Joseph B. Acken, Boathouse on the St. Johns River, oil on canvas,12 by 10 inches. Signed and titled verso.
Joe Acken was a New York City architect and a partner in in the distinguished firm of McKin, Mead and White, who having been stricken with a crippling illness, moved to Tampa in 1915. His charm and cheerful courage in the face of illness endeared him to all of Tampa. Acken spent many days on a bench in Plant Park and when he died a marble bench was dedicated in Plant Park to his memory. Carved into the bench, “Joe Acken, 1871-1930. Hate hypocrisy, love all beauty, and face each day with a smile.”
He, along with Tampa artist Walter Collins, met with St. Petersburg artists in September of 1920, to plan for art exhibits in Tampa and St. Petersburg for the 1920-1921 winter season. Eve Alsman in the St. Petersburg Times, December 10, 1922 said of Acken’s exhibit in Tampa: “A Florida artist who has caught the subtle sky and horizon coloring of the gulf counties is Joseph B. Acken of Tampa, who gave the second exhibition of his pastels, December 7, 8 and 9, in Tampa. There were 44 pictures in the showing, all of them scenes painted along the west coast. Acken has the true ‘pastel’ feeling for color, and from his ‘Gulf Drive’ to the ‘Fisherman’s Cottage,’ the collection is interesting and worthwhile.”
Education: City College of New York; Columbia University; Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. Membership: Salmagundi Club, New York City, secretary, Students’ Art Club, Tampa; Tampa Art Institute. Born: March 27, 1871. Plumer, Venango County, Pennsylvania. Died: January 14, 1930, Tampa. Exhibits: South Florida Fair, Tampa, February 1921, oil landscape from nature, first prize, oil portrait painting, first prize, pastel landscape, first and second, portrait from life, first; Florida Southern College, with Walter Collins, January 1922, The Jungle, Catfish Point, Bayshore Drive; Tampa Bay Hotel, February 29 -March 1, 1922, pastel paintings of scenes around Tampa, including: Cypress Swamp–Lake Thonotosassa, Spanish Moss–Mouth of Hillsborough River, Farm Cottage– Lake Magdalene Bend of Alafia River, Sunset at Bullfrog Creek, DeSoto Oak–Tampa Bay Park, Hanna’s Whirl, Docks at Mouth of Hillsborough River, Sub-Chaser–Tampa Bay Docks, Fortune Street Bridge, Promenade of Tampa Bay Hotel, Lafayette Street Bridge–Misty Morning, Harry P.–Study, of Head, Across the Bay–Rising Fog, View of City from Cardy Street, Store at Ruskin, Old Oaks–Lake Thonotosassa, Delaware Avenue–Early Morning, Rocky Point, Corner of Tampa Bay Hotel, An Alley of Tampa, View of City Hall, Lafayette Street Bridge; Tarr Furniture Company, Tampa and Twigg Street, one man exhibit, including 50 pastels, December 1922: Gulf Drive, The Brook, Ruskin Inlet, Weeki Wachee River, Lafayette Street Bridge, Lake Magdalene, Bay shore Promenade, Along Tampa Bay, High Tide, Early Morning, Low Tide, Tampa Bay Hotel, The Three oaks, Clearwater Church, The Alley, DeSoto Oak, Tampa Sky Line, Alafia Bend, Subchaser, Farm Cottage, Gardenville, Cleveland Street, Catfish Point, The Road, Sunset, Meadow , Portrait Study Pines, The Beach Road, The Sand Hillsboro, Backwater, Shore Edge, The Garden Gate, The Fireside, Rocky Point, Natal Hay, A Florida Lane, Lake Thonotosassa Trees, Harry a Study, Ruth a Study, Cypress Swamp, The Docks, Glimpse of the Hillsboro, Lake Butler, Fisherman’s Cottage; Art Club of St. Petersburg, at Florida Art School, February, 1923, pastels, Florida landscapes; Students’ Art Club, 2nd Annual Exhibition of Florida Art, Tampa Museum of Art, City Hall, March 12- March 19, 1923, The Jungle, Garden Gate, Cat Fish Point, A Woods Road; Florida Art School, St. Petersburg, February 1924, pastel, Florida landscapes; Tampa Art Institute, fourth annual, March 1925; Tampa Art Institute, January 1932, Landscape.
