Classifying Flowers

Discussion through works of art encourage how to approach ambiguous and complex ideas, thoughts, and feelings. The MFAH offers a democratic space where students and teachers can develop, practice and articulate these habits of mind. Remember that the quality of the conversation is what is important, not finding the artist’s “answer.” Slow down and take the time to make careful observations. Talk about what you notice, and try to avoid jumping to conclusions and interpretations. Be sure to give enough time for silent looking and thinking.

Work of Art

Victorian Bouquet depicts a lavish bouquet of morning glories, irises, dahlias, poppies, roses, and foxglove.  The flowers are arranged in a vase on a marble table against a plain, dark background, alongside a bird’s nest with three eggs, and a stemmed wine glass.  Roesen’s composition includes flowers that bloom at different times of the year.  In fact, it would have been impossible to assemble such an array of flowers.  Thus, a painting that appears highly realistic is actually a fiction created by the artist.

 

Roesen paid meticulous attention to details of petals, leaves, and even glistening dewdrops and reflections in the glass.  This still-life arrangement also gave the artist a chance to show his skill at painting many textures – glass, petals, eggshells, and leaves – with the utmost realism.  The contrast between the dark background and the brilliantly hued flowers is theatrical.  Roesen’s style is a combination of the naturalistic and the dramatic and was influenced by Dutch still-life painting of the seventeenth century.  For additional information about Dutch still-life painting, see Willem Claesz. Heda’s Banquet Piece with Ham.

 

Born in Germany, Severin Roesen trained as a porcelain enameler in Cologne.  He probably immigrated to the United States during the 1848 political upheavals in Germany, as he sold two paintings to the American Art Union that year.  His still lifes were very popular, and he sold nine more paintings to that organization before it closed in 1852.  Shortly after 1855, Roesen moved to Pennsylvania and eventually settled in Williamsport, a small city with a booming lumber industry.  There his paintings were enthusiastically commissioned and purchased by wealthy residents.

 

During the past decades scholars have identified more than 100 of Roesen’s works.  About two-thirds of his paintings are still lifes of fruit, and the other third are floral arrangements.

 

The still life tradition achieved an increasingly important role in American painting during the mid-nineteenth century.  Many German still life artists, including Severin Roesen, came to the United States where their work enjoyed great popularity.  The vibrant and realistic rendering of each floral detail and texture was very appealing to the early Victorian audience.  This growing interest in still life painting coincided with an expanding and prosperous middle class in cities and led to a broader patronage of art.

Conversation

• Study Victorian Bouquet.  Research and name the flowers portrayed.  What characteristics help identify the flowers?  Find examples of the artist’s realism, his careful observation and attention to detail.
• How does Roesen use contrast, color, and line to make his composition dramatic?  Describe the mood of this painting.

• Describe the types of flowers, leaves, fruit, and other parts of nature you observe.

• Investigate this work of art using your senses to discover what you might touch, taste, hear, and smell. Support with evidence from the work of art and how your senses would be engaged.

• Curl your hand to create a cylinder, and place it over one of your eyes to simulate a spyglass. Using your “spyglass”, explore all areas of the painting to uncover surprising details on the leaves, in the glass, on the fruit, etc. Explain how those details add to the realism of this arrangement.

• How does the artist’s details depict texture? If you were able to touch parts of this work of art, how might they feel? Examine the lines, colors and shapes the artist uses to denote these textures.

• Select a color and trace it throughout the work of art. Repeat. How does the artist use color to create unity and balance?

• Explore the dark background. Why the artist would choose such a dark background in this work of art? Explain.

• A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects that may be either natural or man-made.¹ Evaluate why this painting would be categorized a still life, citing examples from the work of art.

¹Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_life

• Categorize the flowers into groups based on observed physical characteristics such as size, color, and leaf shape.

• The artist, Severin Roesen, painted this still life over the course of 5 years, from 1850-1855. Hypothesize why the floral subject matter might dictate a longer period needed to complete this work of art.

• How does this still life, which appears so real, actually reflect a fictional arrangement?

• Assess the different stages of the flower life cycle depicted. Select varying flowers from the work of art, and sequence floral growth from the bud to maturity. How does this variety add to the visual impact of the arrangement?

• Why would Roesen include a nest filled with eggs?

• Compare this still life arrangement with another still life found in the museum’s collection. One example could be Willem Claesz. Heda’s Banquet Piece with Ham found at https://lta.mfah.org/LessonPlans/LessonPlan/LessonPlanDetails/3152.

• If you were to create a still life, what commonplace natural and man-made objects would you include?

Subject Matter

Students can develop perseverance when challenged with extensive problems. It is important for them to know that it is okay to have to work and rework problems in order to come to the best possible solution for themselves. The desire to rework ideas and the openness to a range of solutions are all part of the investigative scientific experience. Developing possible scenarios that could occur in the environment require students to rework their ideas as they formulate reasonable explanations.

Assessment

•  Bring to class fresh-cut or wildflowers gathered by the students.  In cooperative groups, study the flowers, compare their characteristics, and learn the classify them.

•  Dissect each flower, correctly naming the individual parts.  Draw and label diagrams of the parts of the flowers.

•  Create charts to show the different classifications of flowers.

•  Compare the ways a scientist observes, records, and classifies flowers to the ways an artist arranges, observes, and paints a floral still life.

Resources

Resources Available to Order

Check our online collection module for further information.