Margaret Preston and Assimilation

Abstract

This article discusses the former Australian Government policy of assimilation and considers the views of the Australian artist Margaret Preston (1875-1963) in relation to the policy and its meaning for Aboriginal Australia. Preston presented her views on the appropriation of Aboriginal art in two important essays that were published in Art in Australia, in 1925, and 1930. This essay begins with an analysis of assimilation and its meaning. It then explores Aboriginal art and assimilation. Margaret Preston's essays are analysed against the background of assimilation, and other determining factors that influenced Preston's appropriation of Aboriginal designs.