Lot 3
Attributed to Severin Roesen (1815-1872)
Lot 3 Details
Attributed to Severin Roesen (1815-1872), American
GRAPES, ORANGES, PEARS AND PLUMS, APPLES AND BERRIES IN A BASKET ON A MARBLEIZED LEDGE
Oil on canvas; cut down to a sculpted oval. Unsigned.
29.5" x 25" — 74.9 x 63.5 cm.
Estimate $6,000-$8,000
Additional Images
Provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
Norma J. Roberts, ed., The American Collections, Columbus Museum of Art, 1988, page 14
Note:
This technically superb still life study of fruit came to auction from a private collection in Ontario with a large “T” shaped tear in the original canvas. The delightful ornateness and fine quality of the unsigned still life and its strong affinity to the mid-nineteenth century American still-life painter, Severin Roesen necessitated the restoration to bring this work back to its original state. Conservation of the painting revealed no signature but the process confirmed that the canvas had been cut-down to the present oval prior to its acquisition by the present Private Collection.
Norma J. Roberts states that over three hundred still life paintings by Roesen have been recorded. His works demonstrate a near technical perfection in their minute details precise arrangements of fruits into evenly lit and symmetrical bunches. Stylistically, this work relates very closely to Severin Roesen’s brilliantly executed still-lifes.
However, the marbleized ledge is not entered in the sculpted oval. The right side of the original canvas may have been damaged. It is very possible that the painting was signed by Roesen in the lower right and the signature was lost when the canvas was cut-down to the present oval. There is only an unknown contemporary computerized identification/inventory label with printed letters, ‘"Severin Roesen, "Still Life w Fruit”' mounted to the stretcher.