BOSTON (August 21, 2025)—At the intersection of art and science, the still life paintings of Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) present an extraordinary variety of plants, reptiles, and insects. Though she achieved great success in her lifetime, Ruysch’s work was largely overlooked in the centuries following her death and has not been the subject of a major exhibition—until now. Rachel Ruysch: Artist, Naturalist, and Pioneer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is the first-ever retrospective dedicated to the artist, tracing the full arc of her seven-decade career.

The exhibition presents 35 of Ruysch’s finest paintings—some being shown to the public for the first time— alongside plant and insect specimens from Harvard University’s Herbarium and Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ruysch's paintings of species imported from Dutch colonial territories revolutionized the genre of still lifes while reflecting the intertwined histories of exploitation, resource extraction, and colonial expansion. The exhibition also includes works by other women artists including her sister Anna Ruysch, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Alida Withoos. Together, these works reveal how women advanced scientific knowledge in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The exhibition was curated by Anna Knaap, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, with guidance for the scientific content from Charles Davis, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Curator of Vascular Plants in the Harvard University Herbaria.

“Rachel Ruysch achieved great fame in her lifetime for her bouquets and fruit pieces, admired for their beauty and dazzling biodiversity,” said Knaap. “Highlighting the artistic and scientific sources that inspired her—including striking butterflies and plants from across the globe—the exhibition invites visitors to discover the innovations that set her apart from her contemporaries.”

Organized in partnership with the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and the Toledo Museum of Art, the exhibition is on view in the MFA’s Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery from August 23 through December 7, 2025, and is included with general admission.

Exhibition Overview

The exhibition space draws inspiration from the natural history cabinet of Ruysch’s father, Dr. Frederik Ruysch, and largely proceeds chronologically, from the 1680s to the 1740s.

The introductory section, Growing up in Nature’s Cabinet, presents key works from across Ruysch’s career alongside botanical and zoological specimens, including preserved butterflies, beetles, and reptiles. Ruysch’s father was a distinguished anatomist and botanist who transformed his family’s Amsterdam home into a natural history museum, exposing his daughter to cutting-edge scientific tools and natural rarities that inspired her paintings. Ruysch's astonishingly realistic paintings showcased botanical novelties and engaged with scientific questions of the time. This section displays microscopes, 20 insect species, and five reptiles, which can be spotted in Ruysch’s intricate paintings throughout the exhibition. An important early work is a collaboration by Ruysch and portrait painter Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705), Rachel Ruysch (1692, The Metropolitan Museum of Art), which depicts the 28-year-old Ruysch in her studio, surrounded by books, drawings, and painting tools. While collaborations between specialists in different genres were common, this one is notable as the young artist teamed up with an established portraitist twenty years her senior, highlighting the early recognition of her talent.

Lessons in Still Life: Rachel & Anna includes paintings by Ruysch’s younger sister, Anna Ruysch (1666–1754), whose work has only recently gained scholarly attention. So far, only a dozen paintings have been attributed to her. The artists worked closely together, with Anna copying her sister and painting close variants. This section includes pairings of the sisters’ work, particularly Rachel’s Flower Piece (1685, Martin von Wagner Museum de Universität Würzburg, Gemäldegalerie) and Anna’s A Still Life of Flowers on a Marble Ledge (1685, Private collection). Several elements in these paintings are similar, but others show the stylistic differences between the two sisters. Presenting Rachel and Anna’s work side by side conveys the differing paths and achievements of women artists in the 17th and 18th centuries. While Rachel achieved considerable success, Anna's accomplishments remained relatively modest. This section also features the earliest known work by Ruysch—Swag of Flowers and Fruit Suspended in Front of a Niche (1681, Private Collection), completed when the artist was just 17 years old—as well as a work by Willem van Aelst (1627–1683), who taught Rachel, and likely Anna as well.

The third section, Morbid Nature, juxtaposes Ruysch’s paintings with real specimens and stunning botanical illustrations by Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) and Alida Withoos (1661–1730), highlighting the central role of women in the history of art and science. The section also highlights Ruysch’s approach to forest floors, a genre of still lifes first made popular by Otto Marseus van Schrieck (1613–1678), whose work appears here. Ruysch’s forest floors combine dark, ominous scenes depicting lurking lizards, frogs, and butterflies with bursts of vibrant flowers and rare creatures from her father’s cabinet.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch established colonies and trading posts across the Americas, West and South Africa, and Southeast Asia, bringing thousands of new plant species to Europe for the first time. Flowers of Empire showcases Ruysch’s high-diversity flower paintings in the context of colonialism, power, and environmental disruption. These works are presented alongside botanical drawings, largely by women artists, whose work played a pivotal role in documenting newly imported species. A world map in this gallery traces the origins of around twenty species depicted in Still Life of Exotic Flowers on a Marble Ledge (about 1735, The Nelson Atkins Museum), whose native regions span five continents and closely align with Dutch trading posts and settlements.

