YESTERDAY'S WOMEN

Mad Maggie's Legacy

Woodcut art was big in the 1920s and 30s. An ancient form of print, it died out somewhat with the coming of the printing press, before its resurgence early in the 20^th century.

The techniques of woodcut are arduous and demanding. Involving the hand cutting of designs out of blocks of wood. The finished product is coated with ink or paint and then used to print the impression on various materials.

Despite the physical nature of this art form it was embraced by Australia's leading women artists of the period. None more enthusiastically than Margaret Preston.

Known as 'Mad Maggie' by the people of Sydney she was anything but mad. Born Margaret Rose Preston in Port Adelaide on 29 April 1875. The family moved to Sydney where she trained with artist William Lister and later in Melbourne with Frederick McCubbin.

After her father's death Margaret, along with her sister and mother, returned to Adelaide in 1894. Following further study she taught at the Adelaide School of Design and in her own studio. But Margaret, intent on finding own voice, took to travelling the world studying art of many eras and cultures and exhibiting her own works. From Melbourne to Munich, Paris, London, and then on to the Middle East, the Pacific Islands and Africa she roamed. Even at the age of 72 she rode in a ute* from Sydney to Darwin.

Margaret achieved great success with her work being exhibited at a number of prestigious places including the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français and the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Study of Japenese and Chinese art at the Musée Guimet left a deepening impression, in particular Japanese woodcut, which Margaret began incorporating into her designs. But increasingly, native flora, fauna and an awareness of Aboriginal art developed in her work. This keen interest in Aboriginal art took her to the Kimberleys and Arnhem Land, allowing her to experiment with Aboriginal inspired designs. This influence is apparent in much of her work. She was the only woman of her time to incorporate national themes in her art.

It was about 1913 that she began making prints, which she exhibited on her return from Europe in 1919. Her woodcuts were given national exposure during the 1920s when they were used on the cover of Woman's World and Home magazines.

After World War I Margaret took her teaching to a different level when she worked with returned soldiers recuperating from shell-shock. Printmaking was incorporated, as was basket weaving and ceramics. But it was not long before she was on the move again, this time to the United States where her work was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute in 1919. On the return trip she met businessman William Preston and they married on December 31. They settled in Sydney.

Always a leader in her field, her move from realism to modernism, along with her theories, caused a storm of criticism. It was not until two decades later that Sydney Nolan, Albert Tucker and other leading artists took up similar ideas.

Rejecting the use of the printing press, Margaret Preston continued to hand print her blocks. Like fellow artist Theo Proctor she would then hand colour her prints. The two of them combined in a major exhibition in 1925. Margaret also had a number of solo exhibitions in the following years.

Eventually she found it to hard to carve the wood and had to live out her remaining years unable to practice the art form to which she had dedicated most of her artistic life.

Margaret Preston died in 1963, leaving behind several hundred prints. For a long time her name was lost in history, despite having elevated printing from a craft to an art. Thankfully by the 1980s she was slowly rediscovered and recognition of her influence acknowledged.

Her works can be seen in National Galleries across Australia.

*In Australia, a 'ute' is a utility truck, equivalent to the US pick-up.