Theodore Milton Wassmer was born on February 23, 1910 to Hester Hall and Theodore James Wassmer in Salt Lake City, Utah, the eldest of their eight children. In 1925, Wassmer left school to assist in supporting his family; by 1929, with the Great Depression, he was the sole supporter of his parents and siblings. At the same time, he was developing and pursuing an interest in art. Wassmer worked in a hardware store while studying landscape painting and mural painting at night and on the weekends. He studied mural painting with Florence E. Ware. He also worked as a model and background painter for Ware, who painted the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall murals under a Works Progress Administration project grant, which was headed in Utah at the time by Wassmer’s future wife Judy Farnsworth Lund.
In 1941, Wassmer was approached by a talent scout from Paramount Studios. However, his Hollywood career was interrupted by the United States’ entry into World War II. In January 1942 Wassmer enlisted in the Air Force and spent three years at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas. In July 1944, Wassmer was diagnosed with appendicitis and underwent surgery; afterwards, his right arm, which was his painting arm, was paralyzed; in time, he discovered that a cervical nerve had severed from his backbone, causing the paralysis. He was sent to Bushnell General Hospital in Brigham City for treatment. Wassner was discharged from the Air Force in October 1945 as a sergeant, with only limited use of his right arm. During his recovery, he began painting with his left hand.
Wassmer married Judy Farnsworth Lund in December 1945 in New York City. The two studied painting at the Art Student's League in New York City and Woodstock. After focusing on learning portrait painting, Wassmer opened a studio in the Carnegie Hall tower in New York City. After two years painting portraits, Wassmer turned his study to impressionistic and post impressionistic painting, observing and copying from originals. To further their art education, Wassmer and Lund made two trips to Europe to study the museums of Spain and Italy.
In 1952, the couple purchased a house in the rural setting of Bearsville, New York, where they lived for the next 30 years until returning to Salt Lake City in 1985. From their personal art collection of American and European painters, they donated over 700 works to the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah, to Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, and to the Brigham City Museum. These collected paintings are known as the Lund-Wassmer Collections. In 1990, the Springville Museum of Art held a 60-year retrospective show (1930-1990) of 100 of Wassmer's works from around the country. Over 2000 paintings by Ted Wassmer are held in private collections, museums, and colleges or schools around the United States and Europe. Wassner died on November 26, 2006 at the age of 96.
The Theodore Milton Wassmer photograph collection contains color slides, color photographs, and black and white prints depicting Wassner's artwork, created between 1940 and 1999. It also contains photographs of Wassner, his family, and his associates.
Arranged by subject
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Theodore Milton Wassmer photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Donated by Theodore Milton Wassmer in 1999.
Processed by Claire A. Kempa in 2021.
See also the Theodore Milton Wassmer papers (MS 0655) and the Julia Farnsworth Lund Wassmer papers (Accn 1599) in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.