COLLECTION NAME:
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHiAAH~7~7
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
Collection
true
Image Record ID:
aahi0000366
image_record_id
aahi0000366
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
Still Life with Fruit and Animals
Image Title:
center detail with fruit, nest with eggs, lizard
Work Dates (display):
1716
Work Dates type:
creation
Work Creator (display):
Rachel Ruysch (Dutch, 1664-1750)
Work Creator gender:
female
work_creator_or_agent_gender
female
Work Creator gender
false
Work Creator notes (display):
Dutch painter. She specialized in still-lifes of flowers and fruits and still-lifes in outdoor settings, the large majority signed, with dated examples from 1681 to 1747 providing a sound chronology. She is widely regarded as the most gifted woman in the history of the subject and among the greatest exponents of either sex. Ruysch came from a distinguished and wealthy background. Her father, Frederik Ruysch (16381731), was an eminent professor of anatomy and botany, who published his fine collection of natural curiosities. He was also a gifted amateur painter. Her mother was the daughter of the architect Pieter Post. At the age of 15 Ruysch became a pupil of Willem van Aelst until his death in 1683. In 1693 she married the portrait painter Juriaen Pool (16651745), a happy union that produced ten children. In 1709 the couple moved to The Hague, where both artists joined the Guild of St Luke. From 1708 to 1713 they were both court painters to the Elector Palatine, John William, at Düsseldorf, for whom they continued to work until his death in 1716. In that year they returned to Amsterdam, where Ruysch continued working until at least the age of 83. No less than 11 contemporary poets paid tribute to her, in addition to her biographer Jan van Gool, and her wide-reaching fame, coupled with the high value of her works, both of which were established in her lifetime, were sustained after her death. The typical flower-piece by Ruysch is a conventional bouquet in a vase set on a stone or marble ledge against a plain background (see fig.). The evolution of her work is readily followed in a series of paintings in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where her early bouquet on copper (Grant, no. 137) firmly rooted stylistically and by choice of support in the 17th-century tradition, exemplified by Jan Davidsz. de Heem, contrasts with a bouquet executed in her maturity (1716; Grant, no. 153), of which a replica exists (Oxford, Ashmolean). These two works also illustrate the transition from one century to another, a development keenly noted by the young Jan van Huysum. Rachel 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, whether on a large or small scale. Among the former is a still-life of Flowers (1704; Brussels, Mus. A. Anc.) with fruits on the ledge. The use of the 'S' curve is subtle, the whole composition redolent of her excellent taste and restraint. Large flowers are grouped in the centre, with strong lighting; outer flowers and foliage are consequently in shadow, producing a convincing three-dimensional effect, sometimes distorted where backgrounds and shadow have darkened through pigment changes. Her brushstrokes produced petals of great delicacy and softness, particularly in white roses, tulips and anemones, which, allied to an exquisite refinement of colour, gives her autograph work a distinction far removed from that of the many lesser works wrongly attributed to her. In her later work the palette, background and overall tonality are lighter, making her characteristic oranges, pinks and yellows distinctive. The effect is less three-dimensional and more decorative, a development taken to its apogee by van Huysum. In her early career, in the 1680s, Ruysch had been intrigued by the work of the recently deceased Otto Marseus van Schrieck, encountered, perhaps, through de Heem and Jean Mignon, as well as through her teacher, van Aelst. She produced a number of still-lifes of plants and fruits in a woodland setting, often with a variety of snakes, toads, moths, grasshoppers and the like, probably working from specimens in her father's collection. Her small-scale paintings of posies of flowers lying on a marble ledge (e.g. Hamburg, Ksthalle) derived from van Aelst but, as with the outdoor scenes, were successfully developed in her own manner. Of her sister, Anna Ruysch (d after 1741), also a painter, there is scant record other than a copy (Karlsruhe, Staatl. Ksthalle) after Mignon's Woodland Scene with a Squirrel (Brussels, Mus. A. Anc.). (Grove Art Online Accessed 2006-07-28)
Work Style Period:
Netherlandish Renaissance-Baroque styles
work_styleperiod
Netherlandish Renaissance-Baroque styles
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
18th century
work_styleperiod
18th century
Work Style Period
false
Work Subject:
birds nests
subject
birds nests
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
grasshoppers
subject
grasshoppers
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
nectarines
subject
nectarines
