Plant disease illustrations by Margaret Senior
Margaret SeniorThese coloured illustrations were commissioned by the Division of Science
Services of the then NSW Department of Agriculture in 1964. (NSW Department of Primary Industries incorporates the former NSW Department of Agriculture.) The artist, Mrs
Margaret Senior, was originally commissioned to produce 24 coloured paintings of
plant diseases and other aspects of biology at the princely sum of £21 each. She
eventually produced more than 80 superb illustrations which are still used in
publications produced by NSW Department of Primary Industries today. The
original drawings are stored in the Agricultural Scientific Collections Unit at
Orange and are protected under the Agricultural Scientific Collections Trust Act 1983. Ownership is vested in the Scientific Collections Trust.
Margaret Senior was one of the celebrated artists of her time. She was the illustrator for Eve Pownall's "The Australia Book" which won the Children's Book of the Year award in 1952 and illustrated other children's books, some of which also won awards. She was an excellent illustrator of Australian natural history, producing the illustrations for a series of highly popular posters on Australian Parrots, Raptors, Waterfowl and Reptiles for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. She left a bequest to NPWS in her will to be used to promote natural history illustration and the Margaret Senior Wildlife Illustration Award is presented annually by the University of Newcastle.
The following are examples of Margaret Senior's illustrations.
