We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Walter Armiger Bowring Mr W Arundel Orchard

oil on canvas

106.5 x 91.5 cm

Image courtesy University Art Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney

This portrait of conductor, composer and music educator William Arundel Orchard (1867–1961) is now in the University Art Collection in the Chau Chak Wing Museum at The University of Sydney. The Archibald entry form indicated the subject was shown in ‘a morning rehearsal’, conducting an orchestra.

Walter Armiger Bowring (1874–1931) was born and educated in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. A talented illustrator, he also exhibited landscapes and portraits with the Canterbury Society of Arts, later studying with renowned portraitists William Orpen and Augustus John in London. Arriving in Sydney in 1925, he exhibited with the Royal Society of NSW from 1926. Fourteen of Bowring’s portraits were hung in Archibald exhibitions between 1926 and 1930.