The velvet petals of peonies, lilies, tulips and passionflower bloom so realistically in Dutch painter Rachel Ruysch’s still lifes that it looks like you could ruffle them with your fingers.
Ruysch was one of the most well-known and well-paid artists of the late 1600s and early 1700s. Born in The Hague, Netherlands, Ruysch began producing her first major works—often of floral arrangements against a dark background—at age 16 or 17, in 1681.
But also crawling through most of her paintings, depicted so realistically that scientists can identify them today, are moths, butterflies, bees, ants, lizards and many other species of things that creep and crawl.
Ruysch’s work is now on display at the Toledo Museum of Art, in an exhibition called “Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art.” It’s the first major exhibition of her work, says Robert Schindler, the museum’s William Hutton Curator of European Art.
It’s also the first to pair her paintings with actual specimens of the flora and fauna that she integrated into her work. Working with researchers from the University of Michigan Herbarium and Museum of Zoology, Schindler identified dozens of specimens to display along with about 50 of her best paintings. These are shown alongside illustrated books and botanical and zoological drawings, created over her six decade career.
In total, the Toledo Museum of Art borrowed 79 insect specimens, five amphibian and reptile specimens, and 10 plant specimens from U-M. The exhibit runs until July 27.
One of the specimens for the display is called datura, or angel’s trumpet, pulled from the U-M Herbarium by Brad Ruhfel, research collection manager for vascular plants at the U-M Herbarium.
