Still Life with Pears and Casserole 1903

Two pears and a casserole in front of a dark background in various shades of brown – Ottilie W. Roederstein’s main focus was on the objects’ different textures: on the matt green and the small dents in the pear skins as well as on the copper pot’s shimmering light surface reflections. After portraits, still lifes were the second most important genre in Roederstein’s work. In this way, she ostensibly conformed to the ideas of 19th century art world, which confined women artists to these two less prestigious genres. Roederstein, however, devoted herself to still lifes relatively late in life, towards the peak of her career. This small composition in the Städel Museum collection, painted in 1903, is one of the earliest surviving examples. With it, Roederstein invokes 18th century French and Dutch still lifes – including those by French painter Jean-Siméon Chardin, who was then very well-known and whom she greatly admired. With her work, she draws on this tradition.