Among this array of blossoming and wilting plants composed by Rachel Ruysch, a closer look reveals caterpillars crawling along the stem of a flower and browning leaves riddled with holes made by hungry insects. Such vivid details suggest the fragility of the arrangement, even alluding to the fact that beauty fades and all living things must die. Ruysch was the daughter of a professor of anatomy and botany and likely became familiar with plants through him. By age fifteen she was studying with the still life artist Willem van Aelst. From this background of scientific and artistic studies, she learned to capture the essence of nature in her own flower paintings.
Ruysch enjoyed an international reputation over a career that lasted almost seven decades. In 1750, the year of her death, a collection of fourteen poems written about her between 1685 and 1750 was published. Each author, including several Dutch women poets, celebrated Ruysch as a master of both science and art in her depictions of flowers, fruit, and animals. They also included vivid descriptions of their interactions with her paintings. You can see a copy of this book and read some of these poems in Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art, now on view at TMA.
Rachel Ruysch (Dutch, 1664–1750), Flower Still Life. Oil on canvas, about 1716–20. 29 3/4 × 23 7/8 in. (75.6 × 60.6 cm). Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1956.57. On view in Levis Gallery in Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art.
Image Description: A dense bouquet of flowers lush with petals in reds, pinks, whites, blues, and violets emerges from a darkened background. The arrangement is asymmetrical, with flowers spilling over the edge of their vase into the lower-left corner of the painting and one bright red flower visible at the upper right. Insects including a butterfly, a bee, and a caterpillar can be found on the layers of petals, leaves, buds, and curving stems that form the bouquet. The vase rests on a marble table, in shadow, with two seashells next to its base.
