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Game Of Checkers
Artist Anton Otto Fischer
Anton Fischer, from 1882 - 1962, Munich, Germany.
- Versatile German American artist; illustrator
and painter of genre and marine subjects in oil and
watercolor media; favored the style of Realism and Representational art.
- Artist Anton Fischer immigrated to New
York in 1903 and developed his own style
using themes that described allegorical
subjects, the history of the American frontier
and the Native Peoples, wildlife, figural
genre scenes, landscapes and seascapes.
- Anton Fischer attended Académie
Julian and Brandywine School and was taught
the rudiments of art by Howard Pyle and
Jean Paul Laurens.
- Fischer was the most noted for his paintings of ships
and life at sea such as in his fishing scenes, war convoys
and marine battle depictions around Gloucester, Massachusetts.
- During WW ll Anton Fisher was awarded
the rank of ‘artist
laureate’ for the U.S. Coast Guard.
- Many of his marine and genre illustrations appeared as covers
for Post magazine, with whom he had an association for almost fifty
years; his also created stories and story art.
- In 1947, artist Anton Fischer wrote
and illustrated a book detailing his sailing
years entitled, ‘Fo’c’sle
Days’ and he became the illustrator
for the popular books, ‘Moby
Dick’, ‘20000
Leagues Under the Sea’ and ‘Treasure
Island’.
- Anton Fischer was noted for his technical
accuracy, excellent use of bold color and
dramatic lighting in his compositions and
would often use photographs as reference
for his detailing.
- In numerous paintings his portrayal of human emotions
such as those of the men in the marine scenes were natural
and true to the situations surrounding the events.
- ‘Checkers’ illustration
of 1911, game of checkers artist Anton
Fischer used a simplistic genre composition
depicting two figures playing a friendly
game of checkers at a table; although one
checkers player was deeply pensive while
considering his next checker move, the other’s
expressive face described the general relaxed
mood within the scene.
- The red table cloth was cleverly employed
to unify the motif and assisted in drawing
the viewer’s attention to the checkerboard
and particularly to the smiling face of
the winning checker player; their postures
and facial expression easily depicted the
emotion within the genre scene, the pose
of the figure with the hat suggested that
he was likely in a winning position because
he was calmly seated with his thumbs tucked
into his vest and his smile was ever so
smug, while his game of checkers opponent
supported his angled head with his right
arm.
- Artist Anton Fischer paintings are
exhibited in the Mystic Seaport and Kendall
Whaling Museum.
Checkers, by Anton Fischer, 1911.
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