Title

I lived at Berowra

1941

Artist

Margaret Preston

Australia, England, France

29 Apr 1875 – 28 May 1963

Artist profile

Alternate image of I lived at Berowra by Margaret Preston

Details

Other Title

Berowra

Place where the work was made

Sydney → New South Wales → Australia

Date

1941

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

46.4 x 39.7 cm stretcher; 56.5 x 56.4 x 8.0 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed l.l., pencil "M".
Signed and dated bot.c., pencil "M. Preston 1941".

Credit

Purchased 1941

Location

Not on display

Accession number

7177

Copyright

© Margaret Rose Preston Estate/Copyright Agency
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Margaret Preston
Artist profile

Works in the collection

124

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About

In 1936, Margaret Preston moved with her husband to a new home at Berowra to live in a house surrounded by bushland a couple of kilometres from the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney. 'I lived at Berowra' is among a number of works, including 'The brown pot' and 'Grey day in the ranges' that were painted within a three year period. They are characterized by a simplification of form, flattened perspectives and a reduced palette of earth-toned colours reminiscent of natural ochres found in the landscape, a visual expression of Preston's increasing interest in Aboriginal art.

© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000
Places

Where the work was made

Sydney
Exhibition history
Shown in 15 exhibitions
- Society of Artists Annual Exhibition (1941), Education Department Gallery [Loftus Street], Sydney, 05 Sep 1941–25 Sep 1941
- Margaret Preston and William Dobell loan exhibition (1942), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Mar 1942–16 Apr 1942
- Contemporary Australian painting from the National collection, Exhibition Venue Unknown, , 1946–1950
- A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953
- Women's achievements in the arts, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Sydney, 31 Aug 1960–09 Sep 1960
  
  Women's achievements in the arts, Tamworth City Gallery, Tamworth, Oct 1961–Jan 1962
  
  Women's achievements in the arts, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, Apr 1964 -
- One hundred years of Australian landscape painting: Art Gallery of New South Wales Travelling Art Exhibition 1968, Various, , 1968–1969
- The art of Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 23 May 1980–22 Jul 1980
- Suburb, Museum of Sydney, Sydney, 15 Apr 2000–23 Jul 2000
- Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 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, Sydney, 29 Sep 2001–03 Feb 2002
- Margaret Preston retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 29 Jul 2005–23 Oct 2005
  
  Margaret Preston retrospective, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, 12 Nov 2005–29 Jan 2006
  
  Margaret Preston retrospective, Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 18 Feb 2006–07 May 2006
  
  Margaret Preston retrospective, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 26 May 2006–13 Aug 2006
- Yin-Yang: China in Australia, S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 08 Aug 2008–28 Sep 2008
- dOCUMENTA (13), Documenta, Kassel, 09 Jun 2012–16 Sep 2012
- Sydney Moderns, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Jul 2013–07 Oct 2013
- O'Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith: Making Modernism, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 12 Oct 2016–19 Feb 2017
  
  O'Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith: Making Modernism, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 11 Mar 2017–11 Jun 2017
  
