Nature’s Bounty
Roesen, Severin
about 1860
Artwork Information
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Title:
Nature’s Bounty
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Artist:
Roesen, Severin
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Artist Bio:
German, active United States, about 1815–about 1872
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Date:
about 1860
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Medium:
Oil on canvas
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Dimensions:
36 x 27 1/8 inches
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Credit Line:
Wichita Art Museum, Gift of George E. Vollmer
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Object Number:
1995.15
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Display:
Not Currently on Display
About the Artwork
Severin Roesen was the best known and most influential of the still-life specialists working in the U.S. during the period 1848-1872. Historians credit this German-born and European-trained artist with introducing his adopted country to the conventions of Dutch baroque still-life.
Executed in a meticulous and polished style, this crowded composition, which presented a multitude of fruits at peak ripeness together with elegant decorative objects, reflected the period’s delight in craftsmanship and illusionism. Roesen’s Victorian patrons would also have recognized the sumptuous image as symbolic of the abundance of Nature in the New World.