Arnold Fern

1953–1993

Arnold R. Fern was a restaurateur and artist.

Fern was an owner in three Manhattan restaurants. Everybody's, a small French-style bistro, opened in 1987 on Second Avenue in the East Village. The Universal Grill, a larger restaurant with a varied menu, opened at in 1991 at 44 Bedford St. in Greenwich Village. The Harmony opened last year at the corner of Downing and Bedford Streets.

As an artist, he did large oil paintings of men's heads surrounded by symbolic dramatic landscapes, and smaller paintings of birds and flowers. Recently he had a solo exhibit at the Feature gallery in Manhattan and was in a group show at the Washington Project for the Arts in Washington.

Fern, who was born in Brooklyn, was a graduate of the Cornell University College of Art and Architecture.

Early in his career he worked in fabric design and was a partner in Tadaomi Ltd., which designed high-styled women's clothing.