Year Of Birth

1875

Year Of Death

1963

Biography

Margaret Preston was one of Australia’s most influential modernist artists, celebrated for her pioneering role in shaping a distinctly Australian visual identity in the twentieth century. Trained in Adelaide and Melbourne before further studies in Europe, Preston absorbed Post-Impressionist and modernist ideas that would inform her bold approach to composition, colour and design. Throughout her career she championed the incorporation of Australian flora, landscapes and Indigenous artistic motifs into modern art, producing highly original paintings, prints and decorative works characterised by flattened forms, strong outlines and vibrant colour. Her woodcuts and still lifes, in particular, remain among the most iconic images in Australian art history. A leading advocate for modernism and a prolific writer on art and culture, Preston exerted a profound influence on subsequent generations of Australian artists. Her works are held in all major Australian public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia, and she remains a cornerstone figure in the history of Australian art.