Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Vase

Rachel Ruysch painted this flower still life in Amsterdam in the early 18th century. She was about 45, the leading flower painter in the Netherlands, and she had been producing still lifes for 25 years. She would continue painting for another 40, until her death at 86. A glass vase stands on a stone ledge, filled with a dense arrangement of flowers. Roses, peonies, tulips, carnations, and lilies are packed together, their stems visible through the clear glass. Some flowers are in full bloom, others are dropping petals, and a few buds are still closed. A butterfly rests on a rose at the upper left, and a small insect crawls on a leaf at the lower right. The background is dark, almost black, so the flowers stand out in sharp contrast. Ruysch was the daughter of Frederik Ruysch, a professor of anatomy and botany in Amsterdam, and she grew up surrounded by specimens and scientific illustrations. She trained under Willem van Aelst, a still life painter in Amsterdam, and she was admitted to the painters' guild in The Hague in 1701. She was court painter to the Elector Palatine in Dusseldorf from 1708 to 1716, then returned to Amsterdam and continued painting for the rest of her life. She was one of the few women artists of the period who achieved an international reputation, and her paintings sold for more than those of most male still life painters. The painting is a vanitas, a reminder that beauty is temporary. The flowers are at the peak of their bloom, but some are already dropping petals, and the butterfly is a symbol of the brevity of life. Ruysch painted this kind of message into all her still lifes, but the message is secondary to the sheer pleasure of looking at the flowers. Oil on canvas, 65 by 50 centimeters, roughly 26 by 20 inches. Ruysch painted with a smooth, highly finished surface, building each flower in thin layers of color over a dark ground. The petals are rendered with tiny strokes of red, pink, and white, each one individually modeled. The glass vase is painted with thin glazes of grey and white, with the stems visible through the transparent surface. The vertical format and rich colors make this print work well in a dining room, living room, or bedroom with warm-toned walls. The flower subject suits a traditional interior. A dark wood frame matches the painting's dark background. The 11x14 or 12x16 size gives the flowers and the butterfly enough detail to appreciate up close. The painting is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This is a public domain artwork. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.