The Bouquet

Margaret Jordan Patterson inherited wanderlust from her seafaring relatives: Her father and grandfather were sea captains from Maine. Her parents were even at sea when Margaret was ready to be born; they stopped at an Indonesian island so her mother could give birth. A lifelong art teacher, mostly in the Boston area, she used her summers to travel abroad and gather scenes to paint. But during World War I (1914-1919) she was forced to stay put and find subjects in her own backyard. She exhibited her first flower print in 1920 and specialized in them for the next 30 years. Could it be that this exuberant still-life, which bursts beyond its borders, reflects the artist’s own resistance to being contained? One has the feeling these snapdragons, zinnias, and daisies were growing in her garden just hours earlier.