Notes

River views had been a popular subject for the early French Impressionists like Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley, whose work is characterised by rapid spontaneous brush strokes, together with a lively colour palette. Marcel Dyf continued this tradition, finding a popular market for his river and canal subjects owing to his painterly interpretation of the elements, but in particular his approach to capturing water in fluid, rapidly applied wet-on-wet brush strokes.

Dyf was born Marcel Dreyfus in 1899 in Paris, France. Initially an engineer, at the age of 23 he set up an art studio in Arles and became a professional artist. Dyf was a self-taught artist who was influenced by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, notably Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He initially established himself as a landscape painter, but he is also known for still lifes and portraits, especially of his wife and model Claudine. Dyf was commissioned to paint murals in the town halls of Saint Martin-de-Crau and Les Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer and in the dining room of the Collège Ampère.

Dyf exhibited at the Salon des Artists Français, Salon d’Autumn and Salon des Tulleries. His work can be found in public collections such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, NY, USA; Smith College Museum of Art in Massachusetts, USA; and Museon Arlaten in Arles, France.

Provenance

Stephan Welz & Co, Cape Town, 22 October 2008, lot 356.

The Property of a Collector.