Marcel Belle came from a family of painters; an ancestor was Alexis-Simon Belle (1674-1734) who was a court painter in Poland and later to James II of England.

He studied at the Grande Chaumière and the Académie Julian where he met Henri Martin who would become a friend and life-long influence.

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He exhibited throughout his life; at the Salon d'Automne in the 1920s and Salon des Indépendants from 1926 until 1939. He was a member of the Salon Nationale des Beaux-Arts from 1921 onwards, becoming an associate in 1938. A posthumous exhibition of his work was held at the salon in 1949.