The Abundance of Nature
The Abundance of Nature, ca. 1855
Severin Roesen
ca. 1815-ca. 1872
Oil on canvas
Signed, lower right (in vine): Roesen
Period frame
American, 1850s
Wood; cast and applied composition ornament, gilded
A celebration of nature's bounty, this grand painting illustrates fourteen different types of flowers and fifteen varieties of fruit. Careful inspection also reveals ladybugs, a tiny bird's nest filled with eggs, and the artist's signature in vine tendrils at the lower right corner of the canvas.
Severin Roesen, who emigrate to New York City from Germany in 1848, is considered the leading practitioner of still-life paintings in mid-nineteenth century America. This work is his largest known painting. Although Roesen created what seems to be an objective representation, the abundant display is an idealized studio fabrication of fruit and flowers that actually ripen or bloom in different seasons.
This lush work would have been meaningful to its original owners. Selina Skipwith Coles and her sister Helen, who were residents of Albemarle County in Virginia, developed their neighboring Green Mountain plantations with a great variety of fruit trees and flowers. At the time the painting was acquired, Selina had been mistress of Estouteville for twenty-five years. The picture hung in the dining room there. However, it is likely that her sister Helen facilitated the acquisition.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Photo Taken 11 January 2006
Severin Roesen
ca. 1815-ca. 1872
Oil on canvas
Signed, lower right (in vine): Roesen
Period frame
American, 1850s
Wood; cast and applied composition ornament, gilded
A celebration of nature's bounty, this grand painting illustrates fourteen different types of flowers and fifteen varieties of fruit. Careful inspection also reveals ladybugs, a tiny bird's nest filled with eggs, and the artist's signature in vine tendrils at the lower right corner of the canvas.
Severin Roesen, who emigrate to New York City from Germany in 1848, is considered the leading practitioner of still-life paintings in mid-nineteenth century America. This work is his largest known painting. Although Roesen created what seems to be an objective representation, the abundant display is an idealized studio fabrication of fruit and flowers that actually ripen or bloom in different seasons.
This lush work would have been meaningful to its original owners. Selina Skipwith Coles and her sister Helen, who were residents of Albemarle County in Virginia, developed their neighboring Green Mountain plantations with a great variety of fruit trees and flowers. At the time the painting was acquired, Selina had been mistress of Estouteville for twenty-five years. The picture hung in the dining room there. However, it is likely that her sister Helen facilitated the acquisition.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Photo Taken 11 January 2006
