Born Marcel Dreyfus on October 7, 1899 in Paris, France, the painter spent his childhood in Normandy. Growing up in Normandy exposed Dyf to new ideas in artmaking. He was captivated by the work of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The artistic climate to which he was exposed was crucial during his youth. Innovative ideas were born, new thinking and the rise of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements inspired much of the creative world.

Dyf had been working as an engineer before his creative career. In his early twenties Dyf abandoned engineering to become a painter, moving across France. For a few months Dyf explored and studied his creative outlets in a Parisian studio. A move to Arles in 1922 solidified his commitment to being an artist, finding further inspiration from the style of Old Masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer. He had settled in Arles but a little while later returned to Paris. He loved both places and decided to build a routine where he divided his time between Paris and Cannes. Throughout his life Dyf travelled extensively to capture these natural scenes. He focused his time on three French regions in particular—Brittany, Ile de France, and Provence.

Marcel Dyf’s style was derived from classical traditional art and from moderate Post-Impressionism. Dyf was renowned for his portraiture and landscapes. Landscapes were the greater output from his body of work. His Landscapes are often painted in shades of ochre and in horizontal planes. Many of these landscapes were produced in the Île-de-France, in the Provence where he lived as well as compositions from Brittany and Normandy, Venice, Morocco and Israel. On the other hand, with his portraiture, in the 1950s Dyf would often paint gypsy women. Frequently too, he would paint his beautiful wife, Claudine. He also used his artistic talents to build up his community, producing decorative work in the town halls of Stes-Maries de la Mer (Camargue) and St-Martin-de-Crau (Arles), and painted frescoes in the Musée Arlaten in Arles in 1936.

Throughout his life Dyf exhibited many times. In Paris he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, the Salon d’Automne and the Tuileries. He also had solo shows in Paris, three of which were at the Galerie Petrides. In 1956 Dyf held a solo exhibition in London at the Frost and Reed Gallery. After his passing, his works were exhibited during 1995, the General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône put on a retrospective exhibition of his early work. Also, during 1999 an exhibition at L’Espace Dyf in Bois-d’Arcy commemorated the hundredth anniversary of his birth.

Dyf died on September 15, 1985 in Bois-d’Arcy at the age of 85. His artistic legacy will be a lasting one; with an approach to art that was rigorous and well-disciplined, resulting in his art feeling youthful, yet traditional. Dyf had a remarkable understanding of painting and his own process with a sensational use of colour. This yielded a rich discography of artwork with a distinct style and quality that never wavered.