Artwork
Still Life with Strawberries in a Compote
Still Life with Strawberries in a Compote is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Severin Roesen. It dates from 1868 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Grapes, peaches, and strawberries spill from a compote in a decorative heap, set off by a gold leaf frame. Severin Roesen painted it in 1868, when still life was at the height of its popularity in America.
Technique & Style
No specific conservation interventions are documented in the available records.
Severin Roesen executed Still Life with Strawberries in a Compote as an oil painting on wooden board, a support noted in the museum’s documentation, and finished it with a gilded frame of gold leaf, as recorded in the museum’s documentation. The composition arranges ripe strawberries, grapes, a peach, and accompanying foliage within a shallow bowl, emphasizing vivid color contrast and meticulous brushwork typical of mid‑19th‑century American still‑life practice. The work’s formal balance derives from the careful placement of fruit and leaf motifs, while the application of oil on board provides a smooth, durable surface that has retained its structural integrity. No specific conservation interventions are documented in the available records.
History & Provenance
Still Life with Strawberries in a Compote was created by Severin Roesen in 1867, executed in oil on board with a gold leaf frame. The painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified within The American Wing and held to the present day. No further details about its commission, intermediate ownership, or chain of custody prior to its acquisition are documented in the available sources.
The painting is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it is catalogued as accession number 1975.1.213. It entered the collection in 1975 through gift. The work has not been recorded in major traveling exhibitions in the sources provided.
Overview
This painting, "Still Life with Strawberries in a Compote," is an oil on board artwork featuring a meticulously arranged bowl of fruit. It includes grapes, peaches, and strawberries, presented within a luxurious gold leaf frame. The piece reflects the popularity of still life painting in America during its creation, a genre well-represented in the American Wing collection.
Subject & Meaning
The artwork showcases a compote brimming with various fruits, including ripe strawberries, plump grapes, and soft peaches. Their careful, decorative placement emphasizes abundance and visual appeal. The inclusion of a gold leaf frame further enhances the sense of luxury and refinement, elevating the everyday subject matter to an object of aesthetic contemplation.
Context
This still life emerged during a period when the genre enjoyed significant popularity in American art. Such works often adorned domestic spaces, celebrating nature's bounty and demonstrating artistic skill. The style, characterized by detailed realism and often lavish compositions, can be further understood by examining the works of contemporaries like Severin Roesen, who also specialized in elaborate fruit arrangements.
Artist & collection
Artist
Severin Roesen (c. 1815 in Boppard – c. 1872) was a Prussian-American painter known for his abundant fruit and flower still lifes, and is today recognized as one of the major American painters in that genre from the nineteenth century.
