A studied elegance: Margaret Woodward at the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
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Margaret Woodward (born 1938) has enjoyed a lifetime career as an artist, achieving both commercial and critical success. Her work has been awarded major prizes and is included in important public collections. But, as many of her female colleagues have found, the road to success is neither straightforward nor forgiving. She excelled as a student at the National Art School and worked with many of the big names in Sydney – Douglas Dundas, Peter Laverty, Godfrey Miller and John Passmore – in the late 1950s, when women teachers were few and far between. Her early life was not easy, instilling a determination to succeed and an undaunted work ethic. She understood that art was a serious business and that to succeed, discipline and concentration on the task at hand were essentials.
Woodward made drawing central and, as ‘From the Studio’ (her survey exhibition at Wahroonga’s Grace Cossington Smith Gallery at Abbotsleigh) attests, line has been at the heart of her paintings and drawings. Despite her studious and dedicated approach, her work has never been tight or formulaic, with a freedom and liveliness that is key to her appeal. Her figure work, animal studies, still life and landscapes all have a studied elegance of composition, no matter what the mood. That seriousness of approach becomes evident in her subject matter, creating images that can have a dark intensity, making large and powerful works from what some might see as eccentric subject matter. The inclusion of individuals with disabilities, often depicted with a Goyaesque darkness, are studies in difference and power, not pity.
The fact that the exhibition is drawn from the works in Woodward’s studio means that the curators Mary Faith and Lisa Jones have been given the chance to present a personal, more intimate side of the artist’s character, showing, sometimes for the first time, works of a less popular style and subject matter. The physical studio was fundamental to Woodward’s view of her art – there was to be no pottering around on the kitchen table; as soon as she could afford it, she built a large two-storied space some distance from her Hornsby home. Its style echoes her approach to art – modern and contemporary, but with subtle overtones of times past. Like the artist herself, the studio is ordered and efficient, with works carefully framed and stored, props artfully arranged ready for use, and all the materials one could need laid out, ready for the next creative outing.
Woodward’s works have made the short journey to Abbotsleigh to be displayed in the perfect environment – a space that is domestic in scale, but open and airy – where they have the chance to be studied in quiet contemplation. Her own links with the school, in a gallery named for the area’s most notable artist, help make for an art experience of the highest order.
Gavin Fry, Sydney
The author of Margaret Woodward: Paintings 1950 – 2007 (Beagle Press, 2008), Gavin Fry will be holding a gallery talk on 11 December to coincide with ‘Margaret Woodward: From the Studio’, which will reopen at Sydney’s Grace Cossington Smith Gallery from 14 November until 12 December 2020.
