Traveling years (1904–1907; 1912) After her mother died in 1903, Preston and
Bessie Davidson traveled to Europe, where they stayed from 1904 to 1907, with sojourns in
Munich and
Paris and shorter trips to
Italy,
Spain,
The Netherlands, and
Africa. with its geometric forms, muted palette, and stark lighting. Bill had a placid temperament that complemented Margaret Preston's assertive personality, and they were devoted to each other throughout their marriage. at the 1920
Royal Art Society Spring exhibition. In 1929 the trustees of what is now the Art Gallery of New South Wales commissioned
Self portrait (1930) – the first such commission to a woman artist from the Gallery. In the 1930s, she joined the
Anthropological Society of New South Wales. Preston joined the
Society of Artists and became a friend of its president,
Sydney Ure Smith, the influential editor and publisher of
Art in Australia,
The Home, and
Australia: National Journal.All told, she contributed several dozen articles on art to Ure Smith's publications as well as to the
Society of Artists yearbooks. and
Harbour Foreshore (1925). and
The Bridge from the North Shore (1932). which are both views from Wyargine Point near Edwards Beach. and ''Children's Corner at the Zoo'' (1944–46)—are painted in a deliberately naive style, reflecting a then-current interest in children's art. Preston would probably have seen a 1939 Department of Education Gallery exhibition of children's art, and she would have been aware of
Roger Fry's theories on creativity and learning in children.
Japanese Submarine Exhibition offers a wry look at that paranoia and anti-Japanese sentiments of the war years in Australia. and
Manly Pines (1953). Preston won a silver medal at the Exposition Internationale, Paris in 1937, and that year became a foundation member of, and exhibited with,
Robert Menzies' anti-modernist organisation, the
Australian Academy of Art.
Return to Mosman (1939–1963) Following their seven years in Berowra, the Prestons returned to Mosman, where they would stay until Margaret Preston's death on 28 May 1963. Among their homes during this period were the former home of actress
Nellie Stewart and the Hotel Mosman. Preston's later works built on the Aboriginal themes developed at Berowra, and her very last works had overtly religious themes, possibly in response to the
Blake Prize instituted in 1951. In the 1950s, she made a series of gouache stencils based on religious subjects. == Collections and exhibitions ==