Margaret Forrest Exhibition

The March issue of the WA Parks Foundation newsletter included an article about one of Australia’s early botanical artists, Margaret Forrest.

We’ve since been advised that a collection of Margaret Forrest’s wildflower watercolours will be on display 10 am to 4 pm weekdays (except public holidays) at the Royal Western Australian Historical Society (RWAHS) Museum, 49 Broadway, Nedlands until the end of June.

📸: Leptospermum spinescens (Spiny Teatree) by Margaret Forrest via Australian National Botanic Gardens

The watercolours were painted when the artist’s husband, Sir John Forrest was surveying for the Great Southern Railway before he became Western Australia’s first Premier.

The paintings were given by Margaret Forrest as a personal gift to the Piesse family of Kobeelya, Katanning. After the death of Mr Piesse, his wife and daughter relocated to another home in Katanning. Many items were for sale, including the Margaret Forrest paintings. They were bought by Mr Arthur Mouritz and later given to his daughter, Eileen Haddleton who donated them to the Katanning Historical Society.

A community talk entitled Margaret Forrest: traces of a life will be presented by historian and author Dr Lenore Layman on 17 May (10 am for 10.30am) at the RWAHS. For further details:

https://www.histwest.org.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/Margaret%20Forrest%20Flyer%20FINAL%20%281%29.pdf