Rachel Ruysch
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Rachel Ruysch (June 3, 1664 — August 12, 1750) was a Dutch artist who specialized in still-life paintings of flowers.
She was born in The Hague, but moved to Amsterdam when she was three. Her father Frederik Ruysch, a famous anatomist, and botanist, was appointed there as a professor. He gathered a huge collection of rarities in his house. She assisted her father decorating the prepared specimen in a liquor balsamicum with flowers and lace. At fifteen Ruysch was apprenticed to Willem van Aelst, a prominent Delft painter, known for his flower paintings.
She married in 1693 to a portrait painter, Juriaen Pool (1666-1745), with whom she had ten children.
In 1701 Ruysch was inducted to the painters' guild in The Hague. Several years later Ruysch was invited to Düsseldorf to serve as court painter to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine. She remained there from 1708 until the prince's death in 1716. Also Jan Weenix and Adriaen van der Werff were invited. After she returned to Holland, Ruysch kept painting for her prominent clients.
Ruysch was also noted for her paintings of detailed and realistic crystal vases. 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 died in Amsterdam.
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