As a painter WAYNE ENSRUD has explored in his seven decade career the realms of Realism, Surrealism, Constructivism and Expressionism. That well traveled road lead him to engage a wide range of subjects including landscape, seascape, still life, portraiture, figure, animals and religious and mythical imagery. More recently, he has delved into the arena of non-object painting, tirelessly experimenting to push the boundaries of the painting medium.
Wayne Ensrud was born in Minnesota where local artists in his hometown inspired and encouraged him to pursue the study of art. He enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where his teachers included Oskar Kokoschka, Vaclav Vytlacil, Buckminster Fuller, Ben Shahn, Jacques Lipchitz and Josef Albers. Most importantly and life-changing, he met the Austrian painter, Oskar Kokoschka with whom he felt a strong kinship. Their relationship was a magical one where they both shared the idea of complete integrity to their art and the unwillingness to allow modern artistic fashion to alter their beliefs that art should be an expression of the spirit of love, beauty and the divinity inherent in a person’s soul. They shared a life-long friendship bound by the deepest respect.
After graduation, Ensrud became the youngest Art Director of Motion Pictures and Television for the University of California at Berkeley. During this time, he was also a juror on the San Francisco International Film Festival and Art Director for KQED in San Francisco where he animated and designed the award-winning IBM series The Computer and the Mind of Man.
Ensrud’s groundbreaking designs brought him to the attention of the major television networks who invited him to New York City where he was Art Director of programs for ABC, CBS and NBC. He was then appointed Executive Art Director of PBS-TV Channel 13 in New York City where he instituted innovative approaches to programming, among them the original ‘Live at Lincoln Center’ series and the opera series in collaboration with producer Jac Venza. Ensrud designed and animated the Gemini Space Programs for worldwide viewing on ABC-TV.
These achievements at an early age left Ensrud dissatisfied and he felt compelled to seek out guidance from Oskar Kokoschka by traveling to his home in Switzerland, which then developed into more than 25 years of a guru-disciple relationship.
THE KOKOSCHKA INFLUENCE
Ensrud’s absorption of the teachings of Oskar Kokoschka is evident in his paintings. For Kokoschka, the purpose of art is to communicate feeling by touching the human center of emotion. A painting must have an emotional impact that would be directly felt by the observer. Art is a bridge between two worlds: the outer world of things and the inner world of emotions. Kokoschka relied upon external nature (cityscape and portraiture) as his source of inspiration. Ensrud responds to both outer and inner aspects as sources of inspiration. His paintings are motivated by feelings awakened by image, memory, dream, nostalgia or even love, which seek visible embodiment. The artist’s consciousness is sensitive to the impact of any of these phenomena which then set up a formative reaction crystallizing in a work of art.
In time, Ensrud became aware that his faithfulness to Kokoschka in subject matter and aesthetic approach did not find a receptive contemporary audience. Realizing that he needed to be on a communicative ‘wavelength’ with the larger public, Ensrud had to find his own fresh and new way. He then adopted abstract painting as his means of expression.
A NEW SYNTHESIS
The Ensrud approach offers a new perspective by unifying the diverse elements of painting. He has studied and reflected upon the great discoveries of the past and present states of the arts. Much of contemporary art reflects fragmentation and chaos as today’s artists feel their way through a complex terrain.
He believes there is too much from the head and not enough from the heart. Many creative people are reduced by producing commodities. It was necessary for Ensrud to abandon traditional art form structures, thinking out other forms not previously existing. In his paintings, everything is moving and in constant flux. He constructs and orchestrates color and form to create a harmonious, unified balance of all the parts. Ensrud refers to his paintings as “frozen movement” that radiates a feeling of calm at the center of the cyclone. Ensrud’s paintings resemble no others because of their unique combinations of space, rhythms and bright luminous colors. As with Kokoschka, he does not outline but caresses and attacks the surface. Inventive in his use of form, Ensrud is sensitive to texture and surface, brash yet delicate in his use of color and adventurous in his exploration of space. These qualities resonate in Kokoschka’s art. Paintings are more than visual description, they are evocations of mood and sensation. Ensrud’s paintings are not a pastiche or collage of past discoveries and yet there is an aspect of timelessness in his paintings that echo qualities of the Old Masters. More importantly, they reveal a new synthesis.
