Bush Poppy (Dendromecon Rigida)
A talented botanical watercolorist, Margaret Armstrong came from an artistic New York family (stained-glass designs by her father and sister hang nearby). After studying at the Art Students League, she became an illustrator and book-cover designer, showing examples of her cover designs at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Between 1909 and 1914, Margaret journeyed west of the Rockies multiple times to collect and draw flowers, using these images to illustrate her Field Book of Western Wild Flowers (1915). She found this yellow poppy in the coastal California town of Montecito in spring 1912 before moving on to Yosemite for several weeks. This watercolor comes from an album that was handed down within the artist’s family.
Artwork Details
- Title: Bush Poppy (Dendromecon Rigida)
- Artist: Margaret Neilson Armstrong (American, New York 1867–1944 New York)
- Date: June 6, 1912
- Medium: Watercolor and brown ink over graphite, with page design indicated in graphite
- 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(55)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Margaret Neilson Armstrong
1909–18
Multiple artists/makers
1902 [first published 1899]
Multiple artists/makers
1913
Multiple artists/makers
1908 [first published 1907]
Multiple artists/makers
1911
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