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Dick Duerrstein has the innate ability to capture the essence of the character while playfully (and respectfully) reinventing the energy of the original. Working with drawings gathered from the archives of Chuck Jones, he has re-interpreted the sauciness and droll draftsmanship of one of the most iconic animation directors and character creators of the last century. This event featured live performances (painting by Dick Duerrstein and musical performance by Rob Evan,) and an auction to benefit autistic children being healed by The Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation.
Event Details | A Legend in His Own Line: Dick Duerrstein & Broadway's Rob Evan for Nordoff-Robbins. November 20th, 2004
| Duerrstein / Evan / Nordoff-Robbins Event Photos | ||||||
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Dick Duerrstein has the innate ability to capture the essence of the character while playfully (and respectfully) reinventing the energy of the original. Working with drawings gathered from the archives of Chuck Jones, he has re-interpreted the sauciness and droll draftsmanship of one of the most iconic animation directors and character creators of the last century.
As a young child growing up in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, Dick Duerrstein was always drawing. He loved to draw battle scenes and cars, especially cars that had been designed and painted by the iconic Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth. His mother’s shopping list always included a note to buy him another ream of white paper, as he quickly filled every inch of both sides of each sheet with his meticulous graphite drawings. After high school, he studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena while working for a graphics firm.
His passion for art, along with his love of Disney comics and movies, fostered in him the dream of someday working for the Walt Disney Studios and in 1976 he began his career at Disney as Creative Director for their Consumer Products Division. Designing Disney merchandise for the national market, Duerrstein worked alongside many of the foremost animation artists of the 20th Century, including Ward Kimball, Marc Davis (and incidentally, with Chuck Jones at Warner Bros.) For the next 22 years, Dick had the opportunity to use his talent in many diverse ways, developing his own unique style that is prevalent in his paintings today.
His experience at Disney working on a wide variety of projects has given Dick a world-class sense of design. His artwork has adorned everything from record album covers and clothing to fine collectible items such as cel portfolios, art glass and furniture. Some of his published works include a series of three children’s books that he illustrated, and a fine art serigraph series of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck. Dick began perfecting his current style of painting over fifteen years ago. Finding inspiration in the work of contemporary artists such as Keith Haring, Andy Warhol and David Hockney, he has imbued his paintings of cartoon characters with new life.
At home in his studio, Dick begins each painting by simply layering each aspect of the character, color by color, so that each painting expands beyond character interpretation. Working primarily on canvas in acrylics and oil pastels, his striking, contemporary style brings his images to life in a dramatic and unforgettable fashion. The vibrant colors and bold brushwork of his art create a sense of movement, excitement and reverence for the creative process. He truly enjoys the process of discovery involved in the conception and execution of his paintings, knowing that he can bring his imagination to life on the canvas for all to share.
Duerrstein’s work can be found in the Walt Disney Studio corporate offices, Burbank, California; The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. and St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and private collections worldwide. Currently his work is seen in “The Art of Mickey Mouse” exhibition traveling through Japan.
Inspired not only by the animation artists he has worked so closely with but also with such diverse draftsman as Leonardo da Vinci and Von Dutch, Duerrstein has recently found inspiration from the animation drawings of Chuck Jones. “I believe I bring the spontaneity of his [Chuck Jones] original drawing to the forefront of my paintings, where the viewer can see the action up close. The backgrounds reflect the age and use of the original drawings, grounding them in history.” Duerrstein has been working on a series of paintings that explore the relationship between the drawn line and the personality of the cartoon characters made famous by the legendary creator and director, Chuck Jones. Linda Jones Enterprises is pleased to represent original and limited edition works of art by Dick Duerrstein.
Robert Evan starred in the original Broadway cast of Jekyll & Hyde, playing the title roles for three years and over 600 performances. His rendition of This Is the Moment has been performed at numerous prestigious events including the 2001 Inaugural Gala for President George W. Bush, the Millennium Independence Day US Naval Revue aboard the USS JFK for President Clinton, the Millennium World Forum Conference with guest speaker Mikhail Gorbachev, the 1998 Goodwill Games, the New York City Mayor's Inaugural Gala, the 1998 and 1999 NY Yankees World Series Celebration at City Hall, The Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards Telecast, the Today Show, and Monday Night Football. He recently stood-by for Michael Crawford as The Count Von Krolock in Dance of the Vampires at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway.
Robert also appeared on Broadway as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and was chosen to lead the critically acclaimed National Touring Company to its history-making stop on Broadway. Off-Broadway, Robert created the roles of The Dancin' Kid in Johnny Guitar and the hero Miles Hendon in The Prince and the Pauper.
Regionally, Robert originated the role of Nanki-Poo in the TUTS/Pittsburgh CLO premiere of the Hot Mikado. On tour, he has been seen in Les Miserables as Valjean, Jekyll & Hyde (title roles), Hello, Dolly! with the late Madeline Kahn, and By George! Robert, seasonally, tours with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Eve and Other Stories rock show as their featured vocalist. Robert has played MacHeath in Three Penny, Jesus in Superstar, Tommy in Brigadoon, the Red Shadow in Desert Song, and Anatoly in Chess. Robert produced and starred in the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids NY Benefit Concert of Chess at the John Houseman Theater and at the Helen Hayes PAC. His TV credits include All My Children on the ABC network. As a concert artist, Robert inaugurated the Broadway Series of concerts at NY's China Club. He has performed throughout the US for numerous corporate audiences including Paine Webber, Pfizer, AXA, IBM, KPMG, and Seagram's, among others. He made his cabaret debut with The Kid Inside at NY's Arci's Place to great reviews from the New York Times. He headlined with his big band at the Mohegan Sun in March 2002.
Robert has been regularly featured with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra and is a recipient of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Talent Award in 1989. He was awarded the 1999 "Shining Star" award by the Leukemia Society of America and honored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America for his charitable support.
Recordings include Jekyll & Hyde (OBC, Atlantic), The Civil War (Atlantic), Zorro the Musical, Cyrano (concept), The Broadway Musicals of 1940 (BayView), The Prince and the Pauper (OOBC, JAY), Johnny Guitar (OOBC), and the upcoming Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s third Christmas Album, The Lost Christmas (Atlantic).
A native of Monticello, Georgia, Rob is a former varsity athlete at the University of Georgia, where he majored in Finance. His favorite roles continue to be that of husband to Beate and father to Johan, Max, and Birk. Check Rob out on the web at www.rob-evan.com.
