Albert Landry

LT in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Co A

ASN#12039433

Born 1915 in NY, Died 2001

Artist

County of residence at enlistment: Kings County, NY

Other residence(s): New York, NY; Detroit, MI; Paris; Saratoga Springs, NY

United States Army, European Theatre of Operations

Occupation before the war: commercial artists

College education before the war: Columbia 4 years

College education after the war: Columbia, Académie Fernand Léger (Paris)

Notes: birth name Albert Edward Levine

Source: Company A Roster; Roster of 23d HQ officers, from family of Oscar Seale

NOTE: The second of the two records in the roster lists a NY residence; the 23rd officers roster from which it comes lists the address as 373 Bloocher Street. There is no such street. But I found a 1948 record of an Albert Landry traveling from NYC to LeHavre with a NYC address of 373 Bleecker Street. (Obviously the correct and well-known street name.) The travel data (including Albert's age) matches the info in an obituary of an Albert Landry who "participated in the D-Day invasion" (a common misstatement in GA obituaries) and who graduated from Columbia in 1948 and went to study art in France (thus the 1948 ship date). And the birthdate of this Albert Landry (per the obituary) matches draft and enlistment records of a NY Albert Landry who changed his name in 1940 from Albert E. Levine. The middle initial of "M" in the roster record seems to be an error.

In the NARA records, there are only 3 Albert Landry's who enlisted in NYC--and only one of those was born in New York (the other two were born in New England and had a middle initial J).

Albert Landry was born Albert Edward Levine in Brooklyn, New York on October 9, 1915. He was one of two children, and his parents were both born in Russia. At the time of the 1940 census, he was still in college, and working as a salesman in an artists' store. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, he found work as a commercial artist. In the summer of 1940 he changed his name to Albert Landry (per his Social Security record), and his draft registration from October 16, 1940 shows the name change (Levine crossed out, Landry written in, and signatures in both names).

He enlisted in the Army on December 27, 1941, and served as an officer with the Ghost Army in Europe. His obituary states that he "participated in the D-Day invasion in the European theatre."

After returning to New York, he earned a Master's degree in art history from Columbia University in 1948, and then traveled to Paris to study painting at Académie Fernand Léger, and to work as assistant director for Galerie Villand-Gallanis in Paris until 1954. (Fellow Ghost Army veteran Chris Lawless was also a student at the Académie during part of his time there.)

After returning to the US, he served as director of special projects for Associated American Artists from 1954-1959, and president of Albert Landry Galleries from 1959-1963. He was then hired to direct the J. L. Hudson Gallery at the downtown branch of Hudson's Department Store in Detroit; while there, he also served as an advisor to the Detroit Institute of Arts. He was in Detroit from 1963-1967; a newspaper article about him in 1965 discusses his own collections: "His table-top collection of art includes the little things that have struck his fancy in small antique shops all over the world. They include the figure of Christ broken from an old Spanish cross, glazed pottery perfume bottles from Mexico, a door knocker from the ruins of Pompeii, and a miniature Greek horse."

He then became vice-president of Marlborough Galleries in New York (headquartered in London) and later advisor and curator for the London Arts Group. He served as publisher and distributor of original graphics and multiples for Nabis Fine Arts of New York until 1974. An associate for the Gruenebaum Gallery of New York from 1977-1980, he continued working as a private dealer and a consultant for major corporate clients including Avon, Ford, Smith Barney, and US Steel. He was also a consultant and associate for Landry-Settles Inc. and the David Settles Gallery Ltd. in Houston, TX, and was affiliated with Stephen P. Edlich & Co. until 1986.

One of his favorite premises was that "Americans need more art in their streets. In Europe, one is constantly turning a corner and running into some fine statuary in parks or public squares. The common man knows them all, and has the opportunity to see and enjoy them constantly."

In 1975, he married Suzanne Ames, a fascinating woman in her own right. Suzanne was born in Chicago and grew up in Akron, Ohio. She was an honor student at her girls' Catholic high school, but ballet was her love, and she moved to New York at the age of 17 where she auditioned for, and won a place at, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. She also appeared in numerous Hollywood films as a dancer, and danced off and on until the mid-70s.

She was also an executive of Atlanta's Performing Arts Center and head of a US State Department cultural exchange program with Brazil. Then she went into music publishing where she became a copyright specialist, finishing out her career as VP for EMI Music Publishing in New York.

After Albert retired, he and Suzanne moved to Saratoga Springs.

Albert died on May 13, 2001.