National Gallery of Victoria hosts major Margaret Preston survey

The National Gallery of Victoria is launching a major survey exhibition of Australian modernist Margaret Preston at the Ian Potter Centre. This is the largest exhibition of her work in over 20 years, featuring approximately 200 pieces, including landscapes, still lifes, and woodblock prints.

Three paintings by Preston, which were previously missing, have been recovered from private collections following a callout by the gallery last year. These recovered works will be a highlight of the show.

The exhibition also addresses Preston’s complicated legacy regarding the appropriation of First Nations art. To engage with this history, the gallery has included works by contemporary First Nations artists such as Tony Albert, Trevor Nickolls, Deanne Gilson, and Gordon Bennett, alongside new commissions that respond to her original pieces.