Margaret Preston

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

Title

Grey day in the ranges

Year

1942

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on hardboard

Dimensions

51.0 x 50.7cm board; 66.7 x 66.9 x 6.5cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.r. corner, pencil "M Preston / 1942".

Credit

Purchased 1942

Accession number

7224

Copyright

Location

20th & 21st c Australian art

Further information

Although Margaret Preston is known primarily for her paintings and woodblock prints of flowers and still life, a period spent living amidst bushland at Berowra in the late 1930s led her to concentrate on landscapes during the 1940s. At this time too, her interest and belief in the importance of Aboriginal art deepened, inspiring a reduction of her palette to earth-toned colours, simplification of form with strong black outlining, and use of dots and marks to signify physical details in the landscape.

As a result of her interest in Oriental painting and European modernism, Preston is recognised as perhaps the first artist to advocate the use of Aboriginal designs and motifs in the development of a modern national art - initially for domestic items and furnishings but later extended to colour, technique and subject matter in art.

Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2001

Bibliography (31)

‘The place where thought and action meet: dOCUMENTA (13)’s Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev in conversation with Wes Hill’, pg. 562-567., Art & Australia Winter 2012, Winter 2012, 564, 565 (colour illus.).

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Curator), dOCUMENTA (13): das begleitbuch / the guidebook, Ostfildern, 2012, 170, 171 (colour illus.).

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Curator), dOCUMENTA (13): the book of books, Ostfildern, 2012, 712.

Zeny Edwards (Author), Yin-yang : China in Australia, Sydney, 2008, 14, 15 (colour illus.).

'Margaret Preston' by Denise Mimmocchi and Deborah Edward, pg. 100-107., Art and Australia (Vol. 43, No. 1) Sep 2005-Nov 2005, Sep 2005-Nov 2005, 107.

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Margaret Preston, Sydney, 2005, 188, 194, 199, 200, 202, 253, 259, 264, 201 (colour illus.), 265 (colour illus.).

Margaret Preston: Catalogue raisonné of paintings, monotypes and ceramics 2005, 2005, (colour illus.). Artworks: paintings 1942.

'Margaret Preston: reviewing the landscape' by Deborah Edwards, pg. 19-23., Art Monthly Australia Dec 2002-Feb 2003, Dec 2002-Feb 2003, 21 (colour illus.), 22.

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Hetti Perkins (Australia) (Author), Rose Peel (Australia) (Author), Australian Collection Focus: Margaret Preston The brown pot 1940, I lived at Berowra 1941, Grey day in the ranges 1942, Sydney, 2002, 4, 7,8, 6 (colour illus.).

'Year in review', pg. 8-25., Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 2002 2002, 2002, 15.

'Preston's Aboriginal inspiration: how Margaret Preston was influenced by Aboriginal art', pg. 16-17., Look Sep 2001, Sep 2001, 16, 17 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 120 (colour illus.), 301.

Motif & meaning: Aboriginal influences in Australian art, 1930-1970 1999, 1999.

Joanne Raheb-Mol (Australia) (Author), Art & Mind, Melbourne, 1998, 135 (colour illus.). plate no. 9.4

Graeme Sullivan (b.1951) (Author), Seeing Australia: views of artists and artwriters, Annandale, 1994, 94 (illus.).

'Light in the forest' by Ruth Burgers., Oz arts magazine [issue 6] 1993, 1993, 58.

Introducing art: a first book on the history and appreciation of the visual arts 1990, 1990, 225 (illus.).

Nick Waterlow (Australia) (Director), The 1988 Australian Biennale: From the Southern Cross: a view of world art c1940-1988, Sydney, 1988, 225 (colour illus.), 281.

Ursula Prunster (Australia) (Author), Seeing is believing: the art in photography, Sydney, 1985. cat.no. 38; not paginated

Elizabeth Butel (Author), Nicholas Draffin (Australia, b.1943, d.1995) (Researcher), Margaret Preston: the art of constant rearrangement, Ringwood, 1985, 86. cat.no. O.16

Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), Encyclopedia of Australian art (Vol.2, L-Z), Hawthorn East, 1984, 445, 635 (illus.).

