A Feast of Fruit and Flowers: Women Still Life Painters of the Seventeenth Century and Beyond

A Feast of Fruit and Flowers explores the important role women artists played in the development of the still life genre in seventeenth-century Europe. Still life painting emerged as a recognized genre during this time period, with subjects ranging from artfully composed floral arrangements to tables brimming with food. Many of the leading still life painters were women: at a time when women were limited in the subjects they were able to paint, still life was a genre that was deemed proper, and could be done in the privacy of one’s home. The exhibition features loans from museums from across the country and includes paintings by Fede Galizia, Clara Peeters, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Rachel Ruysch. The show concludes with an epilogue of more modern examples of still life painting, demonstrating that still life was a genre that continued to resonate with women artists over time and evolved to reflect changing eras.

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