Oil painting, 'Flowers', Rachel Ruysch, ca. 1685-ca. 1700

A still life of a spray of cut flowers and a moth on a stone table, against a dark background.

Purchased, 1857
Prov. Sale, van Dijl, Amsterdam, 10 Jan. 1814, no. 138 (64 flor. with companion piece); sale Jurriaens, Amsterdam, 28 Aug. 1817, no. 58 (100 flor. with companion piece); collection Artis, London, 1835; Tisdall (label on back); 1857 V. & A. Museum, on loan to N. G., 1895-1953.

Historical significance: Rachel Ruysch (bapt 1664-1750) was a Dutch painter who specialized in still-lifes of flowers and fruits, the majority signed, with dated examples from 1681 to 1747. Her father was an eminent professor of anatomy and botany. At the age of 15 Ruysch became a pupil of Willem van Aelst until his death in 1683. From 1708-1713 she was court painter to the Elector Palatine, John William, at Düsseldorf until his death in 1716 after which she returned to Amsterdam. A typical flower-piece by Ruysch is a bouquet in a vase set on a stone or marble ledge against a plain background. Ruysch's success was based on the sound drawing and technique of the earlier tradition allied to her introduction of an elegant and sophisticated movement and freedom into her composition, both on large and small scales. In her later works, she uses a subtle 'S' curve and groups large flowers in the centre of the bouquet with strong lighting. She casts outer flowers and foliage in shadow to produce a convincing three-dimensional effect. Her skillful brushstrokes produced petals of exceptional delicacy and softness, particularly in white roses, tulips and anemones. In her later work the palette, background and overall tonality are lighter so that the effect is less three-dimensional and more decorative.

The composition of 4349-1857 and its darker tonality suggest an early work, still in the manner of van Aelst, from about 1685-1700. It is very close to her Nosegay on a Marble Plinth (The Norton Simon Foundation, F.1972.43.1.P) dating to ca. 1695 and to A spray of flowers (Fitzwilliam Museum, PD.38-1975).

The term ‘still life’ conventionally refers to works depicting an arrangement of diverse inanimate objects including fruits, flowers, shellfish, vessels and artefacts. The term derives from the Dutch 'stilleven', which became current from about 1650 as a collective name for this type of subject matter. Still-life reached the height of its popularity in Western Europe, especially in the Netherlands, during the 17th century although still-life subjects already existed in pre-Classical, times. Soon, different traditions of still life with food items developed in Flanders and in the Netherlands where they became especially popular commodities in the new bourgeois art market. Dutch painters played a major role the development of this genre, inventing distinctive variations on the theme over the course of the century while Flemish artist Frans Snyders' established a taste for banquet pieces. These works were developed further in Antwerp by the Dutchman Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606-1684) who created opulent baroque confections of fruit, flowers, and precious vessels that became a standardized decorative type throughout Europe. Scholarly opinion had long been divided over how all of these images should be understood. The exotic fruits and valuable objects often depicted testify to the prosperous increase in wealth in cities such as Amsterdam and Haarlem but may also function as memento mori, or vanitas, that is, reminders of human mortality and invitations to meditate upon the passage of time.

A still life of a spray of cut flowers and a moth on a marble table, against a dark background. Rachel Ruysch (bapt 1664-1750) was a Dutch painter who specialized in still-lifes of flowers and fruits, the majority signed, with dated examples from 1681 to 1747. At the age of 15 Ruysch became a pupil of Willem van Aelst until his death in 1683. From 1708-1713 she was court painter to the Elector Palatine, John William, at Düsseldorf until his death in 1716 after which she returned to Amsterdam. A typical flower-piece by Ruysch is a bouquet in a vase set on a stone or marble ledge against a plain background. Ruysch's success was based on the sound drawing and technique of the earlier tradition allied to her introduction of an elegant and sophisticated movement and freedom into her composition, both on large and small scales. In her later work the palette, background and overall tonality are lighter so that the effect is less three-dimensional and more decorative. The composition of 4349-1857 and its darker tonality suggest an early work, still in the manner of van Aelst, from about 1685-1700. It is very close to her Nosegay on a Marble Plinth (The Norton Simon Foundation, F.1972.43.1.P) dating to ca. 1695 and to A spray of flowers (Fitzwilliam Museum, PD.38-1975). This painting has a companion piece of the same title, also inthe V&A, and the pictures would have been intended for display together.

4349-1857