Wende Kasso’s full name was Marjorie Wende Kasso, and sometimes she also used M.W. Kasso, or M. Wende.  She was born in 1922 in Buffalo, NY, and won a full scholarship to Syracuse University and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts with an Illustration major.  She painted detailed stylized paintings often with a high degree of symbolism.

She married William Oscar Kasso, another artist, and lived on Patchin Place on 10th Street in the late 40’s and early 50s. She was active in New York City, and had many shows in the 1940s through the 60s at the F.A.R., Bodley, and other galleries in Midtown Manhattan and on Long Island.  Most of her shows sold out quickly, but in later years her symbolism included darker images and symbols and these were not as popular in the market so some of these remain in the family (unsold) which is just as good as these were among her favorite paintings. Shestopped painting about 1985.

Many of her paintings included lions or animals and dreamlike scenes with human characters.

Source:
Information courtesy of Jonathan Kasso, the artist's son