“Rachel Ruysch — Nature into Art,” the first-ever retrospective of the Dutch still life painter Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750), is set to launch its international tour at Munich’s Alte Pinakothek, part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections. Until now, relatively scant attention has been paid to this successful female artist who spent her six-decade-long career in Amsterdam.
Rachel Ruysch — Nature into Art
Alte Pinakothek
Munich
pinakothek.de
Through March 16, 2025 (and more)
Ruysch became renowned for painting large, highly detailed flower arrangements — sumptuous bouquets and fruits teeming with insects and butterflies. She was the daughter of Frederik Ruysch, a professor of anatomy and botany, whose collection of specimens inspired her. In 1701, she became the first woman admitted to the artistic society Confrerie Pictura in The Hague, and seven years later she was appointed court painter to the Elector Palatine in Düsseldorf. Moreover, she was the mother of 11 children.
On view are more than 200 exhibits, including Ruysch’s most important works borrowed from public and private collections across Europe and the U.S. These are complemented by manuscripts, prints, drawings, and specimens, as well as paintings by her teacher Willem van Aelst and her contemporaries, including other women. The curatorial team has partnered with botanists, zoologists, and historians of science to contextualize Ruysch’s work.
The exhibition will move to Ohio’s Toledo Museum of Art (April 13–July 27, 2025), which was the first American museum to acquire Ruysch’s work (in 1956), and finally the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (August 23–December 7, 2025).
