The Yacht Defender, on a Leeward Reach by Sandy Hook 

Antonio Jacobsen’s ‘The Yacht Defender, on a Leeward Reach by Sandy Hook’ is an oil painting, a medium long associated with fine art. Yet Jacobsen was far from an establishment figure. He was a prolific commercial artist, a portraitist of ships, working to commission. His clients were often ship owners or captains who sought to immortalize their vessels. The picture, therefore, had to be precise; his success depended on capturing the details accurately. He produced thousands of these portraits, each attesting to his skill and efficiency. But look closer, and you’ll notice that the waves are highly conventionalized, almost formulaic. This wasn’t art for art’s sake; it was art for money’s sake. Jacobsen was not alone in this regard. Many artists of his era, particularly those working in commercial genres, found themselves caught between the demands of artistic expression and the need to make a living. This painting reminds us that all art is made within a specific social and economic context, and that the materials and processes used by an artist are always shaped by these factors.