Stamp Pack
This stamp pack contains all stamps from the Margaret Preston 1875-1963 stamp issue presented in a high-quality folder.
Overview
The year 2025 sees the 150th anniversary of the birth of Margaret Preston (née Margaret Rose McPherson), one of Australia’s most important painter-printmakers, and a pioneer in developing modern art in this country.
Born in Port Adelaide, South Australia, on 29 April 1875, Margaret studied in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Munich and Paris. Her exposure to the European avant-garde is evident in her bold, geometric designs. Over her long and productive career she continued to travel widely: in Australia, the Pacific, Asia and Africa, incorporating different influences into her work.
An eloquent advocate for the development of a distinctly Australian artistic vision and subject matter, Preston depicted still-lives, birds and animals, people, landscapes and cityscapes, but is best known for her paintings and prints of local landscapes and flora.
The three stamps in this issue feature hand-coloured woodcuts combining various native Australian and exotic flowers, dating from the 1920s when the artist was in her fifties. These relief prints were made by carving into the plank side of a piece of wood, cutting away the background areas to leave only the final image raised. Black ink was then rolled onto this raised surface and a print made onto paper. Later, each print was individually coloured by hand, using gouache (opaque water-based paint). So, although these prints were usually produced in a small numbered edition, each final impression is unique.
The back of the stamp pack features a painted self-portrait, completed in 1930 when the artist was fifty-five years of age, commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Margaret Preston died in Sydney on 28 May 1963.
The minisheet and first-day cover feature another hand-coloured woodcut, Gum Blossoms 1928, from the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Technical specifications
| Issue date | 12 August 2025 |
| Issue withdrawal date | 1 March 2026 |
| Denomination | 3 × $1.70 |
| Stamp & product design | Jo Muré, Australia Post Design Studio |
| Paper: gummed | Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phosphor/Blue PVA Stamp Paper |
| Printer: gummed | Southern Impact |
| Printing process | Offset lithography |
| Stamp size (mm) | 35 x 35 |
| Minisheet size (mm) | 170 x 80 |
| Perforations (mm) | 14.28 x 14.28 |
| Sheet layout | Module of 50 (2 x 25) |
| FDI postmark | Port Adelaide, SA 5015 |
| FDI withdrawal date | 10 September 2025 |
Stamps in this issue
Flannel Flowers 1928
This print from the collection of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra contrasts cheerful white Flannel Flowers (Actinotus helianthi) with Sturt’s Desert Pea, Banksia, Bottlebrush and other plants.
Protea 1925
In this woodcut from the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, the artist has created a powerful composition by zooming in on an ornamented vase holding distinctive South African Proteas.
Christmas Bells 1925
The bright-red Christmas Bells (Blandfordia) really pop against a background of more muted flowers and foliage in this print from the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
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Stamp set
This set of stamps contains all stamps from the Margaret Preston 1875-1963 stamp issue.
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Maxicard (Set of 3)
This maxicard set contains maxicards from the Margaret Preston 1875-1963 stamp issue.
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First Day Cover (Gummed)
The first day cover is a pictorial envelope with gummed stamps from the Margaret Preston 1875-1963 stamp issue affixed and postmarked.