瑪格麗特·阿姆斯壯
新藝術風格封面與野花指南
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'. 大約在1913年，隨著護封開始流行，阿姆斯壯減少了書籍封面設計的工作，轉而撰寫自己的書籍。（然而，她的標誌性風格如此成功，以至於出版商隨後專門聘請藝術家來模仿她的風格。） 阿姆斯壯是一位熱心的博物學家，她對自然形態的熱愛反映了她對植物學，尤其是野花的興趣。在1911年至1914年期間，她遊歷並露營於美國西部和加拿大各地，成為最早抵達大峽谷底部的女性之一。她在那裡發現了幾種尚未被植物學家鑑定的花卉物種。她在《西部野花野外手冊》（1915年）中詳細記錄了這些物種以及許多其他物種。該書配有550幅插圖（其中48幅為彩色），被視為該領域第一部綜合性指南。在六十多歲和七十多歲時，她撰寫了三部備受評論界讚譽的推理小說——《彩色玻璃謀殺案》（1939年）、《無面之人》（1940年）和《藍色聖徒謀殺謎案》（1941年）——以及兩部傳記，《范妮·肯布爾：一位充滿激情的維多利亞時代女性》（1938年）和《特雷勞尼：一個男人的一生》（1940年）。她還完成了她父親的回憶錄。 她於1944年在紐約市去世。
Artworks by this artist (47 total)
- Western Wallflower 1915
- Butter Balls 1915
- Phacelia grandiflora 1915
- Baby Blue-eyes 1915
- California Poppy 1915
- Cut-leaved Balsam-Root 1915
- Indian Hyacinth 1915
- Penstemon cyananthus 1915
- Salmon Globe Mallow 1915
- Small Shooting Star 1915
- Thistle Sage 1915
- Wild Onion 1915
- Arizona Thistle 1915
- Easter Daisy 1915
- Mountain Phacelia 1915
- Pink Monkey Flower 1915
- Indian Pink 1915
- Large Prickly Gilia 1915
- Lilac Clematis 1915
- Pride of California 1915