This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Vastervik, Sweden, Oscar Jacobson painted several hundred landscapes of the Southwest and West in states including Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. Although he devoted much of his time and energy to the teaching of art, during the summers, he was in virtually all of the West excepting Death Valley and southern Oklahoma, and during sabbaticals, he painted in Morocco and France. Much of his painting was from his Rocky Mountain studio near Allenspark, Colorado.
Jacobson was brought to the United States in 1890 at age eight, and at age 13 ran away from his family farm in Kansas to work on ranches farther west. His idea apparently was to earn money to pay for his education, and by 1916, he had accomplished that goal. In 1908, he graduated from Bethany College in Linsborg, Kansas, where he was the pupil of Birger Sandzen. From 1911 to 1915, he taught in the state of Washington, where he met and married Jeanne D'Ucel, an exchange teacher from France. Later they wrote articles together about American Indian and Oklahoma non-Indian artists.
He also studied at the Louvre in Paris and earned a degree from Yale University in 1916. After that, until 1945, he taught at the University of Oklahoma, was Director of the School of Art, and was sponsor, benefactor, and guide to fame of the Indian painters' guild, "Five Kiowas." These Native American artists, whose work Jacobson admired, were brought to the University by him and given studio space. The expanded group of 31 artists earned international attention when their work was exhibited at the Prague Expo of 1928.
Of Jacobson's service to the University of Oklahoma, art historian Doris Dawdy wrote: "He used his considerable knowledge of art history, and his lectures and teaching, to imbue his students with courage to break with the provincialism in art that dominated much of the country during the first thirty years of this century."
He lectured widely for the Park Service and was a technical advisor for the Public Works Administration.
Written by Lonnie Pierson Dunbier
Sources:
Peggy and Harold Samuels, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West
Doris Dawdy, Artists of the American West, Volume III
Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art
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Exhibition Record (Museums, Institutions and Awards):
6th McPherson Exhibition 1916; Annual Exhibition of the Artists of Kansas City and Vicinity, 1921; 15th McPherson Exhibition (Catalogue of the Annual Art Exhibit. McPherson: McPherson High School Press, 1911-35) 1925; 25th McPherson Exhibition (Catalogue of the Annual Art Exhibit. McPherson: McPherson High School Press, 1911-35) 1935; Corcoran Gallery Biennial. 116 | |
Memberships:
College Art Association; Oklahoma Art Association; American Federation of Arts; Southern States Art League; Society of Independent Artists. |
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born Westerwick, Sweden, May 16, 1882; died Norman, OK, 1966. Painter, specialized in portraits. Writer. Teacher. Etcher, specialized in landscapes and Native American genre. Served as an assistant instructor in art at Bethany College, Lindsborg, in 1902-03 and studied there in 1908 as a pupil of Birger Sandzén. Worked as a teacher in Minneapolis, MN from 1911-15. Studied at the Louvre in Paris in 1914 and earned a degree from Yale University in 1916. Lectured nationally for the Park Service and was a technical advisor for Public Works Administration. Taught at the University of Oklahoma from1915-1945 where he sponsored the “Five Kiowas,” Native American painters he guided to international prominence. Wrote Kiowa Art, Les Peintres Indiens d’Amerique, and Costumes Indiens de l’Amerique du Nord. Instrumental in establishing the art museum at the University of Oklahoma and served as the museum director until 1952. | Source:
COLLECTIONS:
Sandzén Memorial Art Gallery; McPherson Art Gallery; Broadmoor Art Academy; Oklahoma State Capitol; Hayes Normal School; Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art; Oklahoma Hall of Fame; Oklahoma City Museum of Art; Woolaroc Museum.
MEMBERSHIPS:
College Art Association; Oklahoma Art Association; American Federation of Arts; Southern States Art League; Society of Independent Artists.
SOURCES:
Susan Craig, "Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945)"
Newlin, Gertrude Dix (Development of Art in Kansas. Typed Manuscript, 1951); Who’s Who in American Art. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1936- v.1=1936-37 v.3= 1941-42 v.2=1938-39 v.4=1940-47. 1, 2, 3, 4; Sain, Lydia. Kansas Artists, compiled by Lydia Sain from 1932 to 1948. Typed Manuscript, 1948.; Fielding, Mantle. Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, with an Addendum containing Corrections and Additional Material on the Original Entries. Compiled by James F. Carr. New York: James F. Carr Publ., 1965.; Reinbach, Edna, comp. “Kansas Art and Artists”, in Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society. v. 17, 1928. p. 571-585.; Dawdy, Doris Ostrander. Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary. Chicago: Swallow Press, 1974. Heldeman – Julius Quarterly ( Jan 1927); Samuels, Peggy. Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1976.; American Art Annual. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1898-194714/18/20/22/24/26; Who’s Who in American Art. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1936- v.1=1936-37 v.3= 1941-42 v.2=1938-39 v.4=1940-47. 6,7; Annual Exhibition of the Artists of Kansas City and Vicinity (Kansas City Art Institute, 1915-21) 1921; 100 Years of Art; AskArt, www.askart.com, accessed Dec. 16, 2005; Jacobson House, "http://www.jacobsonhouse.com/oscar.html" http://www.jacobsonhouse.com/oscar.html , Accessed Dec. 16, 2005; Oscar Brousse Jacobson: Oklahoma Painter (Norman: University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, 1990); Dawdy 3: Dawdy, Doris Ostrander. Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary. Volume 3. Chicago: Swallow Press, 1985.. | | This and over 1,750 other biographies can be found in Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945) compiled by Susan V. Craig, Art & Architecture Librarian at University of Kansas. |
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