Her work testifies to a deep knowledge of nature, one that she nurtured at Amsterdam’s Hortus Botanicus, where her father Frederik Ruysch taught. She also studied his collection of preserved flowers and insects. Rachel Ruysch learned the craft of painting from still life artist Willem van Aelst. In 1701 she became the first female member of Pictura, an association of artists in The Hague. From 1708 to 1716 she held the prestigious position of court painter to the German prince Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz. He was far from the only admirer of Ruysch’s work, and her floral still lifes were collected by enthusiasts far and wide.
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