Born as Dina Aibinder into a Jewish family in Kishinev, Bessarabia (now Chișinău, Moldova),[1] she moved to France with her family during her childhood.[2][3]
Beginning at age 15, she was Aristide Maillol's muse for ten years, until his death in 1944 in a car crash.[2][3] After two years of modeling while clothed, she began work as a nude model.[2] During her career as a model, she also posed for Henri Matisse,[4] Raoul Dufy, and Pierre Bonnard.[2][3]
Both Matisse and Bonnard attributed a renewed inspiration for painting and sculpture to Vierny.[citation needed]
After Maillol moved to Banyuls-sur-Mer in 1939, she worked as a guide for the organization founded by Varian Fry to smuggle refugees out of occupied France[2] during World War II.[5] She was arrested by police in France and acquitted after a trial, and then left temporarily for Nice to pose for Henri Matisse before returning to Banyuls-sur-Mer.[2] She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and spent six months in prison.[2]
In 1947, she opened an art gallery in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres district of Paris.[3] In 1964, she donated 18 Maillol sculptures to France for installation in the Jardin des Tuileries.[5][2]
In 1995, she founded the Fondation Dina Vierny-Musée Maillol and opened the Musée Maillol.[2][6]