Still Life with Fruit, c. 1860, Severin Roesen, American, (born Germany), 1815 - 1872, 21 1/2 x 26 1/4 in. (54.61 x 66.68 cm) (canvas)29 x 34 1/8 x 3 1/2 in. (73.66 x 86.68 x 8.89 cm) (outer frame), Oil on canvas, United States, 19th century, In 19th-century America, a growing wealthy class desired artworks that reflected a life of leisure and abundance. Still lifes and genre paintings filled the bill, simultaneously mirroring and augmenting the material richness of American homes. Trained as a porcelain painter in his native Germany, Severin Roesen became a renowned painter of still lifes after immigrating to the United States in 1848.