Achieving International Fame celebrates Ruysch’s accomplishments as an artist, tracing her move towards large, opulent still-life paintings in the latter half of her career. In 1701, she became the first woman to be admitted to the Confrerie Pictura, an artist society in The Hague. In 1708, she was also elected court painter to the elector Johann Wilhelm of Düsseldorf. Her work at this time expanded in both scale and complexity—lavish still lifes of fruit, a sub-genre she pioneered, combined produce and flowers with insects and reptiles in motion. In Fruit Piece (1709, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München – Alte Pinakothek), Ruysch captures sweet autumnal fruits, while a black witch moth and insects in the foreground suggest signs of danger and decay.

Ruysch continued to paint into her late 70s and early 80s. The last section, An Art Heroine, highlights some of her final works. At this time, Ruysch began signing many of her paintings with her age as a proud recognition of the longevity of her career as an artist. A side-by-side comparison between an early and late work reveals a striking shift in style: later paintings adopt a smaller scale, softer palette, and lighter backgrounds. The section also features a portrait of Ruysch at age 85 by Aert Schouman, drawn just six months before her death.

Publication

The exhibition is accompanied by an award-winning catalogue from MFA Publications. Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art includes insightful essays from leading scholars on Ruysch’s art and patronage, scientific knowledge networks, the artist’s reception in her lifetime, as well as analysis of Ruysch’s depiction of diverse species from across the globe. The publication also includes luxurious reproductions throughout, presenting Ruysch’s work in fascinating detail. This is the first monograph on the painter published in over 70 years.

Discovery Guide

A colorful discovery guide available in the exhibition encourages visitors to look closely at the details in 10 of Ruysch’s paintings. The family-friendly brochure provides a path through the galleries, highlighting different plants, insects, and reptiles brought vividly to life in her work.

Public Programs

Inspired by the exhibition, “The City Talks: Art, Nature, and Ancestral Knowledge” (September 25) brings artists, researchers, and organizers together to explore how art can help to connect with nature. Moderated by Sara O'Brien, Director of Public Programs, Native Plant Trust, this evening of insight, reflection, and dialogue shaped by Ruysch’s legacy invites visitors to join the conversation.

In a four-week course (October 15 through November 5), visitors can explore how Ruysch’s work emerged from and contributed to a vibrant cultural moment in the Netherlands—one shaped by scientific discovery, artistic innovation, and shifting roles for women. “Rachel Ruysch: Art, Science, and Society” reveals how Ruysch's exquisite paintings reflect global networks, microcosmic ideas, and the flourishing intersection of knowledge, beauty, and commerce in 17th- and 18th-century Europe.

“Rediscovering Rachel Ruysch,” a rich interdisciplinary program on October 30, features presentations on Ruysch's life and pioneering career as an artist and naturalist. The presentations will be followed by a panel conversation and audience Q&A, moderated by Christopher Atkins, Van Otterloo-Weatherbie Director of the MFA’s Center for Netherlandish Art. Speakers include Charles C. Davis, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (Harvard University); Lieke van Deinsen, Assistant Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies (Catholic University of Leuven); and Anna Knaap, the MFA’s Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe.

Sponsors

Generous support for Rachel Ruysch: Artist, Naturalist, and Pioneer is provided by Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc., the Richard and Natalie Jacoff Foundation, Inc. in memory of Rachel Jacoff, Tamara Petrosian Davis and Charles Howard Davis II, Laura and Tait Nielsen, the Cordover Exhibition Fund, the MFA Associates / MFA Senior Associates Exhibition Endowment Fund, the Alexander M. Levine and Dr. Rosemarie D. Bria-Levine Exhibition Fund, the Bruce and Laura Monrad Fund for Exhibitions, and the Museum Council Special Exhibition Fund. This exhibition is supported by DutchCultureUSA, a program of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United States.

About the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The MFA brings many worlds together through art. Showcasing masterpieces from ancient to modern, our renowned collection of more than half a million works tells a multifaceted story of the human experience—a story that holds unique meaning for everyone. From Boston locals to international travelers, visitors from all over come to experience the MFA—where they reveal connections, explore differences and create a community where all belong.

Open six days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Monday, 10 am–5 pm; Wednesday, 10 am–5 pm; and Thursday–Friday, 10 am–10 pm. Plan your visit at mfa.org.