An interesting suite of sketches by the preeminent 19th-century still life artist Severin Roesen. From a biography produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art,“Originally a porcelain painter, Roesen came to New York around 1848, possibly as a result of political upheavals in his native Germany. His lavish, highly detailed still-lifes celebrate nature’s bounty while showcasing his technical virtuosity. Such depictions of abundance reflected the increasing availability and variety of fruit in this period, the result of improvements in cultivation and transportation.”

Roesen’s sketches and other draft-work is extremely scarce, and we have been unable to find another example to come to market.