Christine Dixon (Author), Terry Smith (Author), Aspects of Australian figurative painting 1942-1962: dreams, fears and desires, Sydney, 1984, 27, 91, 16 (colour illus.). cat.no. 15

Janine Burke (Australia, b.1952) (Author), Australian women artists 1840-1940, Collingwood, 1980, 128 (illus.), 175.

Ian North (New Zealand; Australia, b.1945) (Author), The art of Margaret Preston, South Australia, 1980, 50 (illus.). cat.no. O.36

Humphrey McQueen (Author), The black swan of trespass: the emergence of Modernist painting in Australia to 1944, Sydney, 1979, (colour illus.). plate III

Ronald M. Berndt (b.1916) (Editor), E.S. Phillips (Editor), The Australian Aboriginal heritage: an introduction through the arts, Sydney, 1973, 309 (colour illus.).

'Margaret Preston' by Hal Missingham., Art and Australia [series 5, vol. 1, no. 2] Aug 1963, Aug 1963, front cover (colour illus.).

The National Art Gallery of NSW: Australian landscape painting, Sydney, 1951. cat.no. 13

National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Margaret Preston (Australia; England; France, b.1875, d.1963) (Author), Exhibition of Australian women painters, Domain, 1946. cat.no. 26

National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Margaret Preston and William Dobell loan exhibition, Sydney, 1942. cat.no. 45

Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), One hundred years of Australian art, Sydney, circa 1945. cat.no. 39

Exhibition history (23)

Margaret Preston and William Dobell loan exhibition (1942), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 19 Mar 1942–16 Apr 1942.

One hundred years of Australian art, Exhibition Venue Unknown, 1945–1946.

Exhibition of Australian women painters, National Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 1946–18 Aug 1946.

Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Taree Council Chambers, 08 Jul 1952–22 Jul 1952.

Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Lithgow Public Library, 05 Aug 1952–19 Aug 1952.

Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Young Public Library, 16 Sep 1952–30 Sep 1952.

Travelling Art Exhibitions 1952. Australian landscape painting, Church of England Parish Hall, 13 Oct 1952–26 Oct 1952.

The art of Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of South Australia, 23 May 1980–22 Jul 1980.

Aspects of Australian Figurative Painting 1942-1962: Dreams, Fears and Desires (The 5th Biennale of Sydney), S.H. Ervin Gallery, 11 Apr 1984–17 Jun 1984.

Seeing is believing - the art in photography, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 13 Dec 1985–19 Jan 1986.

Australian Biennale 1988: From the Southern Cross: A View of World Art c1940-1988, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 18 May 1988–03 Jul 1988.

Australian Biennale 1988: From the Southern Cross: A View of World Art c1940-1988, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 04 Aug 1988–18 Sep 1988.

Motif & Meaning: Aboriginal Influences in Australian Art 1930-1970, City of Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 14 May 1999–25 Jul 1999.

Motif & Meaning: Aboriginal Influences in Australian Art 1930-1970, Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, 19 Aug 1999–18 Sep 1999.

Motif & Meaning: Aboriginal Influences in Australian Art 1930-1970, Gladstone Regional Art Gallery, 29 Sep 1999–30 Oct 1999.

Motif & Meaning: Aboriginal Influences in Australian Art 1930-1970, Brisbane City Gallery, 09 Dec 1999–16 Jan 2000.

Motif & Meaning: Aboriginal Influences in Australian Art 1930-1970, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, 10 Feb 2000–26 Mar 2000.

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

Australian Collection Focus: Margaret Preston The brown pot 1940, I lived at Berowra 1941, Grey day in the ranges 1942, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 29 Sep 2001–03 Feb 2002.

Margaret Preston retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 29 Jul 2005–23 Oct 2005.

Margaret Preston retrospective, Queensland Art Gallery, 18 Feb 2006–07 May 2006.

Yin-Yang: China in Australia, S.H. Ervin Gallery, 08 Aug 2008–28 Sep 2008.

dOCUMENTA (13), Documenta, 09 Jun 2012–16 Sep 2012.