Louisiana’s Natural Treasure: Margaret Stones, Botanical Artist

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Photo by Mary Ann Sternberg.

margaret stones botatnical art february 2020 lsu special collections

“The artist’s desk at the LSU Faculty Club," c. 1980. From the Margaret Stones Native Flora of Louisiana Collection: Mary Ann Sternberg Papers, Mss. 4781, LSU Libraries Special Collections.

From February 10 to June 27, the LSU Special Collections will exhibit Louisiana’s Natural Treasure: Margaret Stones, Botanical Artist at the Hill Memorial Library. A native of Australia, Margaret Stones (1920-2018) achieved an acclaimed international career that spanned three continents. Stones’s art has been featured in an impressive array of exhibitions and been recognized with distinguished awards and honors. Of the three major multiyear endeavors undertaken by Stones during her long professional career, the final one—The Native Flora of Louisiana—resulted in one of the most remarkable collections of botanical art created for a U.S. state. Commissioned by LSU and funded by private donations, more than two-hundred watercolor drawings of Louisiana plants produced by Stones during the1970s and 1980s are among the most treasured holdings of LSU Libraries Special Collections. lib.lsu.edu/special.