Nick Howson
Painter and printmaker Nick Howson was born in the United Kingdom and arrived in Australia in 1969. He completed a Diploma of Fine Arts at Prahran College in 1986. Howson was a magazine illustrator for the Sunday Age between 1997 and 2001. Howson is a highly skilled painter, best known for his characteristic mosaic compositions. His unique technique of building softened layers of oil paint to form a patchwork of colours is vibrant and engaging, combining a naivety of style with sensitive attention to detail. Quintessentially Australian in feel, the artist renders cricket pitches, rooftops, freeways and houses in almost abstract, allegorical arrangements, evocative of ancient mosaics and magnificent medieval stained glass.
Nick Howson has completed commissions for the Australian Open Tennis Poster, Melbourne; a mural for the National Gallery of Australia restaurant, Canberra; a mural for the Prahran Market, Melbourne and a significant mural at the Richmond Railway Station, Melbourne. His work is represented in collections around Australia including Artbank, Sydney; the City of Whitehorse Art Collection, VIC; Crown Casino, Melbourne; the Gold Coast City Gallery, QLD; the Horsham Regional Art Gallery, VIC; Parliament House, Canberra and the Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne.
