Michiel van Huysum
1707 - 1789
Francina Margaretha van Huysum, was an 18th-century flower painter from the Northern Netherlands.
She was born in Amsterdam as the daughter of Jan van Huysum and probably assisted him with his work. In the 20 page biography of her father written by Jan van Gool, the only woman mentioned is Margaretha Haverman who Van Gool claimed had been allowed to become his only pupil "under false pretenses". This indicates that Van Huysum was willing to let female relatives of family and friends assist him but avoided the help of male pupils for fear of revealing his technique and creating competition.
According to the RKD Francina's works have been formerly attributed to her father Jan and her uncle Michiel and were only in 2006 reattributed to her by Sam Segal. She died in Amsterdam.
Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023