MARGARET PRESTON

Grosvenor Galleries, Sydney, 1929
Mrs Cuttle, Sydney; purchased from the above
Australian, British, New Zealand and European Historical and Contemporary Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings and Graphics, Leonard Joel, Melbourne 26-27 July 1989, lot 82
Fine Australian Paintings, Sotheby's, Melbourne, 19 August 1991, lot 310
Fine Australian Paintings and Sculpture, Drawings, Prints and Photographs and European Paintings, Prints and Sculpture, Sotheby's, Melbourne, 19-20 April 1994, lot 20
Collection of John Sharpe, Sydney; purchased from the above

Margaret Preston, Grosvenor Galleries, Sydney, 7-31 August 1929, cat. 14

Margaret Preston, Catalogue Raisonn¿ of Paintings, Monotypes and Ceramics CD-ROM, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005  

Off-white and gold painted timber frame with timber mount. UV inspection reveals no flaring. Very good condition
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The choice of Thunbergia is somewhat typical of Margaret Preston - the flowers, with their striking colour, are showy and bold of appearance - Preston was strong of character and had striking red hair. Sydney Ure Smith described her as 'a natural enemy of the dull.' ¹ There is also a touch of the exotic; for Preston did not confine herself to the local flora nor to the tame touch. She loved to travel. The one hundred or more of this tropically inclined species derived their name from the eighteenth century Swedish botanist and physician, Carl Peter Thunberg. Being variously annuals, perennials and shrubs, they are native of Africa, Asia, and Madagascar and, of course, Australia. Many are vigorous climbers, much admired for their attractive flowers. Preston was vociferously ambitious, with the talent to warrant it. Even the popular name forThunbergia alata, 'Black-eyed Susan vine' or simply 'Black-eyed Susan' has a touch of Preston's challenging and engaging character about it!

Preston, in her paintings and prints of flowers, put colour in the spotlight, especially during the late twenties. In Thunbergia (Black-Eyed-Susan), 1929 the brilliance of the yellow is given dramatic focus through their black centres. Pinks and orange dominate Pink Gum Blossom, 1929, the foil now being black and white stripes. Red often dominated her paintings of this time, backed by an ever strong sense of form. Australian Coral Flowers, 1928 (National Gallery of Australia) and Australian Gum Blossom, 1928 (Art Gallery of New South Wales) lead into Double Hibiscus, 1929 (National Gallery of Australia), and the boldly brilliant Lobster ,1929, large, red, and ready to eat. Even in landscapes she used red to seduce the eye, as in the predominating red roofs of Corner of Mosman Bay, 1929 (National Gallery of Victoria). It is no surprise that many of the works she painted in 1928 and 1929 found their way into leading public collections, for this was a period of particular richness in her art. 1929 itself was a year yet unparalleled for achievement. She held a major exhibition of thirty-four oil paintings, including this painting, and seventeen woodcuts at Sydney's Grosvenor Galleries. In September Art in Australia featured one of her finest prints - Wheel Flower - on its cover; and Margaret Preston Recent Paintings 1929 was published in December, together with '92 Aphorisms by Margaret Preston and others'. The real coup was the commission received from the trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales - to paint her self portrait for the collection - a first for a woman artist!

1. Ure Smith, S., 'Editorial', Art in Australia, 3rd series, no. 22, 1927