玛格丽特·阿姆斯特朗

1867-1944 American

玛格丽特·阿姆斯特朗

新艺术风格封面与野花指南

Margaret Neilson Armstrong was a 20th-century American designer, illustrator, and author. She is best known for her book covers in the Art Nouveau style. She also wrote and illustrated the first comprehensive guide to wildflowers of the American west, Field Book of Western Wild Flowers (1915). In later life she wrote mystery novels and biographies. Margaret Neilson Armstrong was born on September 24, 1867, in New York City, the daughter of American diplomat and stained glass artist Maitland Armstrong and his wife Helen, who was a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant and a niece of Hamilton Fish. Her six siblings included Helen Maitland Armstrong (1869–1948), who followed in her father's footsteps to become a stained glass artist, and Hamilton Fish Armstrong, a magazine editor. She began her career as a designer in the 1880s, working initially for A.C. McClurg and later for other publishers as well. She designed more than 270 book covers and book bindings, about half of which were for Scribner's. She worked in the Art Nouveau style and favored plant-related motifs, bold colors, gold stamping, and often slightly asymmetrical designs—an unusual combination that helped to distinguish her among her peers. Authors for whom she designed several covers include Frances Hodgson Burnett, Florence L. Barclay, George Washington Cable, Charles Dickens, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry van Dyke, and Myrtle Reed. She has been called "the most productive and accomplished American book designer of the 1890s and early 1900s", and her work is often compared to that of her contemporary Alice Cordelia Morse. Her monogram appears on many covers after 1895; it is a simple 'MA' in upper case with the 'M' slightly overlapping the 'A'. 大约在1913年，随着护封开始流行，阿姆斯特朗减少了书籍封面设计的工作，转而撰写自己的书籍。（然而，她的标志性风格如此成功，以至于出版商随后专门聘请艺术家来模仿她的风格。） 阿姆斯特朗是一位热心的博物学家，她对自然形态的热爱反映了她对植物学，尤其是野花的兴趣。在1911年至1914年期间，她游历并露营于美国西部和加拿大各地，成为最早抵达大峡谷底部的女性之一。她在那里发现了几种尚未被植物学家鉴定的花卉物种。她在《西部野花野外手册》（1915年）中详细记录了这些物种以及许多其他物种。该书配有550幅插图（其中48幅为彩色），被视为该领域第一部综合性指南。在六十多岁和七十多岁时，她撰写了三部备受评论界赞誉的推理小说——《彩色玻璃谋杀案》（1939年）、《无面之人》（1940年）和《蓝色圣徒谋杀谜案》（1941年）——以及两部传记，《范妮·肯布尔：一位充满激情的维多利亚时代女性》（1938年）和《特雷劳尼：一个男人的一生》（1940年）。她还完成了她父亲的回忆录。 她于1944年在纽约市去世。

Artworks by this artist (47 total)