About the Artist

Armand Merizon is an 86 year-old, nearly blind, fine artist who lives and works in Caledonia, Michigan. Armand, born February 28, 1920, in Kalamazoo, Michigan to a family of first generation Dutch immigrants of French extraction, spent his childhood in urban neighborhoods of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he began to paint at age 10. At age 16 he won a scholarship to Vesper George Art School in Boston, where he studied painting. After training there, he moved north to Maine and began to study the sea which became the subject of many of his paintings. Sometime later Armand completed coursework at the Phoenix School of Design in New York. During the course of his life, Armand has also received numerous fellowships and patronages for artist performance and study in both the United States and Europe.

Over the course of his 70 year career as a fine artist, Armand has been selected for more than 35 exhibitions and gallery showings. His works have been collected by patrons nationally and internationally. He has been featured in dozens of magazines and newspapers. His paintings have been printed as limited editions in the United States and England and he has won numerous regional and national awards. Over the years, Merizon has been invited to teach and lecture at civic, cultural, and educational gatherings. He was also a founding member of the Grand Valley Artists, a group that continues to promote the arts and artists in Western Michigan.

Even after being diagnosed with macular degeneration in the late 1980’s and suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and prostate cancer, Merizon continues his daily painting regime, often eight to ten hours a day. Even under such physical limitations, he continues to produce many significant works, changing his style and technique to accommodate his failing eyesight. “I will paint,” says Merizon, “until my nose touches the canvas.”

Though widely known throughout Michigan, Merizon’s work should not be left out of the canon of Great American 20th Century Artists. His versatility in style, content, and technique clearly demonstrate he is a master of fine arts; a true renaissance artist of the 20th century.