RISE TO FAME
Throughout her career, she produced over 400 artworks applying diverse techniques such as etching, monotyping, woodcutting, stenciling and painting. She was both a painter, specializing in still life, landscape, and portraits, and a print maker. She is widely recognized as one of the most famous female Australian artists.
Margaret studied art in Victoria and Adelaide. She also studied under William Lister Lister, and Frederick McCubbin, one of the founders of the Heidelberg School, an art movement in Australia during the late 19th century. Her art was shaped by the influences of her international travels and studies in Europe between 1904 and 1919, including to Munich, Paris, Italy, Spain and Holland.
In Europe, she was inspired by French post-impressionists. While using impressionistic techniques, post-impressionists preferred to take more of an interest to form and structure, as well as using thick, bold, visible brushstrokes. Preston was inspired at that time by famous artists such as Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent Van Gogh.
Preston also traveled to Japan and South East Asia, increasing the aspects of asymmetrical design and close observation in her work. Especially inspired by Japanese printmaking, Preston cut bold and decorative prints and used them in many artworks as well as landscape prints.
Her later paintings and monotypes show that she had a great interest in Aboriginal art. She often used Australian subjects in her work and used techniques she developed during her travels. This was unusual for artists back then because this was during the time of ‘White Australia’.
In many works from the 1940s Preston employed a new technique. Rather than engrave a huon pine block as had for so long been her practice, she began to work with the rough side of masonite –; a brand of hardboard recently introduced to Australia. Masonite enabled her to produce prints with a looser, less definite quality that she identified with the Australian countryside. Preston had little patience for cutting the different blocks required for colour printing, and in most instances chose to colour black and white images by hand. In her masonite cuts, however, she began to paint colour directly on to the block before printing.
The natural outcome of this experiment was that she finally dispensed altogether with engraved lines, and turned her attention to the production of monotypes.
She won many awards and achieved all of her goals. She is defiantly one of Australia's most famous woman.
Margaret studied art in Victoria and Adelaide. She also studied under William Lister Lister, and Frederick McCubbin, one of the founders of the Heidelberg School, an art movement in Australia during the late 19th century. Her art was shaped by the influences of her international travels and studies in Europe between 1904 and 1919, including to Munich, Paris, Italy, Spain and Holland.
In Europe, she was inspired by French post-impressionists. While using impressionistic techniques, post-impressionists preferred to take more of an interest to form and structure, as well as using thick, bold, visible brushstrokes. Preston was inspired at that time by famous artists such as Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent Van Gogh.
Preston also traveled to Japan and South East Asia, increasing the aspects of asymmetrical design and close observation in her work. Especially inspired by Japanese printmaking, Preston cut bold and decorative prints and used them in many artworks as well as landscape prints.
Her later paintings and monotypes show that she had a great interest in Aboriginal art. She often used Australian subjects in her work and used techniques she developed during her travels. This was unusual for artists back then because this was during the time of ‘White Australia’.
In many works from the 1940s Preston employed a new technique. Rather than engrave a huon pine block as had for so long been her practice, she began to work with the rough side of masonite –; a brand of hardboard recently introduced to Australia. Masonite enabled her to produce prints with a looser, less definite quality that she identified with the Australian countryside. Preston had little patience for cutting the different blocks required for colour printing, and in most instances chose to colour black and white images by hand. In her masonite cuts, however, she began to paint colour directly on to the block before printing.
The natural outcome of this experiment was that she finally dispensed altogether with engraved lines, and turned her attention to the production of monotypes.
She won many awards and achieved all of her goals. She is defiantly one of Australia's most famous woman.