Antonio Jacobsen

American, born Denmark, 1850–1921

Antonio Jacobsen grew up in a family of violinmakers in Copenhagen. His father encouraged him to attend the Danish Royal Academy of Design, where Antonio studied until his money ran out. When he turned eighteen, he moved to America to escape being drafted into the Danish military. Jacobsen spent his days at Battery Park in New York City, looking for work and sketching the ships sailing in and out of the harbor. An employee of Marvin Safe Company noticed his drawings and offered him a job decorating safes. Many shipowners and captains were impressed with his sketches and commissioned him to paint images to commemorate their boats. Once he was established, steamship companies even asked him to paint "portraits" of all the ships in their fleets.

Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum