S.S. Oceana 1915

Here is Antonio Jacobsen’s painting of the S.S. Oceana. Look at the way he’s built up the sky with thin layers of blues, greys and whites. The clouds are soft and smudgy. I can imagine him carefully blending those colours, trying to capture the feel of a breezy day at sea. The ship itself is so detailed and precise. I imagine Jacobsen standing at his easel, squinting at the real ship, trying to get every line just right. The water looks choppier, doesn’t it? See how the brushstrokes get more vigorous near the base of the painting? It’s as if he’s letting off steam there, after all that careful work on the ship. Marine painting has always been a specialist genre. I see Jacobsen as part of a long line of artists inspired by the sea. Each one adds their own vision to the conversation, don’t they? Painting is like that, a constant back-and-forth. There is so much love and intention poured into this image, and it's open for us to pour our own in too.