Enzo Russo was born and raised in Florence, Italy. He attended the School of Fine Arts at the University of Florence. Mr. Russo was fortunate to have three extraordinary teachers. The first, Ottone Rosai, one of the major Italian artists of that time, had a strong influence in his formation as an artist. Enzo says, "I learned much from him about balancing the strict rules of academic learning with the search for my own direction." The second teacher, Gioavanni Colacicchi, was a living encyclopedia of technical knowledge. His insatiable thirst for learning influenced Enzo's intellectual posture. The third teacher, Giorgio de Chirico, regarded as the father of modern Surrealism, Enzo considers to be one of the two greatest masters of the 20th Century, the other being Balthus. De Chirico was a man of formidable intellect and outstanding intuition. His unique vision strongly inspired Enzo's early work and lighted his way through the perplexing maze of modern art. The two men established a long and close friendship. Following an award by the Salzburg Seminar for the Arts and Letters, they traveled to Salzburg, Austria, where they made the acquaintance of Pulitzer Prize art historian Oliver Larkin. Deeply impressed with their work, Mr. Larkin, who was the chief moderator of the seminar, sought their friendship and became instrumental in Enzo's coming to America. The following year, Enzo was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in the visual arts becoming the first known foreign artist to receive such recognition. In 1968, with the sponsorship of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Smithsonian Institution and Oliver Larkin, Enzo received "distinguished foreigner status" and was later accorded American citizenship.