Margaret Preston Essay Example
Margaret Preston Essay Example

Margaret Preston Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 2 (514 words)
  • Published: February 10, 2017
  • Type: Autobiography
View Entire Sample
Text preview

Margaret Preston was a dynamic, unique Australian artist born on the 29th of April 1875 in Adelaide. She is renowned for her bold artworks, and through them, she showed her ongoing passion to establish a national identity. What were the different experiences for your individual? She began to take interest in art after an influential trip to the Art Gallery of NSW with her mother when she was 12, , continuing her new-found passion in Chinese painting through private classes with William Lister Lister, till the end of her school life at Fort Street Girls High School.

She never stopped her education and studied at more than 7 schools of art in her lifetime. Margaret studied in Adelaide after she left high school and was inspired by William to teach some students of her own, she even taught World War 1 soldiers

...

basket-weaving and pottery when she travelled to England in Europe. Travelling to Europe and Asia gave Margaret many memorable experiences. She was motivated by the many famous impressionists like Delaunay, Picasso and Gauguin, and used post impressionism, Japanese print tradition as well as new techniques in her artworks.

Eg. Flat blocks of colour, colour stencils, light without shadows and asymmetry. Her extensive travels here, as well as the Middle East, Africa, Pacific Islands and Australia helped her emerge as one of the greatest artists in Australian Modernism in the 1920’s. What was the contribution and significance or lack thereof the individual? As a respected significant figure in Australian history and art, she helped establish our Australian identity in many ways such as incorporating our fauna, flora and aboriginal symbols

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

in to her artworks.

In fact, her paintings were especially important to Aboriginal people because she encouraged the white, mainstream society to acknowledge their culture and appreciate its uniqueness. She strongly believed that Australia deserved to develop their own style of art and nationality suggesting that her designs could be based on Aboriginal art. Her Aboriginal Glyph, painted in 1953 shows these ideas.

Some of her works also featured a number of scenic Australian landscapes, particularly harbour views from her home in Sydney's suburb of Mosman Not only was Margaret a talented, prominent artist, she was a writer, who composed essays and articles for Australian journals. Her views were often on modern art, home, techniques and Aboriginal art. Preston contributed fourteen articles to Art in Australia, thirteen articles to The Home, nine to the Australia National Journal and four articles to the Society of Artists yearbooks. Surely, this woman deserves some recognition right?

Yes, Margaret did acquire awards for her contributions. In 1937, she was awarded a silver medal at the Paris International Exhibition and also given the title as the first female artist appointed to paint a self-portrait by the Art Gallery of NSW in 1929. Overall, Margaret Preston is remembered to be an incredible artist who transformed and produced a new distinctive style of Australian art. Her artworks are now held in many collections in art galleries all around Australia including the National Art Gallery of Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, New South Wales and Northern Territory.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New