ANTONIO NICOLO GASPERO JACOBSEN (NY/NJ/DENMARK

Port View Portrait of the Sidewheeler "Larchmont" Underway off a low Coastline, oil on canvas, signed lower right and dated 1905, in an American red walnut molded cove frame with ebonized ranks, etched gilt liner, OS: 26: x 40:, SS: 22" x 36". Cleaned and relined. On Feb. 11, 1907, in one of New England's worst maritime tragedies, the stately 1600 ton 252 foot steamer "Larchmont" sank in icy waters off Watch Hill, Westerly, Rhode Island, after a collision with the trim three-masted schooner "Harry Knowlton", losing all but 19 of the 153 on board. The paddle wheel steamship Larchmont was built in 1885 in Bath, Maine and was originally named Cumberland. In 1902 she was purchased by the Joy Steamship Line and re-named Larchmont.Jacobsen was born in Copenhagen, moving to West Hoboken, New Jersey when he was 23, where he cultivated clientele among ship captains by painting their ships on safes. He was the most prolific of maritime artists, creating more than 6,000 works, many priced at only $5, earning him the nickname of the "Audubon of Steam Vessels". The public rooms of The Griswold Inn in Essex, Connecticut, the oldest continuously run tavern in the United States, features the largest privately held collection of Jacobsen's paintings. Provenance: From the Nicholas Estate, Owls Head ME.