RACHEL RUYSCH* (1664-1750)

THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Details

RACHEL RUYSCH* (1664-1750)

A Bunch of Grapes, Hollyhocks, Irises, African Marigolds, Clematis, a Chestnut and Blackberries hanging in front of a Niche

signed and dated 'Rachel Ruysch 1681'--oil on canvas
25¾ x 20in. (65.5 x 50.8cm.)

Provenance

Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, July 16, 1958, lot 81 (#400 to Dent) with Eugene Slatter, London, from whom purchased on October 28, 1958

Literature

S. Segal in the catalogue of the exhibition, Flowers and Nature, Netherlandish Flower Painting of Four Centuries, Nabio Museum of Art, Osaka, Tokyo Station Gallery, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1990, p. 235, note 1

Lot Essay

The earliest known dated work by the artist, painted when she was seventeen. A picture dated 1682 of a related composition is in the Národní Galerie, Prague (J. Sip, Shírky Národní Galerie v Praze: Flamská a Hollandská Zátisi 17. Stol, 1967, no. 61, illustrated; exhibited Bruges, Groeningmuseum, chef d'oeuvre de Prague 1450-1750, 1974, p. 153, no. 91, illustrated; catalogue of the exhibition, Bonquets from the Golden Age, Mauritshaus, The Hague, 1992, p. 29 and p. 31, fig. 14). Both pictures reflect the style of Willem van Aelst, whose pupil Ruysch had become in 1679