Wayne Ensrud

Art Brokerage: Wayne Ensrud American Artist: Wayne Ensrud was born in Minnesota of Norwegian parents Blanche and Emmett Carlyle Ensrud. His promising career as a star half-back football player was cut short by a serious knee injury which left him free to pursue his other great passion: art. Ensrud's career began at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where he met the 20th century master, Oskar Kokoschka. A life-long relationship with Kokoschka followed where Ensrud's fiery temperament found expression in his artistic creations. Kokoschka encouraged Ensrud's belief that art can create a condition that will give man a true sense of the moral, ethical and dignifying view of creation. Painting stirs emotions to create an experience for the viewer. He has sketched the Detroit Grand Prix and the APBC Gold cup; He created 50 editions of lithographs that convey the passionate vivacity of his paintings on the same Marinoni press used by Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard and Picasso; Pablo Casals invited him to execute drawings of his master class series at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition, Ensrud illustrated the drawings of Ogden Nash, John Fowles and John O'Hara. Ensrud is the only American artist ever commissioned by Georges Duboeuf to create the world-famous Beaujolais Nouveau poster. The world of music has also embraced Ensrud's vibrant artistic expressions. At the invitation of Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman and Gervase de Peyer, Ensrud executed drawings for the New York Chamber Society's 10th Anniversary. He has designed posters for events at Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. He also designed the poster for the award-winning feature film, 'The Last of the Blue Devils," about the Kansas City jazz greats. Kansas City Film/TV produced a half-hour feature of "Ensrud's Kansas City Jazz Suite," an exhibition of paintings he created in homage to that city's role in nurturing great jazz talent of the past. Listings wanted.