Marianne Charlotte Mylonas Svikovsky · Winner Collectors Art Prize
By the hasards of life. I was born in 1941 under the bombs in Germany. My father, from Vienna, Austria and my mother, a native swiss, both of various european origins, the family name being polish, my grandmother of german origin but also estonian and russian, all of them adventurous people. The war and fortunes of life brought my parents to live here and there, for threee or four years at a time. My schooling therefore took place in the swiss french mountains, in Montreal Canada in English, in italian in Lugano, Switzerland, then in Los Angeles USA where I completed HIgh Schoo and did art studies at UCLA (University of Southern California) and lastly in in Vienna, Austria, Rome, Italy, the country of art and then in Geneva, Switzerland. I worked in several fields like fashion, Banks and International agencies and a Non -Governmental organization and teaching languages in Vienna and Geneva which I still do now with great pleasure. A creative teaching either private or for several private schools, aiming at the students goals, for top managers to youngsters, preparing also for the big international exams. I therefore have met all sorts of people, observing with a curious, somewhat distant eye in order to adapt rapidly.
I married a greek, had two lovely children, gave language lesson to them and their friends at home, then developped a personal, very original successful artistic activity and business during ten years that I could do at home, decorating with my art some of the top class hotels in Geneva and partiipating in many exhibitions. I also made very orifinal vegetal mural masks of imaginary caracters of greek mythology or King Arthur’s legends. One ominous day tragedy befell both of my children, we lost our son and a terrible mental illness befell our daughter. Divorce followed. The curtain then fell down on this part of my life and I was left with nothing but my creativity and teaching.
Painting and writing came to my rescue, both had been my dear hobbies since I was twelve years old, drawing and long letters which at the crucial time turned into poetry, so as to express the distress in the most concise way the feelings assailing me, by and by, bringing me back to life, after going back thanks to poetry, to the roots of my varied life already early marked by abandon and death. It took time which was not wasted. I started showing my paintings in rather big exhibits during which I gave my own Poetry readings, dramatized and accompanied by talented young musicians, inviting my guests into my inner world and the expression of my life’s experiences. I joined main poetry associations in Geneva and by and by was invited to exhibit here and there. Love also came to my rescue, a major theme in my poems, the relationship between men and women also apperaing in some of my paintings. I am now happy again in this new and quite different phase of my life and ready to meet it’s challenges. I also thank my parents for transmitting their love of art, music museums and litterature to me which I still cherish today and thus continue studying the old famous masters. While in Rome, I studied GIORGIO VASARY’s book XIV-XVI century, on the great Italian Renaissance masters, still today a reference book for the study of History of Art, the first methodolocial and biographical study ever done.
Today, painting is the joy of my life and I am concentrating on it since I have been approached by world wide serious galleries to exhibit with them in the big shows in the USA and even throughout the world. Recognition has been given to my paintings by them and by Saatchionline the biggest world online art selling website and other websites showing some of my paintings. I am most grateful for this chance given to my paintings that I really didn’t expect. It comes late in life but I coudn’t paint how I do now without going through all that I have experienced. I shall continue because it is a joy and a need, a sort of welcome meditation, each painting spruting out of my inner-self, letting loose freely of what has to be said through colour and composition. Each painting has tells a story or renders a poetic image, it’s light and vibrations.
