The floral still lifes of Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) are extraordinarily detailed and innovative; during her lifetime they fetched eye-watering sums. Having gone on display at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich last year before travelling to the Toledo Museum of Art this spring, this exhibition of her work includes early paintings, produced under her teacher Willem van Aelst, as well as the mature pieces that cemented her reputation as the most celebrated flower painter of her day (23 August–7 December). Ruysch had access to Amsterdam’s botanical gardens and their specimens through her botanist father and her paintings reflect – and sometimes play with – contemporary developments in botanical research. Many of her works include details that reveal themselves only on close inspection – insects crawling around the flowers, for instance, or classical statues half-glimpsed in the background.
Find out more from the MFA Boston’s website.
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