Still Life with Fruit, Severin Roesen, ca. 1860, Brooklyn Museum: American Art

Size: 40 1/16 x 50 1/8 in. (101.7 x 127.3 cm) Medium: Oil on canvas

Still Life with Fruit, Severin Roesen, c. 1860, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Paintings

Still Life. In 19th-century America, a growing wealthy class desired artworks that reflected a life of leisure and abundance. Still lifes and genre paintings filled the bill, simultaneously mirroring and augmenting the material richness of American homes. Trained as a porcelain painter in his native Germany, Severin Roesen became a renowned painter of still lifes after immigrating to the United States in 1848. Conservation of this picture was made possible by a generous contribution from Douglas and Mary Olson through the Art Champions program. Size: 21 1/2 x 26 1/4 in. (54.61 x 66.68 cm) (canvas) 29 x 34 1/8 x 3 1/2 in. (73.66 x 86.68 x 8.89 cm) (outer frame) Medium: Oil on canvas

An Abundance of Fruit, Severin Roesen, 1860, Art Institute of Chicago: American Art

This painting by Severin Roesen, who immigrated to the United States from Cologne in 1848, features a profusion of berries, grapes, peaches, figs, and other fruits piled upon a marble slab. His composition is a celebratory display of nature’s bounty— portrayed in such minute detail as to feel artificial. Roesen worked in Pennsylvania, supported by German immigrants who operated local breweries there. While still lifes in the 19thcentury typically adorned domestic dining rooms, Roesen’s painting may have hung in a public tavern or restaurant. For such patrons, the artist probably painted pictures in exchange for beer. Roesen and his male patrons would not have been counted among the followers of the growing temperance movement in America at midcentury. Americana Endowment Fund Size: 63.5 × 76.2 cm (25 × 30 in.) Medium: Oil on canvas

Abundant Fruit, Severin Roesen, 1858, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Paintings

still life with grapes of various colors and grapevines and leaves, melon, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, plums, oranges, apples, lemon; goblet with water with lemon at L; basket at center bottom, white pedestal plate at top left These fruits do not all ripen at the same time and would not have appeared together on a 19th-century table. The artist chose symbolism over accuracy: a wealth of fruit speaks of the abundance and prosperity of the young United States. Severin Roesen, a German immigrant who had trained as porcelain painter, was among the most accomplished American still-life painters of the 1800s. He arrived in America around 1848 and worked in New York and Philadelphia before settling about 1860 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death. Most remarkable is the sheer size of this painting. Only six works of this scale attributable to Roesen are known today. Size: 39 x 49 in. (99.06 x 124.46 cm) (sight) 55 7/16 x 66 1/2 in. (140.81 x 168.91 cm) (outer frame) Medium: Oil on canvas

Abundant Fruit, Severin Roesen, 1858, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Paintings

still life with grapes of various colors and grapevines and leaves, melon, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, plums, oranges, apples, lemon; goblet with water with lemon at L; basket at center bottom, white pedestal plate at top left These fruits do not all ripen at the same time and would not have appeared together on a 19th-century table. The artist chose symbolism over accuracy: a wealth of fruit speaks of the abundance and prosperity of the young United States. Severin Roesen, a German immigrant who had trained as porcelain painter, was among the most accomplished American still-life painters of the 1800s. He arrived in America around 1848 and worked in New York and Philadelphia before settling about 1860 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death. Most remarkable is the sheer size of this painting. Only six works of this scale attributable to Roesen are known today. Size: 39 x 49 in. (99.06 x 124.46 cm) (sight) 55 7/16 x 66 1/2 in. (140.81 x 168.91 cm) (outer frame) Medium: Oil on canvas

Still Life with Fruit, Severin Roesen, c. 1860, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Paintings

Still Life. In 19th-century America, a growing wealthy class desired artworks that reflected a life of leisure and abundance. Still lifes and genre paintings filled the bill, simultaneously mirroring and augmenting the material richness of American homes. Trained as a porcelain painter in his native Germany, Severin Roesen became a renowned painter of still lifes after immigrating to the United States in 1848. Conservation of this picture was made possible by a generous contribution from Douglas and Mary Olson through the Art Champions program. Size: 21 1/2 x 26 1/4 in. (54.61 x 66.68 cm) (canvas) 29 x 34 1/8 x 3 1/2 in. (73.66 x 86.68 x 8.89 cm) (outer frame) Medium: Oil on canvas

Abundant Fruit, Severin Roesen, 1858, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Paintings

still life with grapes of various colors and grapevines and leaves, melon, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, plums, oranges, apples, lemon; goblet with water with lemon at L; basket at center bottom, white pedestal plate at top left These fruits do not all ripen at the same time and would not have appeared together on a 19th-century table. The artist chose symbolism over accuracy: a wealth of fruit speaks of the abundance and prosperity of the young United States. Severin Roesen, a German immigrant who had trained as porcelain painter, was among the most accomplished American still-life painters of the 1800s. He arrived in America around 1848 and worked in New York and Philadelphia before settling about 1860 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death. Most remarkable is the sheer size of this painting. Only six works of this scale attributable to Roesen are known today. Size: 39 x 49 in. (99.06 x 124.46 cm) (sight) 55 7/16 x 66 1/2 in. (140.81 x 168.91 cm) (outer frame) Medium: Oil on canvas

Abundant Fruit, Severin Roesen, 1858, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Paintings

still life with grapes of various colors and grapevines and leaves, melon, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, plums, oranges, apples, lemon; goblet with water with lemon at L; basket at center bottom, white pedestal plate at top left These fruits do not all ripen at the same time and would not have appeared together on a 19th-century table. The artist chose symbolism over accuracy: a wealth of fruit speaks of the abundance and prosperity of the young United States. Severin Roesen, a German immigrant who had trained as porcelain painter, was among the most accomplished American still-life painters of the 1800s. He arrived in America around 1848 and worked in New York and Philadelphia before settling about 1860 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death. Most remarkable is the sheer size of this painting. Only six works of this scale attributable to Roesen are known today. Size: 39 x 49 in. (99.06 x 124.46 cm) (sight) 55 7/16 x 66 1/2 in. (140.81 x 168.91 cm) (outer frame) Medium: Oil on canvas