house, cleaning clothes in the tree...
Canvas, Oil
Marcel Dyf Young Woman Reading
By Marcel Dyf
Located in San Francisco, CA
Marcel Dyf: 1899-1985. Well listed French painter. Some consider him the last of the great French Impressionists. He has had auction results over $60,000 and has sold for more in gal...
Oil
Sold
H 27.5 in W 23.5 in
Le Salon Rouge - Post Impressionist Oil, Figure in Interior by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A wonderful oil on canvas circa 1950 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a beautiful brunette woman wearing black and red skirt...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 23 in W 26 in
Marche aux Fleurs - Post Impressionist Oil, Figures in Landscape by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A charming oil on canvas circa 1960 by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf depicting women at a flower market in Arles, France. The stalls are shaded by the lon...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 15 in W 18 in
Pont de l'Alma - Post Impressionist Oil, River in Cityscape by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A lovely oil on canvas circa 1940 by sought after French painter Marcel Dyf, depicting a view of the Pont de l'Alma (Alma Bridge) which runs over the River Seine and the buildings of...
Canvas, Oil
Paris - Seine
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A stunning image of the Seine in Paris c. 1950. Very expressive with great vibrancy and depiction of figures. A really delightful piece. Oil on canvas, signed lower left. Marcel Dyf was a French painter best known for his work in the Impressionist movement. Though he started to paint in his younger years, Dyf did not begin to focus on art until 1922, when he moved to Arles, France. In 1935, he moved to Paris, France, and acquired a studio once used by Maximilien Luce. Dyf only worked there for a few years before he joined the French Resistance during World War II. In 1949, Dyf opened a studio in Saint Paul-de-Vence in Provence, France. The following year, he opened a second studio in Cannes, France, and studied at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. Though his early work often showed landscapes, he decided to start working on portraits. After Dyf married his wife, Claudine, he asked her to pose for him, and many of his portrait paintings showed Claudine in various poses, including Portrait d''une Femme, Portrait de la Femme à la Robe Bleue, and Le Souper Solitaire. The artist's first show came in 1949 at the House of Petrides in Paris, France. The gallery exhibited his work again in 1951 and 1953. Some of Dyf's later paintings used landscape images in new ways. He frequently added new colors, texture, and fluid lines that gave the paintings a surreal quality. Le port de La Rochelle...
Canvas, Oil
Claudine a l' Eventail
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Claudine Dyf has kindly authenticated this work. It is registered in the archive catalog as ID # 1640. Size is 92 x 73 cm. dated 1960.