Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (1850-1921)
1892
| SS Louisiana Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (1850-1921) 1892 |
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| Known as the "Audubon
of Steam Vessels," Antonio Jacobsen was born in
Copenhagen, Denmark, and received his art training there
at the Royal Academy. Jacobsen immigrated to American in
1871 and took a job painting decorations on commercial
safes for the Marvin Safe Company in New York City. With
the encouragement of a steamship company, Jacobsen turned
his attention toward portraits of ships and marine
images. In 1880 he relocated his studio and residence
permanently to West Hoboken, New Jersey. Although he probably never visited Louisiana, he received numerous painting commissions between 1876 and 1909 from the locally based shipping lines of Central American Steamship Company, Morgan Line, an New Orleans Belize Royal Mail. These companies often asked Jacobsen to render the image of a particular ship for each port where the companies maintained an office. Consequently, it was relatively common for him to paint numerous portraits of the same ship, only in different settings. As a method of an advertisement, Jacobsen would frequently add his address, 705 Palisade Av., West Hoboken, N.J. below his signature. At times, he employed his two sons, Carl and Alphonse, to paint the water and sky, leaving Jacobsen the task of delineating the ship itself. His images of the ships were often based on the plans and blueprints supplied by the companies. The State Museum has eleven paintings by Jacobsen, including three of the SS Louisiana at sea. By the
same artist: |