Margaret Pieroni

Margaret Pieroni OAM, born in 1936 in New South Wales, Australia, is a Western Australian botanical artist, photographer, and botanist who has authored, co-authored, and been featured as an illustrator in books on Australian botany.

As a founding member of the Dryandra Study Group, Pieroni has been a leading figure in the study of this plant genus since 1987. She is recognized for a significant contribution to specimen collection, photography and horticultural research into dryandras, series Banksia ser. Dryandra, formerly regarded as genus Dryandra.

She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for "service to botanical art".

Early life Pieroni was born in 1936 in New South Wales, Australia.

Education Once Pieroni graduated from high school she began a three-year program at East Sydney Technical College. After getting her degree she began working as an advertising artist. She held this job position for roughly twenty years before a Leukemia Diagnosis changed the course of her career.

Leukemia diagnosis In 1969, Pieroni received a diagnosis for acute leukemia. She was successfully treated after three years of chemotherapy. After her recovery, Pieroni decided to take a bucket-list trip to Western Australia to see the wildflowers. The inspiration for this trip came from her parents.

After returning home, Pieroni's husband purchased a house for them in Perth, Australia. Once arriving in Perth, Pieroni began sending enquiries to the Western Australia Herbarium, looking for work as a botanical illustrator. These first applications did not get her a job, but, after joining the Wildflower Society of Western Australia, Pieroni began being noticed by other botanists. This marked the true beginning of her new career in the world of botany, which lasted for over twenty years.

Publications Discovering the Wildflowers of Western Australia, published by Pieroni in 1993, was a solo publication by Pieroni. The 48-page book consists of flower paintings each with a detailed description of the plant. Pieroni describes each of these paintings as a “personal discovery,” a sentiment she hopes readers share as they “discover them for themselves and to study and grow them.”

The Dryandras, published in 2007, is a standout publication for Pieroni as it encapsulates the work which resulted in her receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia for expanding study of Dryandras. Supplementing this information are color photographs of the plant and line drawings of leaves, fruit, seeds, and seedlings – all of which were provided by Pieroni. This review echoed similar sentiments by other book reviewers.

In 2008, the 144-page book Brush with Gondwana was published by “seven leading botanical artists,” including over 100 illustrations of flora, fauna, and fungi. One review from Artist’s Chronicle describes the book as “lavishly illustrated with a variety of native floral species as well as funghi and native orchids and provides an important record of this influential group [of artists]."

Post career In 2005, Pieroni moved from Perth to Denmark, Australia. She moved into her “dream house” which was located on an area of bushland. Pieroni continued growing native wildflowers on her property, with Dryandras still being a fascination of hers.

Conservation hopes Pieroni hopes that her art will not be the sole remembrance of the wildflowers she worked with. Instead, she wishes that her work will inspire people to celebrate how special wildflowers and other native plants are. She wishes that people would view them as special, scientific things rather than randomly growing fields of color. This exhibit was shown once again from 31 March to 16 September 2018.

Selected works