Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/414

Rh The pictures by Rachel Ruysch are Honorably placed in many public galleries; in those of Florence and Turin, as well as at Amsterdam, The Hague, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, and Munich, they are much valued. Although these pictures are characterized by extreme delicacy of touch, softness, and lightness, this artist knew how so to combine these qualities as to impart an effect of strength to her painting. Her rendering of separate flowers was exquisite, and her roses, either by themselves or combined with other flowers, are especially beautiful. She painted fruits in perfection, and the insects and butterflies which she sometimes added are admirably executed.

The chief criticism that can be made of her pictures is that she was less skilful in the grouping of her flowers than in their painting. Many of her works are in private galleries, especially in Holland. They are rarely sold; in London, about thirty years ago, a small "Bouquet of Flowers with Insects " was sold for more than two thousand dollars, and is now of double that value.

Her pictures have the same clearness and individuality that are seen in her portrait, in which she has short hair, a simple low-cut dress, with a necklace of beads about the throat.

Salles, Adelheid. Born in Dresden, 1825; died in Paris, 1890. Pupil of Bernhard and Jacquand, she established her studio in Paris. Many of her works are in museums: "Elijah in the Desert," at Lyons; "The Legend of the Alyscamps," at Nimes; "The Village Maiden," at Grenoble ; " Field Flowers," at Havre, etc. She also painted portraits and historical subjects, among