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
caterpillars
subject
caterpillars
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
lizards
subject
lizards
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
eggs and egg components
subject
eggs and egg components
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
peaches
subject
peaches
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
grapes
subject
grapes
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
insects
subject
insects
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
fruit
subject
fruit
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
still lifes
subject
still lifes
Work Subject
false
Work Worktype:
paintings (visual works)
work_type
paintings (visual works)
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
paintings
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
paintings
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Material and Technique (display):
paint
Work Measurements (display):
89 cm (H) x 69 cm (W)
Work Inscription (display):
Signed; Dated
Work Location (Repository or Site) name:
Palazzo Pitti
Work Location (Repository or Site) role:
repository
Work Location (Geographic) name:
Florence, Italy
Image Rights (display):
© Ronald Wiedenhoeft. Licensed for educational use via Scholars Resource: Saskia, Ltd.
Image Rights license agreement:
SASKIA, LTD.: WHO CAN USE THIS SOFTWARE: (a) Licensee, including faculty, staff and currently enrolled students may use the Licensed Software to display and or print the corresponding graphic images without limitation for teaching and research purposes at the defined Sites, or at remote locations having electronic access to your Site(s). (b) This license include permission to use the Licensed Software on a multi-user network at the defined Site, and to permit remote access to a computer/server located at your Site. Simultaneous display in multiple locations at or connected to the Site is also permitted. (c) Licensee agrees to employ reasonable security measures designed to limit access to your faculty, staff and currently enrolled students. PROHIBITED USES AND LIMITATIONS: (a) Saskia hereby reserves all rights not expressly granted herein. (b) the License Software may not be used for preparaiton of any publication, scholarly or otherwise; or for any purpose other than teaching or research. Publication of an image from the Licensed Software requires a separate license from Saskia. (c) Licensee agrees not to resell, lease, transfer, sub-license or otherwise distribute a copy of the Licensed Software, or any image taken from the Licensed Software, in whole or in part. (d) Licensee also agrees not to modify, corrupt or alter any digital image graphic content or "digital watermark" or the like in the software provided by Saskia under this Agreement. (e) Licensee agrees not to remove, alter, cover or distort Saskia's copyright notice, trademark, or other proprietary rights notice placed by Saskia in the Licensed Software itself, or in the associated packaging, media or documentation. (f) And Licensee agrees to notify users of the Licensed Software, in writing or by sign-on screen display, of their obligations under this Agreement and solicit their cooperation and compliance with such obligations.
Work Rights (display):
public domain
Terms of Agreement and Conditions of Use:
YOU AGREE: Luna Imaging's Insight Software and the digital image collection associated with it (the Software) are being provided by the University of Colorado under the following license. By obtaining, using, and/or copying this work, you (the Licensee) agree that you have read, understood, and will comply with the following terms and conditions. 1. The Software contains the University of Colorado's Department of Art and Art History's implementation of a digital image collection; 2. Any images obtained through use of the Software will be used only for non-profit, educational purposes; 3. The use of images obtained through the software will only be used while the Licensee is either: a) an employee of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver, or b) an enrolled student at the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver; 4. When the Licensee is no longer an employee or student of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or Community College of Denver, either by an action of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or the Community College of Denver or due to actions of the Licensee, the licensee will cease to use any images exported from the Department of Art and Art History's digital image collection; 5. The Licensee agrees to indemnify the University for claims and liability arising out of the use of the Software or for any violations of this license; 6. THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SUPPLIES THE SOFTWARE WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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Holding Institution:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Center
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see