18 Facts About Rachel Ruysch

Rachel Ruysch was a Dutch still-life painter from the Northern Netherlands.

Rachel Ruysch specialized in flowers, inventing her own style and achieving international fame in her lifetime.

Rachel Ruysch's father was a professor of anatomy and botany and an amateur painter.

Rachel Ruysch had a vast collection of animal skeletons, and mineral and botany samples which Rachel used to practice her drawing skills.

Later, as Rachel became more accomplished, she taught her father how to paint.

In 1679, at age fifteen, Rachel Ruysch was apprenticed to Willem van Aelst, a prominent flower painter in Amsterdam.

Rachel Ruysch studied with van Aelst until his death in 1683.

Rachel Ruysch continued working as a painter after she married, mostly likely because her contribution to the family's income allowed them to hire help to care for their children.

In 1708, Rachel Ruysch was invited to work for the court in Dusseldorf and serve as court painter to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.

Rachel Ruysch obtained a contract for works painted at home that she periodically brought to Dusseldorf.

Rachel Ruysch continued working for him and his wife from 1708 until the prince's death in 1716.

Rachel Ruysch's dated works establish that she painted from the age of 15 until she was 83, a few years before her death.

Rachel Ruysch had a very good understanding of drawing and the techniques of earlier traditions.

Rachel Ruysch paid extensive attention to all details in her work.

The background of Rachel Ruysch's paintings are usually dark which was the fashion for flower painting in the second half of the 17th century.

Rachel Ruysch later adopted flower painting as her main concern and continued to paint until her death, thus continuing the 17th-century style right down to the middle of the following century.

In 1999 a painting by Rachel Ruysch was discovered in a farmhouse in Normandy and was sold at auction for 2.9 million French francs, about US$508,000.

In March 2021, Rachel Ruysch's work was added to the "Gallery of Honour" at the Rijksmuseum.