Mr. Albert’s Art World
By Lydia Kacala
The late Northeast Ohio businessman Albert Wasserman collected a wealth of art from Cleveland School artists, spanning pieces created around the region over decades.
On Oct. 4, WOLFS Gallery in Beachwood will present the art collection of Wasserman, who owned Cleveland menswear shop Mr. Albert’s Men’s World, in a new exhibit. It will include pieces for sale and highlight the works Wasserman collected from Cleveland School artists, Michael Wolf, director of WOLFS Gallery, tells Canvas.
The exhibit is on view through Nov. 9.
“Albert Wasserman collected what we call Cleveland School art and decorative arts,” Wolf says, adding that the Cleveland School is an umbrella term for artists who worked in the region.
Traditionally, the Cleveland School artists began as students or faculty at the Cleveland School of Art, now the Cleveland Institute of Art, who gained notoriety locally and beyond. The works encapsulated in the name “Cleveland School” span from the early 1900s through the early 2000s, according to a news release from WOLFS Gallery.
Through this time period, art and artists evolved, with some exploring regionalism, involving realistic depictions of rural America and Neo-expressionism, which is characterized by expressive brushstrokes paired with the rejection of traditional composition, the release notes.
The Wasserman Collection
Wasserman, born June 26, 1930, founded Mr. Albert’s Men’s World, which first opened at 14959 St. Clair Ave. in Cleveland. At his shop, Wasserman sold “rather exotic” pieces of menswear, Wolf says.
The shop is now housed at 618 Prospect Ave. in Cleveland and owned by Ike Simmons, who sells clothing – blazers, bow ties, dress shirts and pants, shoes and more – similar to the items Wasserman sold, according to Cleveland Magazine.
Wasserman built his art collection with pieces from different periods and media, but he was especially drawn to ceramics and paintings, Wolf says. His collection was broad, collecting from different artists and themes.
“He was more interested in quality examples of different artists,” Wolf says.
However, his interests leaned toward contemporary art and art made in the early 1900s, says Christopher Pekoc, a mixed-media artist and retired professor who taught painting and drawing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland for 30 years.
Wasserman’s collection included paintings of people and landscapes, as well as ceramic sculptures of people and animals.
Some pieces on display in the exhibit include “Floral Study,” an 8 x 8 inch painting of blue and red flowers made of copper enamel by Cleveland artist Kenneth Bates (1904-1994), and “Girl in Pink Sweater,” a 14-inch tall ceramic statute of a girl from the waist up wearing a pink sweater by Cleveland artist Edris Eckhardt (1905-1998).
Wasserman on display
Wasserman’s interest and involvement in the art world was also demonstrated by the connection he built with Pekoc. He was first exposed to Pekoc’s artwork at a showing at art gallery Tregoning & Company, Pekoc recalls.
“My work must have somehow piqued Albert’s interests, and in the back of his mind, he had always wanted to have a portrait done of himself,” Pekoc says.
opening Oct. 4. Canvas Photo / Lydia Kacala
Wasserman commissioned Pekoc to create his portrait in 2010.
When creating portraits, Pekoc likes to ensure the people they’re depicting have some ownership in them. He and Wasserman worked together to come up with ideas that would show off Wasserman the man.
“I told Albert, ‘We need to have some of your life in here, would you write about your life experiences, some of the important ones that come to your mind?’” Pekoc recalls. “At first, he was resistant.”
Wasserman tried to convince Pekoc to not include his handwriting because he didn’t “write very well” and had dyslexia, Pekoc says. However, including his handwriting was something Pekoc wanted to incorporate because “that’s evidence of your mind at work,” he says.
As the portrait was being created, Wasserman enjoyed going to the art studio, growing closer with Pekoc and often inviting him to lunch, Pekoc says. Wasserman also began asking him to add more details to the portrait, even asking him to increase the size of the piece by six inches in width.
The composition of the portrait took about seven years, with last-minute additions of his two children’s and three grandchildren’s written testimonials, Pekoc notes.
“Albert would call me and he would say, ‘Chris, you’re a genius,’” Pekoc says. “He was very, very involved in watching this thing come together. Then, as time went on, he started to call and say, ‘Chris, I’m going to die, you gotta get this thing done.’ So no longer was I a genius at that point, I was sort of the Grim Reaper.”
The piece was finally completed in 2017, shortly before Wasserman died in August of that year, Pekoc says. Even though he was weak by the time the portrait was finished, Wasserman did get an opportunity to see it.
The WOLFS treatment
Wolf opened his first gallery in the Coventry neighborhood of Cleveland Heights before he moved to Santa Monica, Calif., where he opened an auction house, he says. Years later, he moved back to the Cleveland area and opened WOLFS Gallery, which started as an auction house and evolved to the curated gallery it is today in Beachwood.
“Everything here is something we’ve selected,” Wolf says. “The whole gallery is really curated and very different from the auction house. To me, it’s been much more gratifying because we’re dealing specifically with things we’ve chosen to deal with.”
When putting together the Wasserman exhibit, the gallery combed through his collection, choosing pieces that capture the essence of his collection through its “connoisseurship,” Wolf says.
The Wasserman collection was shared with WOLFS Gallery because of its close connection with Cleveland School artwork, Wolf adds.
“We feature Cleveland School works,” Wolf says. “Ever since we were an auction house, we’ve been known for selling the works of the Cleveland School. It was natural for his family to gravitate to us.”
On view
WOLFS Gallery will open the Albert Wasserman collection on
Oct. 4 at 23645 Mercantile Road, Beachwood. The show is on view through Nov. 9. For more information, visit wolfsgallery.com.
