Severin Roesen
(b. 1815, Germany; d. 1872) American painter. Little is known about the life of Severin Roesen. He moved to the New York with his family sometime in the mid 1800s. Here, he exhibited some of his paintings at the American Art Union. He moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania around 1860 where he was warmly received by the area residents, who adamantly supported and commissioned his painting. Here, he continued to paint still-lives emulating the style of the 17th century Dutch and German painters. Known for his lavish and detailed depictions of fruit and flowers, Roeson used bright, radiant colors in his painting. Nearly a century after Roesen’s lifetime, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy hung several of his paintings in the White House. Roesen was one of America’s foremost still-life artists of the 1880s. The last record of the artist in Williamsport is in 1872; the place of his death is unknown.
