Still life: lobsters 1901
oil on canvas
Still life: lobsters is one of Preston’s only surviving early career works, completed in Adelaide when she was just twenty-six years old. It is also one of her largest paintings, measuring more than one metre wide. Still life: lobsters was last known to be held in a private collection in Adelaide.
Gloxinia 1928
oil on canvas
Gloxinia sits within Preston’s distinctly modernist period of the late 1920s. A commanding still-life of this bright purple houseplant, it showcases the artist’s use of angularity and light while forecasting her future embrace of the Mosman Bay landscape. It has recently been located and will be on display in the NGV exhibition.
Still life with mandarins c. 1908
oil on canvas
Still life with mandarins provides a glimpse into Margaret Preston’s life when she was residing with Bessie Davidson’s family in Adelaide. With Preston’s chosen domestic items beautifully recorded, Still life with mandarins demonstrates the technique and skills she acquired while studying in Paris at the turn of the century. It is on display in the NGV exhibition.
Still life 1915
oil on cardboard
This sophisticated composition was completed in Bonmahon, Ireland in 1915 during Preston’s second trip abroad and was exhibited at the New English Art Club the same year. Still life is a key work from her time overseas, demonstrating her growing interest in Post-Impressionism as well as the influence of Japanese ukiyo-e nishiki-e woodcut artists on her art practice. It is also on display in the NGV exhibition.
This essay was first published in NGV Magazine | Issue 60 Sep-Oct 2026.