Painter. He received fame as an illustrator for the "Saturday Evening Post," a popular American magazine. During World War II, he joined the United States Coast Guard at the rank of lieutenant commander and became the "artist laureate" for that branch of military service. These wartime pieces are among the ones on display in the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. In 1947, Fischer wrote and illustrated a book about his sailing years entitled, "Fo'c'sle Days: A Story of My Youth." His paintings can be seen in the Mystic Seaport and Kendall Whaling Museum. As a teenage orphan in 1897, he left Germany to eventually become a hand on an American ship for three years. He used this nautical job experience to create authentic naval artwork. In 1905, his interest turned to art after becoming a model for American illustrator A. B. Frost. In 1906, he went to Paris to study art for two years with Jean Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian before arriving in New York City in January 1908. He eventually established his first studio in Wilmington, Delaware. At first, his paintings appeared heavy with lead paints and not a successful monetary adventure. For years, he was a freelance artist, selling his illustrations to magazines. By 1910, he had returned to New York, living in several locations. He sold his first illustration to the "Harper's Weekly" before joining the "Saturday Evening Post" for a nearly 50-year career. He painted oil-on-canvas illustrations for the magazine cover, as well as featuring stories. Making him known to the public, he produced several illustrations with stories about author Jack London, and he had a long-running Tug-Boat Annie series, which included maritime paintings. By 1920, he had made over a thousand published illustrations. With his most noted illustrations being of ships in rough seas, he drew illustrations for the novels "Moby Dick," "Treasure Island," and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." He painted the activities of the Merchant Marines. In 1912, he married a fellow artist, Mary Ellen Sigsbee Ker, who was a divorcee with a son. The couple had a daughter, Katrina, and he adopted her son, David. Reportedly, he was worth $2 million by his death. Posthumously, Anton Otto Fischer was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1996.