Society of Artists 1944 exhibition

I bought this catalogue at the Antique and Collectable fair and it's a little gem.  It was the publication which accompanied an annual exhibition at the Education Department's art gallery in Loftus St, Sydney. The cover design was by Margaret Preston and the painting on the back, which also advertises Berger's Paints, is also by her. There are 10 black and white reproductions of drawings and paintings within the catalogue and I have included 4 of them here.
There were 248 pieces of art shown at this exhibition, paintings and sculptures from 48 artists who were members of the society.
Margaret Preston has a number of paintings in this show.  She was 69 years old at that time and was very interested in "nationalism", using aboriginal motifs and colours in her own landscapes and still life. She was very popular, well known in magazines and the newspapers and  her paintings were priced at 15 to 20 guineas in this exhibition. I think 20 guineas converts to about 30 dollars. Now her paintings are worth substantially more.  I saw one painting going to auction of the Molong show with a price range of 50-70 thousand Australian dollars.
 Lloyd Rees who was also exhibiting in this exhibition was selling for quire a bit more than the popular Margaret Preston, at 65 guineas.  At that time male artists were seen to be more serious and therefore their artwork was of more value.  Woman artists were often seen as hobbyists.
This little booklet is so charming and it special to find arty ephemera.





This is the back cover and also shows a ?linocut by Margaret Preston

These pages are from the catalogue and I assume were works within the exhibition.