Albert Wasserman
Wasserman was a member of the Arts Students League in New York, and won a Pulitzer Scholarship. From the artist's obituary: Albert Wasserman, August 23, 1920 - January 3, 2017. Graduated Evander Childs High School, Bronx, NY 1937. Pulitzer Scholarship 1940 led to National Academy, studied with Sidney E. Dickinson and Ivan Olinsky. 1941 Obrig Prize. Studied at Art Students League with Charles S. Chapman. Served in Army 1944-1946 in Belgium, France and Germany with the 115th anti-aircraft artillery gun battalion. Painted portraits and scenes across Europe. Stationed at the end in Marseille where he met his wife of 55 years, Sylvette Marchetti (deceased). Taught since 1955 at Jackson Heights Art Club and at Educational Alliance Sirovich Senior Center since 2001. Always with a sketchbook even on subway. Attended A.S.L. painting class every Saturday until mid September. Member of Salmagundi Art Club where he won numerous prizes. Always a gentleman and adored by his students. Loved and adored by his children Sandra and Daniel. Missed by all who knew him. May his gorgeous work live on. We were also fortunate to be able to extract the following sections from an article we found on the informative website artsmith dot org, by Tessa Smith: “Mad Artist”: the Painting Life of Albert Wasserman By Tessa Smith Albert Wasserman grew up on Nelson Avenue in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. In his early teens, Wasserman showed natural talent and serious interest in painting. He continued to expand his ability with practice, which included churning out many sketches and paintings of New York City’s oldest standing bridge – The High Bridge. In his senior year at Evander Childs High School in the Northeast Bronx, he was art editor and designer of his graduation yearbook in 1937. From then on, art remained a prominent theme in Wasserman’s life. He taught portrait, oil and still life from his mid-30’s into his 90’s at the Jackson Heights Art Club. In 2001, he began his 16-year stint as a painting instructor at the Sirovich Senior Center in the East Village. “He was very encouraging and he had a way of understanding each individual [artist] and their temperament,” said Gerry McGann, Wasserman’s former student at the Jackson Heights Art Club. In a personal autobiographical account dated November 1, 2011, Wasserman recounted how earlier experiences shaped his teaching style and his artwork. After high school, he took classes at the Art Students League of New York. And a year and half later he was accepted to the Art School of the National Academy. Wasserman won a Pulitzer Scholarship in 1940, which was intended for travel in Western Europe; but World War II was underway. He worked briefly in a defense plant before he was drafted to the Army in December 1943. “There were about 5000 troops and I remember going up the gangplank with a large duffle bag and my paint box dangling on the other side. Some called me the “mad artist.” On board I wound up doing charcoal portraits of all of the officers, including the ship’s captain,” Wasserman wrote. Having been assigned to a technical battalion, Wasserman had some free time to sketch and paint during his tour of duty with the 115th anti-aircraft artillery gun battalion. Near the end of the war, the U.S. opened universities in England and France. Wasserman enrolled in an art program in Biarritz in Southern France. After his military service, he returned to the U.S. a married man. Although he did a few commissioned pieces, Wasserman did commercial artwork for an ad agency to support his growing family. “He had an incredibly prolific art life in spite of everything,” Sandra said. “Some of his drawings from WWII are in a military museum up at Brown University… so his stuff is somewhere that will last.” Two of Wasserman’s paintings – “Luigi” and “Studio Artist” – are on display in the permanent collection at the Salmagundi Club. At the end of the visit, Artsmith collected more than supplies for its upcoming projects. Wasserman’s story was a reminder that the Arts enriches lives and builds bridges. _____________________ Tessa Smith is an Antiguan-born, NYC-Based writer who writes about the Arts and entrepreneurship.
Albert Wasserman was born in 1920 and grew up during the Roaring 20s and Great Depression in Bronx, New York. By his early teens, he was feeding a blossoming art talent with flurries of sketches and paintings, a practice he continued throughout his prolific career. He was educated at the Art Students League of New York and the Art School of the National Academy. He won the Obrig Prize from the National Academy of Design, and was also awarded a Pulitzer Scholarship to travel Europe for art. However, he ended up shipping off to Europe to fight WW2 with the 115th anti-aircraft artillery gun battalion. He was known as the “mad artist,” and captured scenes of army life in charcoal. As the war ended, he was even able to enroll in an art program in France. He met his wife in Marseille and traveled back home to start a family. Though Wasserman was hired by an ad agency, his passion for fine art continued — he carried his sketchbook even on the subway to draw and paint en plein air, and loved to study natural environments and individual characters in a realist-impressionist style. Starting in his mid-30s, he taught portrait, oil and still life at the Jackson Heights Art Club, and for 16 years he taught painting at the Sirovich Senior Center. Gerry McGann, a former student, said that “he was very encouraging and he had a way of understanding each individual [artist] and their temperament”.
Wasserman never sought prestige in the gallery scene; he painted and taught quietly for love of the art. He did win prizes at the Salmagungi Club, and two of his paintings are displayed in their permanent collection. However, most of his canvasses were piled in his house when he died in January 2017, and many were distributed to charitable organizations.
Sources include:
Artsmith, https://artsmith.org/mad-artist/
AskArt, https://www.askart.com/artist/Albert_Wasserman/10056927/Albert_Wasserman.aspx
Live Auctioneers, https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/53986131_albert-wasserman-original-signed-oil-on-canvas