GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Severin Roesen is considered one of the most important American still life painter of the mid-19th century. His oeuvre and style form a bridge between the talented Peale family (notably James, Rembrandt, and Raphaelle Peale) of the colonial and federal periods, and William Michael Harnett and John Frederick Peto, who flourished in the final quarter of the century.
Roesen was born in or near Cologne, Germany, in 1816. He was trained as a porcelain and enamel painter in the Rhineland and probably exhibited still lifes in Cologne around 1847 before emigrating to America. Roesen arrived from Germany in 1848, whereupon he established his reputation as an accomplished painter in the tradition of 17th-century Dutch still life painting.
At first he settled in New York City where he sent eleven still life paintings to the American Art Union from 1848 to 1852. Married by then and the father of three, he could not support his family so he left them in 1858 and moved to Pennsylvania. According to some later accounts, his family never heard from him again. He eventually settled in Williamsport and became known as "The Williamsport Painter" but may have spent time also in Harrisburg and Philadelphia.
Always popular with collectors in Europe and America, still lifes were well-suited to the grand interiors of the luxurious homes being built in the prosperous city of Williamsport. His carefully constructed tableaux made up of fruits and flowers were quite popular with patrons, judging from the large number of works he painted between 1848 and 1872.
Roesen's early work has a clarity and sharpness that becomes somewhat obscured in later paintings, as he crowds more and more subject matter into his compositions as emblematic of nature's bounty. Roesen's still life vision derives out of the Dutch tradition as interpreted by the German 19th-century schools, with an emphasis on scientific linear clarity rather than on atmosphere and evocative lighting.
Drawn from
- Wiliam Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy, 2006.
- Eleanor Jones Harvey, DMA unpublished material, 2000.
- Steven A. Nash, Dallas Collects American Paintings: Colonial to Early Modern (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982), 39.
NOTES
birth- 1816
Worked- Cologne, germany (by 1847?) Possible exhibition of his work, a still-life on porcelain, in Cologne in 1847.
Worked- NYC- (1848-1857)- Immigrated to US while Europe was in midst of revolutions. Married and had three children but left his family when he departed NYC in 1857.
Worked- Williamsport, PA (1860-1872)
Death- Williamsport, PA- Year and location are estimates based on his last known whereabouts and absence from city directory after 1872.
Fun facts sources:
Rosen recognition- MMFA docent website
Williamsport millionaires- WK Rudolph label, May 2006.
"Approximately..." [Steven A. Nash, Dallas Collects American Paintings: Colonial to Early Modern (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982), 39.]
General Description full citation for EJH: Eleanor Jones Harvey, DMA Acquisition proposal (2000.363), May 2000.
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FUN FACTS
- Severin Roesen’s work was largely under-recognized until the acquisition of Fruit Still Life (1850), by the White House during the Kennedy administration in 1961. The attention at that time made the artist better known by the public, and led to a much greater demand for his paintings in the art market.
- Located in the north–central part of Pennsylvania, Williamsport had an abundance of lumber in the 19th century. The timber industry gave the small city more millionaires per capita than any other locale, making it a lucrative market for an enterprising artist such as Severin Roesen.
- Approximately one third of his work is flower pictures with the rest comprised of the apparently more popular fruit paintings.
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General Description
Severin Roesen is considered one of the most important American still life painter of the mid-19th century. His oeuvre and style form a bridge between the talented Peale family (notably James, Rembrandt, and Raphaelle Peale) of the colonial and federal periods, and William Michael Harnett and John Frederick Peto, who flourished in the final quarter of the century.
Roesen was born in or near Cologne, Germany, in 1816. He was trained as a porcelain and enamel painter in the Rhineland and probably exhibited still lifes in Cologne around 1847 before emigrating to America. Roesen arrived from Germany in 1848, whereupon he established his reputation as an accomplished painter in the tradition of 17th-century Dutch still life painting.
At first he settled in New York City where he sent eleven still life paintings to the American Art Union from 1848 to 1852. Married by then and the father of three, he could not support his family so he left them in 1858 and moved to Pennsylvania. According to some later accounts, his family never heard from him again. He eventually settled in Williamsport and became known as "The Williamsport Painter" but may have spent time also in Harrisburg and Philadelphia.
Always popular with collectors in Europe and America, still lifes were well-suited to the grand interiors of the luxurious homes being built in the prosperous city of Williamsport. His carefully constructed tableaux made up of fruits and flowers were quite popular with patrons, judging from the large number of works he painted between 1848 and 1872.
Roesen's early work has a clarity and sharpness that becomes somewhat obscured in later paintings, as he crowds more and more subject matter into his compositions as emblematic of nature's bounty. Roesen's still life vision derives out of the Dutch tradition as interpreted by the German 19th-century schools, with an emphasis on scientific linear clarity rather than on atmosphere and evocative lighting.
Drawn from
- Wiliam Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy, 2006.
- Eleanor Jones Harvey, DMA unpublished material, 2000.
- Steven A. Nash, Dallas Collects American Paintings: Colonial to Early Modern (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982), 39.
Fun Facts
- Severin Roesen’s work was largely under-recognized until the acquisition of Fruit Still Life (1850), by the White House during the Kennedy administration in 1961. The attention at that time made the artist better known by the public, and led to a much greater demand for his paintings in the art market.
- Located in the north–central part of Pennsylvania, Williamsport had an abundance of lumber in the 19th century. The timber industry gave the small city more millionaires per capita than any other locale, making it a lucrative market for an enterprising artist such as Severin Roesen.
- Approximately one third of his work is flower pictures with the rest comprised of the apparently more popular fruit paintings.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
birth- 1816
Worked- Cologne, germany (by 1847?) Possible exhibition of his work, a still-life on porcelain, in Cologne in 1847.
Worked- NYC- (1848-1857)- Immigrated to US while Europe was in midst of revolutions. Married and had three children but left his family when he departed NYC in 1857.
Worked- Williamsport, PA (1860-1872)
Death- Williamsport, PA- Year and location are estimates based on his last known whereabouts and absence from city directory after 1872.
Fun facts sources:
Rosen recognition- MMFA docent website
Williamsport millionaires- WK Rudolph label, May 2006.
"Approximately..." [Steven A. Nash, Dallas Collects American Paintings: Colonial to Early Modern (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982), 39.]
General Description full citation for EJH: Eleanor Jones Harvey, DMA Acquisition proposal (2000.363), May 2000.
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