Still Life with Fruit

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.