Margaret Preston

Mosman Bridge c. 1927
woodcut, printed in black ink, from one block, hand-coloured in gouache; undesignated impression
National Gallery of Australia
Purchased 1978

This tightly cropped view of the timber footbridge across Mosman Bay and the surrounding landscape recalls Japanese ukiyo-e compositions, such as portrait-format landscapes by Hiroshige. It can also be seen as a precursor to Cressida Campbell’s 1992 woodcut print Parsley Bay, Sydney; a similarly tightly framed view of a rocky path, vegetation, a wooden footbridge, and Harbour waters.

In this work Preston’s engagement with the built urban environment firmly positions her as a modernist printmaker.