In her hometown of Rotterdam, Marianne Hartong was educated at the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten. Later she lived in The Hague and in 1934 she moved to the east of the country, where she lived successively in Schaarsbergen, Arnhem and Zutphen. Marianne Hartong painted many (flower) still lifes, as well as landscapes and figure pieces. She was a member of the Artibus Sacrum Society in Arnhem, the Hague Art Circle and the St. Lucas artists' society in Amsterdam, where she exhibited regularly.