  O'Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith: Making Modernism, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 01 Jul 2017–02 Oct 2017
Bibliography
Referenced in 28 publications
- Aboriginal art', Look, 'Preston's Aboriginal inspiration: how Margaret Preston was influenced, pg. 16-17, Melbourne, Sep 2001, 17.
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 2002, 'Year in review', pg. 8-25, Sydney, 2002, 15.
- Elizabeth Butel, Margaret Preston: the art of constant rearrangement, Ringwood, 1985, 57 (colour illus.), 86. cat.no. O.15
- Roger Arthur Butler, The prints of Margaret Preston: a catalogue raisonné, Canberra, 2005, 27.
- Joanna Capon, Yin-yang : China in Australia, 'The influence of China on Australian art', pg. 47-55, Sydney, 2008, 54.
- Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Curator), dOCUMENTA (13): the book of books, 'Participants, biographies, and exhibited objects and works', pg. 674-725, Ostfildern, 2012, 712.
- Dennis Colsey and Hal Missingham, One hundred years of Australian landscape painting: Art Gallery of New South Wales Travelling Art Exhibition 1968, Sydney, 1968, 18, 19 (illus.). cat.no. 20
- Deborah Edwards and Rose Peel, Margaret Preston: Catalogue raisonné of paintings, monotypes and ceramics, Sydney, 2005, (colour illus.). Artworks: paintings 1941.
- Deborah Edwards, Art Monthly Australia, 'Margaret Preston: reviewing the landscape', pg. 19-23, Canberra, Dec 2002-Feb 2003, 19 (colour illus.), 20-21.
- Deborah Edwards, Sydney moderns: art for a new world, 'Landscapes of modernity 1920s-40s', pg. 216-235, Sydney, 2013, 222, 229 (colour illus.), 315, 323.
- Deborah Edwards, Australian Collection Focus: Margaret Preston The brown pot 1940, I lived at Berowra 1941, Grey day in the ranges 1942, 'An art for Australian, from Australians', pg. 3-9, Sydney, 2002, front cover (colour illus., detail), 4, 5 (colour illus.), 7-9, 13, 15-16.
- Deborah Edwards, Margaret Preston, ‘An art for Australia from Australians 1940s-1950s', pg.173-250, Sydney, 2005, 188, 189 (colour illus.), 190, 202, 240, 284.
- Peter Emmett, Sydney: metropolis, suburb, harbour, 'Suburb', pg. 71-72, Glebe, 2000, 99, 100 (colour illus.).
- Humphrey McQueen, The black swan of trespass: the emergence of Modernist painting in Australia to 1944, Sydney, 1979, (illus.). plate no. 26
- Denise Mimmocchi and Deborah Edwards, Art and Australia (Vol. 43, No. 1), 'Margaret Preston', pg. 100-107, Sydney, Sep 2005-Nov 2005, 107.
- Hal Missingham, Contemporary Australian painting from the National Collection, Sydney, circa 1946, 2 (illus.), 11. cat.no. 16
- Hal Missingham, A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Sydney, 1953. cat.no. 151
- National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Margaret Preston and William Dobell loan exhibition, Sydney, 1942. cat.no. 46
- National Council of Women, An exhibition of women's achievements in the arts, New South Wales, 1960. cat.no. 31; Kindly lent by the AGNSW
- New South Wales Society of Artists, Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, Sydney, 1941. cat.no. 4; Room One; titled 'I lived at Berowra'; price: 12 Gns.
- Ian North, The art of Margaret Preston, South Australia, 1980, 11, 50 (illus.). cat.no. O.35
- Barry Pearce and Deborah Edwards, Look, 'Forthcoming Australian features', pg. 24, Melbourne, Apr 2001, front cover (colour illus.), 7 (colour illus.), 24 (colour illus.).
- Georgina Pemberton, H&H: Hoofs & horns, 'Portrait of a lady', pg. 128-129, Neutral Bay, Autumn 2005, 128, 129 (colour illus.).
- John Saxby (Editor), Look, 'The art that made me: Reg Mombassa', Sydney, Nov 2015, 13 (colour illus.).
- Nicholas Thomas, Possessions: indigenous art / colonial culture, 'Beginnings', pg.7-49, London, 1999, 39.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), Daily telegraph and daily news, 'An exhibition pre-view: Artists assist red cross', pg. 6, Sydney, 05 Sep 1941, 6. Review of the Society of Artists Exhibition, 1941.
- Editor Unknown (Editor), The Home annual: Australian life and scenery, Sydney, Oct 1941, 28 (colour illus.). titled 'Berowra'
- Unknown, Events March-May 2000, 'Sydney Sub-urb', pg. 1, Glebe, Mar 2000-May 2000, 1 (illus.). in 'Exhibitions' section