ARTISTS WE LOVE: Rachel Ruysch

WHO: Rachel Ruysch

WHAT: Painter

WHERE: Northern Netherlands

WHEN: 3 June 1664 – 12 August 1750

Rachel Ruysch is best known for her moody and dramatic still life paintings. The daughter of a celebrated anatomist, botanist, and collector (who was also the head of Amsterdam’s botanical garden!), Ruysch was an expert of flowers and insects and her paintings of overflowing bouquets often depict a variety of blooms in amazing accuracy and detail. Ruysch is remembered today as one of the very few women who were a part of the Dutch Golden Age of painting. She learned from masters such as Willem van Aelst and married fellow painter Juriaen Pool. While raising their ten children, Ruysch continued to paint and produce commissions for international patrons, developing a legacy that lives on to this day. Check out a few of her striking paintings below. 

The painting featured at the top of this post is “Roses, Convolvulus, Poppies, and Other Flowers”, painted by Ruysch in 1680.

Still Life with Flowers and a Cricket, Rachel Ruysch, 1700

Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop, Rachel Ruysch, 1716

Still Life of Flowers on a Table Ledge, Rachel Ruysch, 1700