Margaret Macadam

{{Short description|British illustrator}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Margaret Macadam

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 14 July 1902

| birth_place = West Ham

| death_date = 24 March 1991 (aged 88)

| death_place = Milford on Sea

| nationality = British

| alma_mater = Royal Academy Schools

| occupation = illustrator

| years_active =

| known_for = Designed dust jacket for first edition of Agatha Christie's novel Giant's Bread

| spouse = Francis Beart

}}

Margaret Macadam (1902–1991) was a British illustrator who was active in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1923-24, she was a member of the Society of Women Artists, and in 1925, she was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/margaret-kate-macadam|title=Margaret Kate Macadam | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts|website=www.royalacademy.org.uk}} where a fellow student was Amy Elton, who would later become her sister-in-law.{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/amy-elton|title=Amy Elton | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts|website=www.royalacademy.org.uk}}{{cite web|url=https://cornwallartists.org/amy-elton|title=Cornwall Artist Index: Amy Elton|access-date=21 September 2023}} Among her commercial works are several dust jacket designs for London-based publishers, with one of her most notable designs being the dust jacket for the first edition of Agatha Christie's first straight novel Giant's Bread. In 2016, an archive of Macadam's work was discovered,{{Cite web|url=http://auctions.roseberys.co.uk/m/lot-details/index/catalog/134/lot/67405/|title = Macadam, British, early-mid 20th century Giants Bread; gouache and pencil, original artwork for illustration, 38x26cm: Together with a quantity of other designs and illustrations of work by the same artist, mixed media, gouache, charcoal, and watercolour on card and paper, 38x25.5cm (Max), (13 in the lot approx.) (Unframed) - Price Estimate: £150 - £200}} allowing her work on "Giant's Bread" to be connected to other known designs. The original artwork for Giant's Bread was sold for £550 in 2016.Original artwork shown https://www.collectingchristie.com/post/mary-westmacott She is also known to have designed wallpaper, and greetings cards for Medici, London. Other examples of her work include a painting titled 1933.{{cite web| url=https://www.courtgallery.com/exhibitions/80/works/artworks10379/| title=Margaret Macadam 1933}} In May 1936 she married Francis Beart, who was already well-known as a racing motor cyclist and motor cycle tuner. Beart later gained recognition for tuning Formula Three racing cars.{{cite book|title=Francis Beart - a single purpose|last=Clew|first=Jeff|publisher=Haynes|year=1978|isbn=0 85429 236 5|location=Sparkford, Somerset|page=34}} During World War II she trained as a nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) while her husband worked as an engineer for the Bristol Aeroplane Company.{{cite book|title=Francis Beart - a single purpose|last=Clew|first=Jeff|publisher=Haynes|year=1978|isbn=0 85429 236 5|location=Sparkford, Somerset|pages=73–82}} Her father, Charles Leslie Bernard Macadam, and her grandfather, Charles Thomas Macadam, both worked in the fertiliser industry, while her great-grandfather was William Macadam of Glasgow.