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Anton Otto Fischer | |
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| Born | Anton Otto Fischer (1882-02-23)February 23, 1882 Regensburg, Germany |
| Died | March 26, 1962(1962-03-26) (aged 80) |
| Resting place | Montrepose Cemetery,Kingston, New York |
| Known for | Illustration, painting |
Anton Otto Fischer (February 23, 1882 – March 26, 1962) was a German-born American illustrator forThe Saturday Evening Post.
Born in Germany and orphaned at any early age, he ran away at the age of 15 to escape being forced into priesthood.[1] He came toAmerica as a deck hand on a German vessel. He sacrificed two months’ pay to obtain his freedom and then went on to sail on American ships for three years. For a fourteen-month period in 1905–1906, he worked as a model and general handyman for artistArthur Burdette Frost. He went to Paris in October 1906 and studied for two years withJean Paul Laurens at theAcademie Julian, spending summers painting landscapes inNormandy. Fischer returned to New York City in January 1908. After being influenced byHoward Pyle, he moved toWilmington, Delaware, where he established a studio at 1110 Franklin Street. Pyle helped him transform his firsthand knowledge into pictorial drama, but had little success in enlivening his lead-colored palette.[2] He freelanced in "subject pictures," or illustrations telling a human interest story that were in popular magazines of the day.[1] DuringWorld War II he was made the artist laureate of theUnited States Coast Guard.
Fischer marriedMary Ellen ("May") Sigsbee (1877–1960) following her divorce from fellow artistWilliam Balfour Ker (1877–1918).[a] Sigsbee, Balfour Ker and Fischer were all artist and former students ofHoward Pyle. After marriage, he adopted his wife's son from her first marriage, David (1906–1922). They first lived inBushnellsville, New York, before moving to a house near the intersection of Elmendorf Street and Ten Broeck Avenue in nearbyKingston. The house still stands today and has a large north facing window that gave Fischer the light he needed to paint. In 1914, the couple had a child of their own, Katrina Sigsbee Fischer (1914–1998). The family eventually settled into a house off Glasco Turnpike inWoodstock, New York, just prior to World War II.[3]
After moving back to New York City in 1910, Fischer sold his first illustration toHarper's Weekly, then illustrated anEverybody's Magazine story byJack London, for whom he would illustrate many books and magazine stories until London's death in 1916. Also in 1910, Fischer began illustrating forThe Saturday Evening Post, a relationship that would last for forty-eight years. He illustrated such stories as Kyne's "Cappy Ricks," Gilpatrick's "Glencannon," as well as serials by Kenneth Roberts, and Nordoff and Hall.[1] From 1909 to 1920 he created more than one thousand illustrations featuring women and babies, pretty girls, dogs and horses, sports, the Navy and the sea. He later went on to illustrateTugboat Annie in 1931. He confessed his favorite character was "that old reprobate Glencannon," with the big broom moustache.[4]
U.S. Navy Commander Lincoln Lothrop had once written to the artist: "My two lads, one of whom is now a twenty-two-year-old lieutenant in the Navy … used to cut out your pictures and pin them on the walls of their rooms. … You are responsible for recruiting many a seagoing lad." His work on seascapes got Fischer an invitation to lunch with Vice Admiral Russell Waesche,Commandant of the Coast Guard, for the purpose of recruiting at the height ofWorld War II. The January 9, 1943,Post described a good encounter with the Vice Admiral. Although Waesche knew Fischer was born in (Germany) and anti-New Dealer, but by late that same afternoon, Fischer was sworn in as alieutenant commander in theCoast Guard. He was charged with putting on canvas some of the heroic deeds of the Merchant Mariners and Coast Guardsmen, then considered at the time the least publicized men of the armed forces.[4] His drawings are archived in theCoast Guard Academy inNew London, Connecticut.
Also known for illustrating books such asMoby Dick,Treasure Island, and20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Fischer died far from his beloved sea in theCatskill Mountains ofWoodstock, New York, in 1962 at the age of 80.[4]
The Friends of HistoricKingston hosted a lecture featuring Fischer's great-nephew, Andre Mele, in September 2011. Mele remembered "Uncle Otto" with a heavy German accent who often enjoyed playing the piano and smoking cigars. He could frequently be found gardening or listening to theNew York Yankees on the radio through his headphones. Fischer was often sought after for his investment advice and amassed a $2 million fortune during his lifetime.[3][5]
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