Biography
Margaret Rose Preston was an Australian artist, who was born on the 19th April 1875 at Port Adelaide. She was the eldest daughter of David McPherson and Prudence Cleverdon. In 1885 the family moved to live in Sydney, where Margaret began her artistic training with an artist named William Lister (Seivl 2006-2013 para.1).
In 1893 she moved to live in Melbourne, where she enrolled at the National Gallery's School of Design, working under Frederick McCubbin. However, as a result of her father's death, she joined her mother and younger sister in Adelaide in 1894, where she exhibited with the Royal South Australian Society of Arts. She then moved back to Melbourne in July 1896, where she enrolled at the National Gallery's school of painting with an artwork entitled Still Life. With this art piece she won a scholarship which consisted of a year's worth of free intuition. In 1898 she decided to return to Adelaide where she continued her studies at the School of Design, Painting and Technical Arts. While there she then began teaching full time, and subsequently painting was done in her spare time on the weekends, where she specialized in still life. (Seivl 2006-2013 para.2)
In 1903, she inherited her mother's money, and moved to a new studio, however she left Adelaide on 2 July 1904, as one of her favourite art works was rejected by the Society of Arts. She left to Europe with one of her past students and friends; Bessie Davidson. Here she was greatly inspired by such artists as Cezanne, Matisse, Kandinsky and Rouault, as well as Japanese art styles. In 1907, both Davidson and MacPherson returned to Adelaide, where they join leased a studio, and held combined exhibitions. At this time she also continued teaching visual arts, at Collegiate School of St Peter and Presbyterian Ladies Collage ( Seivl 2006-2013 para. 3-4 ).
Preston then moved to Paris and Brittany in 1913 and 1914, while here she exhibited at the New Salon Paris and the Royal Academy of Arts London, and the year after she exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Pittsburgh in the United States of America. On the journey back to Australia, she met William Preston (1881-1978) who would soon be her future husband (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 5 ). At the time, William Preston was returning from service with the Australian Imperial Force. Once she moved back to Adelaide she continued her joint exhibitions with her friend Reynella, where she exhibited her first pottery ( Seivl 2006-20013 para. 6).
On the 31 of December 1919 she was married to William Preston. The newly married couple soon settled in Mosman, Sydney. In the 1930's the Prestons moved to Berowra, Sydney, where Margaret occupied her time with domestic tasks, however continued to paint and enjoy pottering. At this time, her garden was the major inspiration for many of her artworks, as she left it majorly in its native state. This suggests her love for the native Australian Landscape and vegetation, which often features in many of her works. At the time she was also known for being quite opinionated and strong minded, which was rather unorthodox for a respectable woman of the time (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 7) .
At this time, Margaret began with exhibiting with the Royal Art Society of New South Wales (1915), with a series of works entitled Summer which strongly reflected Post-Impressionist influences. However these works were bought by the National Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1920. She began first exhibiting her prints in 1925; however after their success she held more in 1929, 1936 and 1953. This style of print making soon became her trademark style and what she was known or within the Australian community. In 1926, her artworks began to explore the concepts of 'modernism', though the styles of purism and cubism. While doing this she also combined styles she had observed in Japanese artworks, which mainly consisted of experimentation with lighting, highlights and colour (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 8-10) .
On the 28th May 1963, she died at Mosman before her husband, and was cremated with her Anglican Christian rites. Margaret Preston will always be remembered as someone who "experimented constantly in a variety of media, but her ability to present something fresh in her dynamic designs with her unerring sense of colour allowed her to break traditional barriers" (Seivl 2006-2013 para.12 ). Over her life time, she created some of the most iconic and well known Australian artworks, which demonstrated her artistic skill and talent, and her love for the natural Australian landscape (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 12).
In 1893 she moved to live in Melbourne, where she enrolled at the National Gallery's School of Design, working under Frederick McCubbin. However, as a result of her father's death, she joined her mother and younger sister in Adelaide in 1894, where she exhibited with the Royal South Australian Society of Arts. She then moved back to Melbourne in July 1896, where she enrolled at the National Gallery's school of painting with an artwork entitled Still Life. With this art piece she won a scholarship which consisted of a year's worth of free intuition. In 1898 she decided to return to Adelaide where she continued her studies at the School of Design, Painting and Technical Arts. While there she then began teaching full time, and subsequently painting was done in her spare time on the weekends, where she specialized in still life. (Seivl 2006-2013 para.2)
In 1903, she inherited her mother's money, and moved to a new studio, however she left Adelaide on 2 July 1904, as one of her favourite art works was rejected by the Society of Arts. She left to Europe with one of her past students and friends; Bessie Davidson. Here she was greatly inspired by such artists as Cezanne, Matisse, Kandinsky and Rouault, as well as Japanese art styles. In 1907, both Davidson and MacPherson returned to Adelaide, where they join leased a studio, and held combined exhibitions. At this time she also continued teaching visual arts, at Collegiate School of St Peter and Presbyterian Ladies Collage ( Seivl 2006-2013 para. 3-4 ).
Preston then moved to Paris and Brittany in 1913 and 1914, while here she exhibited at the New Salon Paris and the Royal Academy of Arts London, and the year after she exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Pittsburgh in the United States of America. On the journey back to Australia, she met William Preston (1881-1978) who would soon be her future husband (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 5 ). At the time, William Preston was returning from service with the Australian Imperial Force. Once she moved back to Adelaide she continued her joint exhibitions with her friend Reynella, where she exhibited her first pottery ( Seivl 2006-20013 para. 6).
On the 31 of December 1919 she was married to William Preston. The newly married couple soon settled in Mosman, Sydney. In the 1930's the Prestons moved to Berowra, Sydney, where Margaret occupied her time with domestic tasks, however continued to paint and enjoy pottering. At this time, her garden was the major inspiration for many of her artworks, as she left it majorly in its native state. This suggests her love for the native Australian Landscape and vegetation, which often features in many of her works. At the time she was also known for being quite opinionated and strong minded, which was rather unorthodox for a respectable woman of the time (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 7) .
At this time, Margaret began with exhibiting with the Royal Art Society of New South Wales (1915), with a series of works entitled Summer which strongly reflected Post-Impressionist influences. However these works were bought by the National Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1920. She began first exhibiting her prints in 1925; however after their success she held more in 1929, 1936 and 1953. This style of print making soon became her trademark style and what she was known or within the Australian community. In 1926, her artworks began to explore the concepts of 'modernism', though the styles of purism and cubism. While doing this she also combined styles she had observed in Japanese artworks, which mainly consisted of experimentation with lighting, highlights and colour (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 8-10) .
On the 28th May 1963, she died at Mosman before her husband, and was cremated with her Anglican Christian rites. Margaret Preston will always be remembered as someone who "experimented constantly in a variety of media, but her ability to present something fresh in her dynamic designs with her unerring sense of colour allowed her to break traditional barriers" (Seivl 2006-2013 para.12 ). Over her life time, she created some of the most iconic and well known Australian artworks, which demonstrated her artistic skill and talent, and her love for the natural Australian landscape (Seivl 2006-2013 para. 12).