Margaret Preston is renowned for her woodcuts and linocuts, which she was inspired to make after studying Japanese prints and printmaking techniques at the Musée Guimet, Paris, in 1912. This print celebrates the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; completed in 1932, it stood as a powerful symbol of modernity and provided a nationwide sense of achievement. Poet Rex Ingamells celebrated the print in verse in 1944:

Red-roofed two-storey house and red-roofed church,
its spire a flame of red. Between the two
the backyards bathe in golden sun. But search
one inch to find the Harbour’s joy of blue.

Exquisite wood-cut! Ah, superb, bright midge!
Our Nation’s history in the stride of Bridge!