Flower still life by rachel ruysch. Rachel ruysch still life with flowers in a glass vase 1716 oil on canvas 485 x 395 cm rijksmuseum amsterdam. Due to a long and successful career that spanned over six decades she became the best documented woman painter of the dutch golden age being followed by jan van huysum. The following is a list of works by rachel ruysch that are generally accepted as autograph by the netherlands institute for art history and other sources.
Basket of flowers 1711 uffizi. Rachel ruysch fruit and insects flower still life jan van huysum vase with flowers huis ten bosch house in the woods the town hall of amsterdam spain browse this content a still life of global dimensions. Rachel ruysch dutch painter who specialized in richly detailed still life paintings that commanded high prices.
By rachel ruysch one of the best still life painters. A student of artist willem van aelst she mastered the genre of still life specializing in flower paintingsher command of technique her sense of composition and her use of colors added a compelling vibrancy to her still life paintings. Her minute attention to detail captured even the individual grains of pollen inside each.
Beneath lavish gorgeously decadent flower and fruit displays lie the darker side of nature as petals decay and reptilian insects emerge from the shadows into the glistening light threatening to devour them. Rachel ruysch 1664 1750 the greatest of all female dutch realist artists rachel ruysch specialised in flowers pictures and still life painting in the tradition of other women artists of the dutch golden age such as judith leyster 1609 60 maria van oosterwijk 1630 93 and maria sybille merian 1647. Antonio de peredas still life with ebony chest juan sanchez de cotan quince cabbage melon and cucumber diego velazquez the.
The exuberant profusion of flowers in this still life by rachel ruysch celebrates color texture and form. Ruyschs family had a particular connection with. Her father a professor of anatomy and botany and an amateur painter probably introduced her to the study of exotic flowers.