Maria Margaretha van Os
Maria Margaretha van Os was a Dutch artist, active in the first half of the 19th century. It seems she was destined to become a painter. Her father was the then-internationally renowned still-life artist Jan van Os and her mother Susanna was the daughter of painter Pieter Frederik de la Croix. Maria's mother was also a painter and painted portraits. Also, the two brothers of Maria, Pieter and Georgius, later became well-known painters. Young Maria received lessons from her father in his studio and like him, painted mostly still lifes with flowers and fruit, sometimes supplemented with shells and memento mori elements. She made advanced studies of plants and insects and even created the occasional landscape painting.
Van Os did not go public as a painter until she was 35 years old. In 1814, she sent her first work for an exhibition of the Living Masters Show in The Hague. In 1826 she received a membership of the Royal Academy of Arts in Amsterdam.
This work is on view at the Rijksmuseum. :)
P.S. Do you know Thérèse Schwartze? She was also a 19th-century Dutch artist who grew up in an artistic family. :)
P.P.S. Today's masterpiece is featured in our Food & Drinks in Art 50 Postcard Set; it is SO FULL OF AMAZING FOOD AND DRINKS!