Lilac Clematis (Atragene Occidentalis)

July 1909

Not on view

Margaret Armstrong came from an artistic family (her father, D. Maitland Armstrong, established a stained-glass company, where her sister Helen also worked). After studying at New York’s Art Students League, Armstrong became an illustrator and book-cover designer, exhibiting covers at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. An adventurous and talented botanical watercolorist, she journeyed west five times between 1909 and 1914 to collect and draw blossoms as part of her efforts to illustrate Field Book of Western Wild Flowers (1915). She found this lilac clematis in 1909 near Emerald Lake in the Canadian Rockies. The related album contains a significant group of Armstrong’s watercolors and was given to the Museum by family descendants in 2010.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: Lilac Clematis (Atragene Occidentalis)
Artist: Margaret Neilson Armstrong (American, New York 1867–1944 New York)
Date: July 1909
Medium: Watercolor and brown ink over graphite, with page design indicated in graphite, and details in ink
Dimensions: Sheet: 13 11/16 x 9 15/16 in. (34.8 x 25.2 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Helena Bienstock, Cynthia MacKay Keegan and Frank E. Johnson, 2010
Object Number: 2010.341.2(32)
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Margaret Neilson Armstrong

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Album of American Wildflower Watercolors, Margaret Neilson Armstrong American, Watercolor over graphite with brown ink — Album of American Wildflower Watercolors
Margaret Neilson Armstrong
1909–18

How to Know the Ferns: A Guide to the Names, Haunts, and Habits of our Common Ferns, Margaret Neilson Armstrong American, Illustrations: collotype — How to Know the Ferns: A Guide to the Names, Haunts, and Habits of our Common Ferns
Multiple artists/makers
1902 [first published 1899]

Threads of Grey & Gold, Margaret Neilson Armstrong American, illustrations: photomechanical reproductions of paintings — Threads of Grey & Gold
Multiple artists/makers
1913

Flowers of the Dusk, Margaret Neilson Armstrong American, illustration: photomechanical reproductions of a painting — Flowers of the Dusk
Multiple artists/makers
1908 [first published 1907]

Weaver of Dreams, Margaret Neilson Armstrong American, illustration: photomechanical reproduction of a drawing — Weaver of Dreams
Multiple artists/makers
1911

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.