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Antonio Jacobsen

(1850-1921)

Jacobsen is considered to have been the most prolific and the most well known painter of ships in Europe or America. Ship painting or ship portraiture holds a unique position in the history of canvas art. They were decorative as well as practical. The clients of such pictures were most often shipmasters or their owners whose first concerns were the accuracy and beauty of representation. They could hang in the captains quarters or in the offices of shipyards to bolster the prowess of the company. Because of the greater significance and presence of shipping and the maritime industry for travel, commerce and the military in the late nineteenth century, their appearance for the public and for clients in paintings served an important role in representation and public relations. No other artist was as central in this role as Jacobsen.

The artist came to New York from Denmark in 1871 and after abandoning a career in music soon found work in ship drawing after he was seen sketching around the docks of New York City. His childhood fascination with boats and sailing soon turned into a lucrative career that lasted almost fifty years. The number of boats and ships in harbors such as New York is almost inconceivable; there was no shortage of captains and shipmasters that wanted a picture of their ships. Jacobsen learned to master his craft with efficiency and dexterity like few artists ever could. 3,000 of his paintings are listed in official records of the time and as many as 6,000 are believed to have been painted in his lifetime. His paintings today now hang in nearly every major marine exhibit in America ands Europe.

Collections:
The Mariner’s Museum, Virginia
Bulter Institute of American Art
Farnsworth Art Museum
Museum of the City of New York
New Jersey State Museum
New York Historical Society
Ohio Historical Society
Peabody Essex Museum
Penobscot Marine Museum
Shelburne Museum, Vermont
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Columbus Museum of Art-Ohio
The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport
The Museum of Arts and Sciences
The Newark Museum

The White House

Ventura County Maritime Museum

Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art


ARTWORK: Antonio Jacobsen