Rachel Ruysch, who has been called the "most celebrated Dutch woman artist of the 17th and 18th centuries," was successful for nearly 70 years as a specialist in flower paintings. Born in The Hague, Ruysch moved to Amsterdam with her family when she was three. Her maternal grandfather, Pieter Post, was an important architect and her father, Frederik Ruysch, an eminent scientist from whom she learned how to observe and record nature with great accuracy. In turn, she later taught her father (and her sister, Anna Elisabeth) how to paint.

At 15 Ruysch was apprenticed to the well-known Dutch flower painter Willem van Aelst. From that point on, she produced various kinds of still lifes, mainly flower pieces and woodland scenes.

In 1701 Ruysch became a member of the painters' guild in The Hague. At that time she began producing large flower pieces for an international circle of patrons. Several years later Ruysch was invited to Düsseldorf to serve as court painter to Johann Wilhelm, the Elector Palatine of Bavaria. She remained there from 1708 until the prince's death in 1716.

After returning to Holland, Ruysch kept painting fruit and flower pictures for a prominent clientele. She remained artistically active, proudly inscribing her age (83) on a canvas she completed in 1747. Despite the changes in attitude toward flower paintings during the years since her death, Ruysch's reputation has never waned.