Wie kan hier allâ de wondren tellen?
Ik zie de purpren Muskadellen;
âk Zie de adertjes der blaadjes zwellen,
Door milde morgendauw besproeid.
De schoone Pruim en Perzik bloozen;
Terwijl het Violiertje gloeit
In schaaûw van witte en roode Roozen.
My dunkt ik zie dat Rupsje weeven,
Dat Bytje door de takjes zweeven,
Noem dit geen kunst: o neen :Â ât is leven.
(Who can count these wonders all?
I see the purple Muscatel;
I see the leavesâ veins as they swell
Under the gentle morning dew.
The Plum and Peach, they blush, âtis said,
and fragrant Stock of glowing hue,
shaded by Roses white and red.
The caterpillar wends its way,
Methinks that bee above doth sway,
Call not this art:Â âtis life, I say.)
-Lukretia Wilhelmina van Merken, in honour of Rachel Ruyschâs oeuvre (1750)
On this International Womenâs Day, Iâd like to highlight some of my greatest heroes and inspirations: the women whose fantastic works shaped the Dutch Golden Age. The harmful and disrespectful notion that women artists didnât exist in history (and if they did, they were never successful) persists to this day. I want to stress, desperately, that this is not so. Womenâs labour throughout the ages has been tragically undervalued, and womenâs art has been systematically pushed aside and labelled as âkitschâ and âcraftâ by those who would have women make nothing else.
Margareta de Heer, Clara Peeters, Rachel Ruysch and Maria van Oosterwijck were each very achieved artists, and their work was heavily sought after in their time. With the limitations set upon them by society - still life was the only form of painting a (wealthy) woman could do at the time - they built great careers and lasting legacies. Their love of the natural world shows in the beautiful, detailed way they depict it in their work, and if ever you are blessed with the opportunity to see any of it in real life, I strongly suggest you do so. They are the giants whose shoulders we stand on, and must never be forgotten.