Oscar Brousse Jacobson

Leonard Good, Portrait of Oscar B. Jacobson, 1940, Oil on Canvas. Courtesy Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art.

Inducted: 1949

Hometown: Norman

Patron of the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art

As an art educator, Oscar Jacobson put the University of Oklahoma's art school on the map. Born in Sweden, Jacobson came to Oklahoma in 1915. Five years after being appointed chair of the Art Department, Jacobson grew the program from 30 to more than 250 students. He and colleague Edith Mahier helped launch the careers of the first Native American artists at OU, known today as the "Kiowa Six." Jacobson also assisted a second generation of Native American artists including Woody Crumbo, also featured in this exhibit.

Oscar Brousse Jacobson. Courtesy Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma.

Jacobson criticized Oklahoma's strong connection to the oil and gas industry shortly after arriving in the state. He eventually overcame the bad press caused by his comments and in 1936 began working with the famous Ponca City oilman Lew Wentz to organize the donation of his Asian art collection. Through Jacobson's collecting efforts, OU's art museum held Asian art, Middle Eastern Art, and numerous other objects when it opened in 1936. Some of these initial acquisitions remain in the collection of the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art in Norman.

Dr. Oscar B. Jacobson with members of the renowned "Kiowa Six" Indian artists, including Tsatoke, Hokeah, Mopope, Asah, and Auchiah, at the Jacobson Home. Not pictured Lois Smoky. Courtesy Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma.

Jacobson went on to have a successful career in Oklahoma as an artist, an art educator and collector, and as a museum director and curator. From 1915 until Jacobson's retirement from the university in the 1950s, he succeeded as a landscape artist while also helping to establish the artistic community in Oklahoma.

Jacobson, left, and a student with the Native American art collection. Courtesy Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma.