Flowers in a vase

Most of the flowers in a vase by Maria van Oosterwijck are a more compact type, in which stems an inappropriate role. In many of her paintings striped grasses, wheat or oars or a branch of honeysuckle can be seen as subtle methods of composition lines to enliven and strengthen. This is not an "invention" of Maria. Her great teacher Davidsz J. de Heem did this before her. More than De Heem used Maria graceful striped grass. Painters of whom Maria worked, f.e. her pupil Geertje Pieters, have this element in their paintings later acquired. Even still-life painters after her, such as Rachel Ruysch and Jan van Huysum, used striped grasses and oars. Her bouquets in a vase are often at a table with a marble top. Just like her colleagues, each composition is based on individual flower still life studies and sketches of flowers. Maria and the fans of these paintings were not concerned about whether the flowers are depicted in the same bloom season. On her paintings we see combinations of flowers that bloom in early spring and late summer. Below you find pictures of bouquet paintings, attributed to Maria van Oosterwijck. The measure of the surface of the painting was decisive for the order of appearance. After clicking on a picture you get further information about that painting.