Margaret Preston Auction Prices and Value Guide

Margaret Preston auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 736 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Margaret Preston auction prices: quick answer

Margaret Preston auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Margaret Preston
Source records
736
Market update
2026-02-16

Margaret Preston market snapshot

Margaret Preston shows deep auction liquidity with 388 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $420. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 17 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-11-26.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (57.8% · 177 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (10.1% · 31 sales)
  • $10,000+ (32.0% · 98 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$475
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
17
Median shift vs prior year
+58.3%
Latest recorded sale
2025-11-26

Artist context

About Margaret Preston

Margaret Preston portrait
Harold Cazneaux · Public domain · Source

Born

1875

Died

1963

Nationality

Australian

Also known as

Margaret Rose Preston, Margaret Macpherson, Margaret Rose Macpherson, Margaret Preston Macpherson

Margaret Preston (1875–1963) was an Australian painter, printmaker and writer on art associated with early twentieth-century Australian modernism. Authority records also identify her under names including Margaret Rose Preston and Margaret Rose Macpherson. She pursued the idea of a distinctively Australian national art and, according to the collected biographical source, was among the early non-Indigenous Australian artists to incorporate Aboriginal motifs into her work. This aspect of her practice should be described historically and carefully, without treating borrowed motifs as Indigenous authorship. Collectors encounter Preston through both paintings and prints, the two roles consistently documented by Getty ULAN. Her prominence as a modernist and her work across these media help explain why her name appears regularly in auction-price research. Some works are reported as signed “MP,” but identity, medium and attribution should still be checked against the individual object and its documentation.

Australian modernismPaintingPrintmakingAboriginal motifs incorporated within her pursuit of an Australian national art

Common works and media

Collectors may encounter paintings and prints attributed to Margaret Preston, reflecting the painter and printmaker roles documented by Getty ULAN. Biographical material also associates her work with Australian modernism and the use of Aboriginal motifs in her search for a national visual language. The available evidence does not establish particular print techniques, edition formats, recurring still-life subjects or other narrower categories, so individual objects should be classified from their physical characteristics and documentation.

Market and appraisal context

For appraisal, the strongest source-backed distinction is between Preston’s paintings and prints. Comparable analysis should begin by matching the same work type and medium, then confirming that the catalogued artist identity corresponds to Margaret Preston and her documented name variants. Appraisily’s artist page indicates a substantial body of auction records that may supply sale dates, realized prices and comparable lots when individual records are available. The present source pack does not provide lot-level evidence, edition information, condition reports, provenance, dimensions or a major-auction-house market overview, so it cannot support price forecasts or claims about market direction. Those object-specific details should be documented separately before selecting comparables or forming a value conclusion.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Paintings
  • Prints

Value drivers

  1. Work type and medium, particularly the distinction between paintings and prints
  2. Artist-identity matching across documented name variants
  3. Comparable public auction records, including sale dates and realized prices, when individual records are available

Appraisal caveats

  • The collected source pack contains no lot-level descriptions, realized prices, condition reports, provenance records or edition details.
  • No successfully fetched major-auction-house source was available to support price trends, relative scarcity or medium-specific market performance.
  • The reported MP signature is a biographical clue, not sufficient evidence of attribution or authenticity.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context is based on collected public records: medium confidence, adequate source quality.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for Margaret Preston

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Margaret Preston worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my Margaret Preston artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.