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Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

French, 1899-1985

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.

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Artist: Marcel Dyf
A Still Life of Roses in a Ceramic Vase. An oil on canvas
By Marcel Dyf
Located in St. Albans, GB
Marcel DYF 1899 - 1985 This piece has been confirmed by Claudine Dyf Picture Size: 18 x 22" (48 x 55cm) Outside Frame Size: 25 x 29" (63 x 73cm) A highly desirable still life with...
Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil

La Porte du Jardin - Post Impressionist Still Life Landscape Oil by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed post impressionist still life oil on canvas circa 1940 by sought after French impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a vase filled with flowers of all colours plac...
Category

1940s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Fleurs des champs - Post Impressionist Still Life Oil Painting by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed post impressionist still life oil on canvas circa 1930 by sought after French impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts wildflowers in a glazed vase. A wonderful piec...
Category

1930s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Le Petit Dejeuner - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas landscape circa 1950 by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a breakfast table with bread laid out and a blue vase filled ...
Category

1950s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Bouquet De Fleurs
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on canvas Canvas size: 25.5 x 21.25 inches Framed size: 33.5 x 29.25 inches Signed lower right
Category

20th Century Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Un Bouquet de Fleurs Spectaculaire
By Marcel Dyf
Located in St. Albans, GB
Marcel DYF 1899 - 1985 Oil on canvas Canvas Size 28 x 23" (72 x 60cm) Outside Frame Size: 36 x 31" (92 x 80cm) Free Shipping Dyf’s family lived in Paris, but he spent his childhood holidays in Normandy at Ault, Deauville, and Trouville. The artistic climate to which he was exposed in Paris and in Normandy was crucial during his youth, as innovative ideas and new thinking, born of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements, formed ever widening circles of influence in Europe. Swept up in the atmosphere, Dyf decided in his early twenties to give up his career in engineering 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 owed much of his inspiration to the great masters of the past such as Rembrandt, whom he particularly admired, Vermeer and Tiepolo. In Provence, challenged by a new range of colours and light, by new landscapes and images and under the same intense sky that lent its brilliance to Van Gogh’s art, Dyf graduated from painter to artist. Whilst living in Arles, Dyf was commissioned to paint a number of large historical and decorative works, mostly frescoes, in the town halls of Saint Martin-de-Crau and Les Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer, in Arles, in the Museon Arlaten and in the dining hall of the Collège Ampère. He also designed windows for the church of Saint Louis in Marseille. In 1935 Dyf took on Maximilien Luce’s old studio in the Avenue du Maine on the left bank. His partial return to Paris meant that he could work with many whose names became renowned for their highly original contributions to art, music, and literature. Paris hummed with creative vitality in the 1930s and Dyf was both participant and recipient in the atmosphere. Paris was shattered by the invasion of 1940. Like many others, Dyf left the city and returned to Arles, but he quickly had to abandon his home in the south and he took to the Maquis, entering the Résistance in Corrèze and the Dordogne. After the Liberation he returned to Arles to find the studio reduced to rubble in the fighting. He retreated, heavy-hearted, to Paris but the pull of the Midi was deep-rooted, so in time he returned and made a new base in Saint Paul-de-Vence. 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. In the first half of the 50s Dyf worked in Paris throughout the winter and spent the summer in Cannes, where he set up a studio-gallery and established a regular following among American visitors to the Riviera. In 1955 the first paintings were bought from Dyf by Frost & Reed to be sold in London, thus heralding the formation of a remarkable and enduring relationship between artist and gallery. In the summer of 1954, Dyf met Claudine Godat. Aged 19, she was thirty-six years younger than Dyf and with her long fair hair, clear skin, vivacity and patience, she was what the artist felt to be his perfect model. It was simply love at first sight. There was an instant rapport between them and her arrival in his life acted as a catalyst, bringing Dyf’s art forward to the threshold of its most mature phase. In 1956, they married and bought a 16th century hunting lodge at Bois d’Arcy, near Versailles. This became their main home, but each winter they returned to Provence on painting trips, staying in Saint-Rémy or in the small village of Eygalières. The olive trees, the cane windbreaks and the grey-white crags of the Alpilles provided countless motifs for Dyf’s paintings of Provence, and his artistic and emotional attachment to the area endured to the end of his life. In 1960, at Claudine’s insistence, they first visited Brittany. They explored widely and finally came upon the Golfe du Morbihan. Dyf was enchanted with this remote, beautiful region. He immediately saw the potential for new subjects, in the still waters of the huge lagoon surrounded by rolling fields of wheat and tiny clusters of slate-roofed cottages, and he knew he must return to paint there. From that time on the seasons of the year followed the same pattern: autumn was spent at home near Versailles and in the late autumn or early spring Dyf and Claudine drove south and spent six or eight weeks in Provence. In May they left for Brittany, where they spent the summer in a house they had bought opposite the church in the village of Arzon. Two or three times a year Frost & Reed would visit Dyf and buy all the best of his works for their stock. Dyf could never work in an empty studio, he said that it deadens an artist’s inspiration, so immediately the paintings had left for London, he and Claudine would set off to the west or to the south in search of new inspiration. This annual round having been established, there followed many years of great fulfilment. The artist, free from the burden of running the more mundane side of his life, was now able to devote all his time to painting and through Frost & Reed, his sole world agent, he was guaranteed an outlet for his work. To watch Dyf paint was entrancing. Even as an old man, he would stand rather than sit before the easel, working with extraordinary vigour and intense concentration. His palette was a rainbow of fresh colours and his hand continually darted back and forth from the canvas. At intervals he would step back or consider briefly another picture before returning to the easel, his eye refreshed. Usually he sketched straight onto the canvas, which he set up on his travelling easel...
Category

