- Rachel Ruysch
Rachel Ruysch (
June 3 1664 — Amsterdam,August 12 1750 ) was a Dutch artist who specialized instill-life paintings of flowers.She was born in
The Hague , but moved to Amsterdam when she was three. Her fatherFrederik Ruysch , a famousanatomist , andbotanist , was appointed a professor there. He gathered a huge collection of rarities in his house. She assisted her father decorating the prepared specimen in a "liquor balsamicum" with flowers andlace . At fifteen Ruysch was apprenticed toWillem van Aelst , a prominentDelft painter, known for his flower paintings. In 1693, she married aportrait painter, Juriaen Pool (1666-1745), with whom she had ten children. Her sister Pieternel was married toJan Munnicks , a young man who drew flowers in theHortus Botanicus Amsterdam .In 1701 Ruysch was inducted into the
painters' guild in The Hague. Several years later Ruysch was invited to work for the court inDüsseldorf and serve as court painter toJohann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine . She remained working for him and his wife from 1708 until the prince's death in 1716. AlsoJan Weenix andAdriaen van der Werff were invited to deliver paintings, afterEglon van der Neer died. In 1723 she won the lottery. Ruysch kept painting for her prominent clients.Ruysch lived eighty-five years and her dated works establish that she painted from the time she was a young woman until she was an octogenarian. About a hundred paintings by her are known. The background of the paintings are usually dark. Ruysch was also noted for her paintings of detailed and realistic crystal vases.
See also
Women Artists External links
* [http://www.nmwa.org/collection/portfolio.asp?LinkID=388 National Museum for Women in the Arts: Paintings by Rachel Ruysch]
* [http://www.gadflyonline.com/01-14-02/ftr-women.html Old Masters: Overlooked Women Artists]
* [http://www.hoogsteder.com/journal/article.aspx?ID=5 Rachel Ruysch, Amsterdam's Pallas and Minerva]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.