Although Ensrud’s recent paintings may be categorized as ‘non-object art,’ a viewer’s attentive eye will discover that the legacy of Kokoschka’s spiritual message and aesthetic means continue the belief that by expressing compassion and joy, art enables others to experience unity, liberation and joy – and this is a real service to humanity.
Edward Sozanski, Art Critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: “Ensrud runs on a special creative fuel that is rare among today's artists: exuberance. Ensrud's exuberance is infectious. It is also the quality that distinguishes him from most other artists working today. Exuberance is not something an artist can fake because it is driven by emotional energy. You can feel that energy in Ensrud's paintings as well as see it. His paintings renew our enthusiasm for life.”
** > click to read ‘WAYNE ENSRUD AND THE ENDURING SPIRIT OF OSKAR KOKoSCHKA’ **
BY NOTED ART HISTORIAN, PETER HASTINGS FALK
Wayne Ensrud:
b. 1934 (Albert Lea, Minnesota)
Education: Minneapolis College of Art and Design, BFA
Protégé of Oskar Kokoschka
Studied with Ben Shahn, Vaclav Vitlacyl, Jacques Lipchitz, Josef Albers
Ensrud has had over 60 exhibitions in the U.S., Europe and Japan including:
Walton Arts Center, Oakland Art Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The New England Center for Contemporary Art, The Bristol Art Museum (Rhode Island), Le Musee du Vin (St Estephe, France), Galerie Esmeralda (Paris), Galerie Damien (Paris), Galeria Piero (Florence), Duboeuf Cultural Center (France), Maison des Vignerons (Chateauneuf du Pape, France), Sansio Gallery (Tokyo), Gallery Sho (Tokyo), Gallery ANA (Tokyo), The French Institute (New York City), Modern Masters Gallery (New York City), Automation House (New York City), Robert Berry Gallery (New York City), Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (New York City), TransFORM Gallery (New York City), RK Parker Gallery (New York City), Fine Art Acquisitions (New York City), Virginia Lynch Gallery (Rhode Island), Apogee Gallery (Boston), Loring Gallery (Cedarhurst, NY), Simon’s Rock Early College, Ravsen Fine Art (New Canaan CT), Mirek Klabal Gallery (Minneapolis), Carmichael/Peterson Galleries (Minneapolis), Artbanque Gallery (Minneapolis), Peach Tree Center (Atlanta), New Gallery on the Square (Kansas City), Symon Gallery (Kansas City), St John’s University (MN), Beard Gallery (Minneapolis), Gardens Gallery Center (Palm Beach Gardens FL), Gallery of Art (Panama City), Robert Mondavi Winery, Maas Bros. (Tampa), Artistic Galleries (Scottsdale AZ), Robert Mondavi Winery, Old State House Museum (Hartford CT), Slater Museum, Buffalo Museum of Science, National Arts Club (New York City), University of Connecticut, University of Florida, St. John’s University (MN), Great Neck Arts Center (New York), Haller Gallery (New York City), Arras-East Trump (New York City), Stuart Gallery (New York City), Village Gallery (New York City), Weinger Gallery (New York City), Modern Masters Gallery (New York City), TransFORM Gallery (New York City), Thomas Jaeckel Gallery (New York City), Venable-Neslage Gallery (Washington DC), Gallery 306 (Philadelphia), Summers Gallery (New Orleans), Pioneer Square Gallery (Seattle), Circle Gallery (Chicago), Washington Avenue Gallery (Minneapolis), Simon’s Rock Early College, TransFORM Gallery (NYC), Hallonen Gallery (Minneapolis), Modern Masters Gallery (New York), National Arts Club (NYC), Meyers Gallery (Chevy Chase), 5 Uptown Independent Artists (Boston), Owl Gallery (San Francisco), Louis Aronow Gallery (San Francisco), Fine Gallery (San Francisco), Robert Mondavi Winery, Duboeuf ‘Hameau du Vin’ Museum (France), Andrew Weiss Gallery (Santa Monica CA),Galerie des Artistes (Puerto Vallarta).
