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An image of Australian legend, number 3: The kangaroo hunt by Margaret Preston

Margaret Preston

(Australia, England, France 29 Apr 1875–28 May 1963)

Title
Australian legend, number 3: The kangaroo hunt
Other titles:
The hunt, Australian legend
Year
(circa 1957)
Media category
Print
Materials used
colour woodcut on tan laid Japanese paper
Edition
Unknown edition
Dimensions

29.9 x 29.7cm blockmark; 38.9 x 32.6cm sheet

Signature & date
Signed in block to print l.r., incised "M.P." ['P' in reverse]. Signed l.r. beneath blockmark, pencil "Margaret Preston". Not dated.
Credit
Bequest of W.G. Preston, the artist's widower 1977
Accession number
207.1977
Copyright
© Margaret Rose Preston Estate
Location
Not on display
Further information

"In wishing to rid myself of the mannerisms of a country other than my own I have gone to the art of a people who had never seen or known anything different from themselves ... These are the Australian aboriginals [sic] and it is only from the art of such people in any land that a national art can spring."
- Margaret Preston 1925

Margaret Preston's appreciation and understanding of Aboriginal art and culture grew in sophistication from the time she made her first pronouncements on the subject in the 1920s. During her life she made several visits to Central and Northern Australia, and visited rock art sites in and around Sydney, where she lived. The Australian legend series was made towards the end of her career and integrates colours and compositions derived from Aboriginal paintings, as well as motifs from rock art. For example, the large human footprints in each of these prints were taken from rock carvings in the Sydney area which Preston had seen on excursions with the Anthropological Society of New South Wales.

Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2000

Bibliography (4)

Roger Butler (Australia, b.1948) (Author), The prints of Margaret Preston: a catalogue raisonné, Canberra, 2005, 327 (colour illus.). cat.no. 403

Hendrik Kolenberg (Netherlands; Australia) (Author), Animals on paper - from the Australian collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, Sydney, 1992. cat.no. 65

Roger Butler (Australia, b.1948) (Author), Dana Rowan (Editor), Judith Thorne (Editor), The prints of Margaret Preston: a catalogue raisonné, Canberra, 1987, 295 (colour illus.). cat.no. 403

Elizabeth Butel (Author), Nicholas Draffin (Australia, b.1943, d.1995) (Researcher), Margaret Preston: the art of constant rearrangement, Ringwood, 1985, 58 (colour illus.), 93. cat.no. P.74; titled 'The hunt'

Exhibition history (7)

Society of Artists Exhibition of drawings and prints (1959), David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 29 Apr 1959–16 May 1959.

Margaret Preston: the art of constant rearrangement, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 27 Dec 1985–09 Feb 1986.

Animals on paper: from the Australian collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 05 Sep 1992–05 Oct 1992.

Animals on paper: from the Australian collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, 18 Dec 1992–24 Jan 1993.

Animals on paper: from the Australian collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, 01 May 1993–30 May 1993.

Animals on paper: from the Australian collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, Grafton Regional Gallery, 11 Jun 1993–01 Aug 1993.

Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000.