MARGARET PRESTON

John Martin & Co, Adelaide
Fine Australian and European Paintings, Sotheby's, Melbourne, 20 August 1996, lot 309 
Private collection, Victoria
Australian and International Art, Deutscher-Menzies, Melbourne, 26 November 2003, lot 57
Private collection, Melbourne; purchased from the above

Centenary exhibition, Royal South Australian Society of Arts, Institute Building, Adelaide, 15 Oct - 3 Nov 1956, no. 48 (16gns)
John Martin and Co. Ltd, September 1981, cat. 50 (label on reverse)

Deborah Edwards, Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005

Good condition. UV inspection confirms no retouching.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the words of Sydney Ure Smith; 'Margaret Preston is the natural enemy of the dull.'¹  In her engagement with modernism and with Aboriginal art and her exploration and experimentation, she reveals her ambitions for Australian art and for the creation of a national style.  Preston began her career as a largely traditional-tonalist artist before moving to Paris, where she was introduced to post-impressionism and subsequently to modernism.  Preston sought to reconcile modernism, decorative art and Australian culture, and in so doing created some of the most celebrated and readily-identifiable works in Australian art history.

Preston's commitment to the still life allowed her to unite the traditionally separate orders of fine art and decorative arts.  In a letter to Norman Carter from Brittany in 1913, she commented that; 'Decorative work - it is the only thing worth aiming for in this century - it is really the keynote of everything.  I am trying all I know to reduce my still-life to decorations and find it fearfully difficult.'²  Under the influence of flat, decorative artists such as Puvis de Chavannes, Gauguin, Cezanne and the Fauves, Preston synthesised the act of perception with pictorial design.  Through the act of observing and contemplating a natural form, Preston was able to distil meaningful artistic form.

Ti-Trees exemplifies this approach and process.  The work is inspired by natural form, but Preston's visible, even expressive technique requires that we acknowledge the artifice of the act of painting.  The shallow background challenges perspectival depth, while the strength of the brushstrokes across the background intermingle with yellow and the pink of the tea-tree flowers.  Despite the strength of the hot pink of the blooms, we are drawn to the splashes of orange and the blurring of the flowers into background.

 

1. Deborah Edwards, Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005, p. 9
2. Margaret Preston to Norman Carter, 1913, quoted in Deborah Edwards, Margaret Preston, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005, p. 35