Listings: American Artists Directory, Men of Achievement, The New York Art Review, International Printworld Directory of Contemporary Prints.
Awards: Oscar D’Italia, Lever House Award, Minnesota Hall of Fame, Rothschild Design Award, Grappileur of Beaujolais, Compagnon of Beaujolais and Commandeur d’Honneur du Bontemps de Medoc et des Graves.
Teaching and Lecturing: Pratt Institute, Cumberland School, Simon’s Rock Early College, Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Book References: The Artists Bluebook, AskArt.com, Davenport’s Art Reference: The Gold Edition, Who’s Who In American Art, Who’s Who in the East, Men of Achievement, American Artists: An Illustrated Survey of Leading Contemporary Americans
Collections: New England Center For Contemporary Art, Walton Arts Center, Musee d’Art (Collioure, France), Musee du Vin (Bordeaux), Bristol Art Museum, Lever House Collection, House of Seagram, Moet-Chandon, Robert Mondavi, Mourlot Atelier (Paris), Pari-Mutuel (P.M.U. - France), Markcom Management (Paris), Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Domaine Leflaive, Chateau Pichon-Longueville, Chateau Cos D’Estournel, Chateau Magnol, Sassicaia, Great Neck Arts Center, Federation of Chateauneuf Du Pape, Tony Bennett, Robert Wagner, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzak Perlman, Francis Ford Coppola, Lidia Bastianich, Paul Newman, Alan King, Ernest Borgnine, Zbignew Brzezinski, George Shearing, Paul Bocuse, Georges Duboeuf, Mr. and Mrs. Aubert de Villaine, Thomas Hoving, Sirio Maccioni, Alexis Smith, Liz Smith, Joe Williams, Annie Knize, Wilson Daniels Ltd., Cyril Magnin, Serge Sabarsky, Contessa Borghese, Burgess Meredith, Baron Philipe de Rothschild, Alec Waugh, Alexis Lichine, Count Basie, John Hammond, Carl Pohlad (Owner of the Minnesota Twins), Jayson Pahlmeyer
PRESS QUOTES >
“Wayne Ensrud’s work is brilliantly expressive. His highly individual free handling of clean colors in both oils and watercolors has a truly lyrical and sometimes explosive quality.” - Sigmund Rothschild, A.S.A. – F.S.V.A (Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers)
“Ensrud’s art is like the irresistible puppy in the store window – animated, bubbly and charged with energy. It is the work of a painter who experiences life rather than contemplates it.”
- The New York Times
“There is uninhibited energy, emotion and a sense of the spiritual in the flow and synthesis of life, form and color in Ensrud’s work.”
-The New York Art Review
“ The art of Wayne Ensrud is easily accessible because of his cheerful colors and joy of life…he achieves a remarkable poetic depth.”
- Le Figaro
“Ensrud’s style is based in his Expressionistic color sense. He uses every hue in the box, and he uses them raw, thick and powerful. He is genuinely enraptured with color, and daubs, smears and splashes it around with abandon.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer
“If you like the Impressionists, if you love the Fauves, then you’re sure to adore WAYNE ENSRUD.” - The New York Times
“ ENSRUD uses bright, raw color and an undisguised heavy brushstroke. He sees and combines a synthesis between himself and the outside world, and conveys the vibrancy, energy and feeling that is constantly being released by each subject..” - Elle Magazine
“WAYNE ENSRUD’S paintings are expressions of vitality and zest balanced by his desire for harmony. He feels that painting should be spontaneous and flowing; perhaps these two words are the keys to his work.” - Time-Life
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