Details

Name

Rachel Ruysch

Brief Biography

1664 - 1750, Dutch

Occupation

Artist

Description

Probably the most important flower painter of her generation, Rachel Ruysch was a pupil in Amsterdam of Willem van Aelst 1680-3. Van Aelst was a painter of still lifes and flower pieces and he seems to have inspired her to concentrate on flower paintings. Ruysch came from a wealthy family. Her father, Frederick Ruysch, was an eminent professor of anatomy and botany and he owned a collection of natural curiosities. Rachel may well have used this collection for reference in her work. During her life, Amsterdam had a thriving art market and although it supported more artists than any other Dutch city Ruysch was always popular and her paintings fetched very high prices. Her works were praised for their accurate rendering of textures and although she lived well into the 18th century her style always remained close to the traditions of her youth.

In 1701 she moved to The Hague where she became a member of the painters’ guild. She lived there until 1716 visiting Dűsseldorf twice in her capacity as court painter to the Elector of the Palatinate of the Rhine, a post she held for eight years from 1708. She returned to her home in Amsterdam in 1716 and stayed there for the rest of her life.
Ruysch was a slow worker. Only about 100 works can be attributed to her throughout her long career, though her slowness may also have something to do with the fact that she produced ten children by her husband, the portrait painter Juriaen Pool.