Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (1850-1921)
La Champagne, c. 1890
Oil on canvas
22 x 36 1/8 in. (55.9 x 91.8 cm.)
Private collection
Sold for $8,500 USD in May 2022
The La Champagne was a French steel steamer commissioned in 1885 by Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) in St. Nazaire alongside her sister ships La Bourgogne, La Bretagne, and La Gascogne. These four steamers would service CGT's route between Le Havre and New York. La Champagne was built to accommodate 390 first class, 65 second class, and 600 third class passengers and could travel at speeds of up to 17 knots. She was launched on May 15th, 1885 and approximately a year later in May 1886 departed Le Havre, France on her maiden voyage to New York, running this route until 1905.
In 1898, she made headlines with both the American and French press when alarmingly she was a week late arriving to New York and presumed missing. She was eventually discovered adrift at sea with 464 souls on board in desperate need of assistance.
In the present work, Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen depicts the La Champagne in all her glory traversing across a stormy Atlantic ocean. The strong winds of the storm overhead have ripped two of her sails from their masts and tangled the one nearest her bow. Not only does La Champagne battle harsh winds, but the waves are so treacherous that they've reached her top decks taking with them one of her lifeboats. Despite these terrifying conditions, La Champagne and her crew push forward hopeful to arrive safely to port. Jacobsen has not only depicted in painstaking detail the likeness of one of France's most distinguished liners at the turn of the century, but masterfully created a scene filled with excitement and suspense.
More on this painting
Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (November 2, 1850 – February 2, 1921) was a Danish-born American maritime artist known as the "Audubon of Steam Vessels". He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark where he attended the Royal Academy of Design before heading across the Atlantic Ocean. He arrived in the United States in August 1873 and settled in West Hoboken, New Jersey (now Union City, New Jersey), across the Hudson River from Manhattan and New York Harbor. Jacobsen got his start painting pictures of ships on safes, and as his reputation grew, he was asked to do portraits of ships by their owners, captains and crew members, with many of his works sold for five dollars.
Jacobsen painted more than 6,000 portraits of sail and steam vessels, making him "the most prolific of marine artists". Many of his commissions came from sea captains, and Jacobsen was chosen both for the accuracy of his work and his low fee. More Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen
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