Marion Fernhout - Maestra contemporanea - Artisti emergenti

MARION FERNHOUT, born in the Netherlands, began drawing and painting watercolors since she was a little child. In the 50’s she takes private lessons from a famous Dutch master painter while in 1957 she decides to leave for Mexico to marry and follow Italian lyric tenor Michelangelo Verso on his various tours throughout America.
Having previously studied music and dancing and learned also to sing in different foreign languages, accompanying herself on the guitar and ukulele, under the guidance of her husband she perfects herself in a short time and begins to perform in the best theatres and clubs and also in programs for Radio and Television of various cities and countries of South America where she, often together with her husband, is demanded and engaged as an attraction number.

In 1961 Marion decides together with her husband to return to Europe where she continues her artistic activity as a soubrette (singer, actress and dancer protagonist) in various theatrical productions on tour throughout Italy with shows and musical revues proposed by the well-known artistic companies of that period such as those of Nino Lembo, Lino Crispo, O’Brien, Los Brutos etc.

Towards the end of the 60’s she returns to Holland where, for  a few more years, she continues to perform with her songs and dancing and then becomes interested in being a freelance interpreter of the Italian and Spanish language at the court of Amsterdam for lawyers, prosecutors and judges.
During this period Marion begins to resume her old and great, but never forgotten, passion for the art of drawing and painting that she temporarily had neglected years earlier.

She therefore decides to study and in 1978 she obtains the diploma from the School of Drawing and Painting (“Ecole de Dessin et Peinture”) of Paris.
The passion is such that it leads her to produce many paintings, watercolors and gouaches and in 1977 she decides to become a member of the Association “The Sunday Painters” of Amsterdam (an association of great fame and prestige) where she has the opportunity to study and to paint various models up close, different  compositions of still life and also to paint outside in the city or in the countryside. In this association Marion has the opportunity to get inspired and to meet and paint together with famous Dutch master painters like Maarten Krabbé, Toon de Haas and Jan Frenken.

She remained a member for more than 28 years and in 2002 received the appointment of honorary member.

Marion drew and painted as an impressionist: flowers, landscapes, still life compositions, models etc. in watercolor, gouache, pastel, oil or with mixed techniques. Her favourite painters were van Gogh, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet and Gauguin.

What Marion frequently said:

”My paintings do not have a particular message, I paint because I simply like the object or, in the case of my fantasy paintings, because in that moment I am inspired; I paint in order to feel in a world of my own and to give expression to this. Everything about nature or the cosmos intrigues me a lot.
At first I was a performing artist; I sang, danced, acted etc., now I try to develop myself in figurative art and poetry. I can say that over time I have created extremely different paintings. My ideal is to translate the visual in an impressionistic way. I see beauty in the most simple things and nature itself inspires me much”.

Marion was never really interested in organizing exhibitions; she painted out of pure passion and love and preferred to devote her free time to production rather than advertising and/or marketing her works of art.

Despite this, between 1984 and 2003 various exhibitions of her paintings were held in various large cultural and commercial centers, in libraries, hotels and galleries in different Dutch cities such as Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Den Haag (The Hague), Beverwijk, Zaandam. The Provincial House of the city of Haarlem acquired an oil on canvas in 1984.

In 2007 her only son, Michelangelo Verso Jr., organized a large exhibition with the title “Mamma, il Sole mio” (Mamma, my own Sun) in her honor with 63 paintings which was held in the spacious church “De Oosterkerk” in Amsterdam.
The reactions of the visitors were of enthusiasm and praise for the paintress. During the Christmas period 2009/2010 a dozen of Marion's paintings were exhibited in the Castle of the Baroness of Carini in a dedicated room. In 2014 at “Villa Niscemi” in Palermo, her son organized a retrospective exhibition "Reflections of the soul" with 48 paintings.