Margaret Preston
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Margaret Preston (Born Margaret Rose Macpherson;
April 29, 1875 – May 28, 1963)
was an Australian painter and printmaker.
She is recognized as being one of Australia\’s
most influential artists of the twentieth century,
as well as being one of the first non-indigenous
Australians to use Aboriginal iconography.
Born in Port Adelaide, Preston moved
to Melbourne in 1893 where she studied at the
National Gallery of Victoria School of Arts.
In 1904 she traveled to Europe and
became exposed to Post-Impressionism.
After her return to Australia in 1919, Preston
began creating still-life paintings based off of the
Post-Impressionist/modernist styles she learned about in her travels. Preston is known for having depicted domestic objects and native
Australian plant-life in emphasized geometric shapes and outlines. She also worked in
woodcuts, linocuts, and monotypes.