1960s Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil

Vase de Fleurs - Post Impressionist Oil, Still Life Flowers by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Large signed still life of flowers oil on canvas circa 1940 by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. This beautiful work depicts a bouquet of flowers of all vari...
Category

1940s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

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...
Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil

Still Life "Poulet & Pomegranate" 20th Century
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Blackwater, GB
Still Life "Poulet & Pomegranate" 20th Century by MARCEL DYF (1899-1985) similar to $37,000 Fine large 20th century still life "Poulet & Pomegranate" oil on canvas by Marcel Dyf. E...
Category

20th Century Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bouquet de fleurs - Post Impressionist Still Life Oil Painting by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed post impressionist still life oil on canvas circa 1950 by sought after French impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a ceramic vase filled with colour flowers set ...
Category

1950s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Summer Bouquet' Impressionist Still Life painting orange, red & white flowers
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Shrewsbury, Shropshire
'Summer Bouquet' by Marcel Dyf. A beautiful floral still life painting of orange, yellow, red and white flowers To watch Dyf paint was entrancing. Even as an old man, he would stand rather than sit before the easel, working with extraordinary vigour and intense concentration. His palette was a rainbow of fresh colours and his hand continually darted back and forth from the canvas. At intervals he would step back or consider briefly another picture before returning to the easel, his eye refreshed. Usually he sketched straight onto the canvas, which he set up on his travelling easel...
Category

20th Century Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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Previously Available Items
Bouquet de fleurs - Post Impressionist Still Life Oil Painting by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed post impressionist still life oil on canvas circa 1950 by sought after French impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a ceramic vase filled with colour flowers set ...
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1950s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

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Canvas, Oil

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...
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Late 20th Century Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

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Oil, Canvas

Bouquet de fleurs - Impressionist Oil, Still Life of Flowers by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Beautiful signed impressionist still life oil on canvas by sought after French impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a white and blue ceramic vase filled with pale pink ...
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Dahlias in a Pitcher - Post Impressionist Oil, Still Life Flowers by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Large signed still life of flowers oil on canvas circa 1950 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a bouquet of dahlias in reds and yellows in a gold jug...
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1950s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Fleurs dans une vase - Post Impressionist Oil, Still Life Flowers by Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A beautiful large oil on canvas circa 1950 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts a bouquet of red, white and yellow flowers in a white and gold vase set...
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1950s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

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Canvas, Oil

Roses au pot d'opaline
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Dallas, TX
The outer frame dimensions are 29 7/8 x 26 3/8 inches.
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1980s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Grandes pivoines
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Dallas, TX
The outer frame dimensions are 37 1/2 x 45 inches.
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Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

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Grandes pivoines
Grandes pivoines
H 28.75 in W 36 in
Nature Morte a la coupe de Fruits - Post Impressionist Still Life - Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A beautiful oil on canvas circa 1940 by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf depicting a bowl of fruit set on a table beside a glass and a tankard. Signature: ...
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White & Purple Bouquet - Post Impressionist Oil, Still Life Flowers - Marcel Dyf
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"Un Grand Bouquet" A beautiful oil on canvas circa 1960 by sought after French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf depicting a glass vase filled with predominantly white and purple...
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1960s Post-Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

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Yellow & White Anthemis - Post Impressionist Oil, Still Life Flower - Marcel Dyf
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
"Anthemis Jaunes et Blanches" A beautiful oil on canvas circa 1950 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf depicting a blue and white china vase filled with yellow and white ...
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Still Life
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Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A beautiful still life oil on board authenticated by Madame Claudine Dyf and recorded in the catalogue under ID no 5109. Signed lower right. c.1945. Marcel Dyf was a French painter ...
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Oil, Board

Godetias
By Marcel Dyf
Located in Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Marcel Dyf's family lived in Paris, but he spent his childhood holidays in Normandy at Ault, Deauville, and Trouville. The artistic climate to which he was exposed in Paris and in No...
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Late 19th Century Impressionist Marcel Dyf Still-life Paintings

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Godetias
Godetias
H 21.63 in W 18.13 in

Marcel Dyf still-life paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Marcel Dyf still-life paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Marcel Dyf in oil paint, paint, canvas and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Marcel Dyf still-life paintings, so small editions measuring 18 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of J.B. Holmes, Tim McGuire, and Melissa Franklin Sanchez. Marcel Dyf still-life paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,370 and tops out at $34,000, while the average work can sell for $13,088.

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