Abundant Fruit 1858

painting, oil-paint, oil-on-canvas

painting

oil-paint

romanticism

fruit

oil-on-canvas

realism

Severin Roesen's 1858 oil on canvas, "Abundant Fruit," displays an impressive still life of a variety of fruits and vegetables. The painting is meticulously detailed, portraying grapes, peaches, plums, melons, and strawberries overflowing from a stone ledge. Roesen was a renowned American still life painter known for his exceptional depictions of fruit and flora. He often used vibrant colors and intricate details to bring his subjects to life, evoking the abundance and bounty of nature. This artwork is a prime example of Roesen's artistic mastery and is currently housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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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.