Rachel Ruysch

June 3, 1664–October 12, 1750

Active in: Netherlands

Biography

One of the best-known women artists of the Dutch Golden Age, Rachel Ruysch specialized in flower paintings. She was born on June 3, 1664 in The Hague; her father, Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731), was a scientist, and her mother, Maria Post, was the daughter of an architect, Pieter Post (1608–1669). Her sister, Anna Ruysch (1666–1754), also became a painter.

Selected Works

A floral still life set against a dark background. The arrangement is sitting on a brown ledge. The flowers are colorful: pink, red, blue, white, and orange, as well as lush green leaves.

Rachel Ruysch, Still Life with Flowers, 1709. Oil on canvas, 78 x 64 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (promised gift).

A floral still life that is integrated into a landscape setting, with the arrangement of flowers seeming to emanate from a tree trunk. There are some flowers growing from the ground, as well. A snake and frog are visible at the bottom of the composition and in the background, there is a rocky formation, a tree, and a blue sky with clouds.

Rachel Ruysch, Flowers and Animals, 1. Oil on canvas, 71.5 x 56.5 cm. Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

A floral still life set against a dark, neutral background, with the arrangement sitting on a ledge. The flowers are wild and not arranged carefully, but a certain harmony is achieved. The colors are varied but somewhat muted and some of the flowers are cast in shadow.

Rachel Ruysch, A Vase of Flowers, 1701. Oil on canvas, 76.9 x 63.5 cm. The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University

A vibrant, unstructured floral still life set against a dark background. The arrangement is resting on a ledge and the flowers include tulips and roses, as well as others. There is an insect, perhaps a grasshopper, sitting on the table alongside the arrangement.

Rachel Ruysch, Vase with Flowers, 1700. Oil on canvas, 79.5 x 60.2 cm. Mauristhuis, The Hague

A floral still life with fairly muted colors. The arrangement is centered on a table or ledge and appears in front of a dark background. There are orange, pink, blue, and white flowers, as well as green foliage. The arrangement is tall and fills the top three quarters of the composition.

Rachel Ruysch, Flowers in a Vase, ca. 1685. Oil on canvas, 57 x 43.5 cm. National Gallery, London

A portrait of the artist sitting at an easel, with flowers, books, and papers in front of her. She holds a palette and brushes in one hand and a flower in the other. She looks out directly at the viewer with a confident, neutral expression. She wears a blue dress trimmed with brown fabric and white lace. The brown color is echoed in a large, satin curtain swag on the right side of the composition. The image is set in a painted, architectural frame, as though we are observing her through an open window.

Rachel Ruysch and Michiel van Musscher, Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) , 1692. Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 63.5 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A floral still life in a gold frame. The colors are fairly muted, and the arrangement is wild, overflowing with flowers and leaves resting on the table. In the background, a small classical sculpture of a woman is visible on the right edge of the canvas.

Rachel Ruysch, Still Life of Exotic Flowers on a Marble Ledge, ca. 1735. Oil on canvas, 89.5 x 70.5 cm. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

A floral still life of fewer than a dozen flowers resting on a table, with no vase. The background is a neutral, dark color. The flowers are orange, white, blue, and pink. The artist’s signature is quite large, visible in the bottom right corner of the composition.

Rachel Ruysch, Nosegay on a Marble Plinth, ca. 1695. Oil on canvas, 37.5 x 29.2 cm. Norton Simon Museum

A floral still life, with the arrangement placed on a marble table or ledge. The colors are bright and varied, with the flowers spilling out of the vase and extending beyond the edges of the table. The background is a dark, neutral color that fades to lighter gray on the right edge of the canvas.

Rachel Ruysch, Still Life with Flowers on a Mable Tabletop, 1716. Oil on canvas, 48.5 x 39.5 cm. Rijksmuseum

A floral still life of an arrangement on a table, set against a dark neutral background. The colors of the flowers are primarily reds, oranges, and purples, with some large white flowers at the center. The arrangement is wild, with flowers resting on the table and extending to the very top of the composition.

Rachel Ruysch, Flower Still Life, ca. 1726. Oil on canvas, 75.6 x 60.6 cm. Toledo Museum of Art

Continue Exploring

View artist timeline
Selected works

Circle

Daughter of
Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731)

Granddaughter of
Pieter Post (1608–1669)

Sister of
Anna Ruysch (1666–1754)

Wife of
Juriaen Pool (ca. 1666–1745)

Student of
Willem van Aelst (1627–1683)

Friend of
Maria van Oosterwijck (1630–1693)

Friend of
Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717)

Friend of
Jan Moninckx (ca. 1656–1714)

Friend of
Maria Moninckx (1673–1757)

Friend of
Alida Withoos (ca. 1661–1730)

Friend of and collaborator with
Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705)

Bibliography

Berardi, Marianne. “The Nature Pieces of Rachel Ruysch.” Porticus 10/11 (1987-88): 2-15.

Berardi, Marianne. “Science into Art: Rachel Ruysch’s Early Development as a Still-Life Painter.” PhD Dissertation. University of Pittsburgh, 1998.

Chapman, Caroline. Eighteenth-Century Women Artists: Their Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs. London: Unicorn, 2017.

Dabbs, Julia K. Life Stories of Women Artists, 1550-1800: An Anthology. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009.

Fine, Elsa Honig. Women & Art: A History of Women Painters and Sculptors from the Renaissance to the 20th Century. London: Allanheld & Schram, 1978.

Grant, Maurice Harold. Rachel Ruysch, 1664–1750. Leigh-on-Sea, England: F. Lewis, 1956.

Greer, Germaine. The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979.

Haveman, Mariette. “Rachel Ruysch.” Kunstschrift 2000 44 (2000): 2-45.

Heller, Nancy G. Women Artists: An Illustrated History. New York and London: Abbeville, 2003.

Keyes, George S. Masters of Dutch Painting. (1st ed.) Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Arts, 2004.

Mitchell, Peter and Paul Taylor, Dutch Flower Painting, 1600–1750. London: Dulwich Picture Gallery, 1996.

Renraw, R. “Art of Rachel Ruysch.” The Connoisseur (1933): 397–99.

Tufts, Eleanor. Our Hidden Heritage: Five Centuries of Women Artists. (1st ed.) New York: Paddington Press, 1974.

Valentiner, Wilhelm R. “An Allegorical Portrait of Rachel Ruysch.” North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 1 (1957): 5-8.

Vigué, Jordi. Great Women Masters of Art. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2002.

Wisener-Hanks, Merry E. Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Entry Notes

Dedicated to the memory of Sara Lebien, who, like her beloved husband, Robert, was among the first to join forces on behalf of the museum and, like Rachel Ruysch, made history.—Heidi Gealt