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Margaret Preston / Australia 1875–1963 / Hawkesbury Bridge, NSW 1946 / Monotype on thin laid Oriental paper / 41.8 x 38cm / Purchased 1948 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Estate of Margaret Preston/Copyright Agency, 2021.
Margaret PrestonHawkesbury Bridge, NSW 1946
Not Currently on Display
In the 1940s, Margaret Preston began to experiment with alternative printmaking techniques using the rough side of Masonite, a brand of hardboard recently introduced to Australia. By engraving and painting directly onto the surface of the board, she was able to produce prints with a looser, less definite quality which she identified with the Australian bush.
Following these experiments, she dispensed with engraved lines altogether and turned her attention to the production of monotypes. This process involves painting directly onto a flat surface, placing a sheet of paper over the design, then rubbing (burnishing) by hand or passing it through a printing press. Dependent of the ‘freshness’ of the medium, its degree of viscosity and the density of its application, the ink or paint takes on a characteristic ‘mottled’ effect. As the paper is peeling away the printed image present a reverse, or mirror, impression or the original design.
Margaret Preston was born in Port Adelaide, South Australia in 1875. She studied realist painting techniques, and it was not until she travelled to Europe that she began to incorporate the flattened, decorative approach of the French post-impressionists, the Fauves, and Japanese woodblock printing.
Preston travelled to London in 1912, and she remained in Europe until 1919 when she married William George Preston (1881—1978) and returned to Australia. They made their home in Mosman, but continued to travel widely, including to New Caledonia, China and south-east Asia.
She wrote and lectured about modern art, and she continued to travel, with her final trip being through Sri Lanka, Africa and India 1956—58. Preston died in 1963, and she became widely recognised for her influence as both a teacher and an artist.