A portrait of the late Carlton triple Premiership player and coach Robert Walls, which was entered into the prestigious Archibald Portrait Prize back in 2008, has found a new home at the Carlton Football Club through the generosity of a recent buyer and with the good wishes of the Walls family.

The acrylic on linen portrait showcases a relaxed and somewhat reflective Walls seated with his legs crossed on a wooden chair, and carries the name of renowned Melbourne-based artist and sculptor Rachel Boymal. The painting, which measures 122cm x 91cm, features the Archibald Prize entry code of A592X on the rear.

This story has its genesis in Ballarat a fortnight before Wall’s passing in early May 2025 when Ian Howard and his wife Angie discovered the portrait in a chance visit to a store for pre-loved items in Ballarat.

“The place was pretty big and the painting was on a wall on proud display. We recognized who it was as soon as we saw it,” Ian said.

“The painting didn’t cost a hell of a lot, and the initial thought was to buy it, because I always liked Robert as a special comments footballer presenter and Angie, a Richmond supporter, remembered him from his time at Punt Road as Coach,” Ian said.

“The lady in the store from whom we bought the painting knew nothing about how it came to be there. There was a piece of paper with it, which we’ve unfortunately lost.

“We then had this romantic thought that Robert might want the painting, and our plan was to eventually get it to him, not knowing that he was so desperately ill. We had tried to contact his PR people because he’d been on the speaking circuit, but they never got back to us.

“After we heard Robert had died we didn’t know what to do with the painting, and we shuffled it from room to room. We then thought Carlton might be the next best home, and here we are.”

 At the time of the handover, Ian and Angie welcomed the club’s suggestion that the Walls family should first be offered the portrait.

Walls’s son David was then notified and on viewing the painting noted that “the artist has captured Dad really well”. At the same time, David indicated his willingness for the painting to remain in the club’s keep as the family was already in possession of another Walls portrait painted by Ron Roach.

Boymal was quite taken when contacted regarding the painting’s movements, which she recalled was featured in the 2008 Salon des Refusés exhibition which showcased a number of submissions not chosen for the Archibald Prize – “and I have a nice photograph of Robert and I standing in front of that portrait at the exhibition”.

“At the time Robert was living in a small apartment, and he didn’t have room to display the portrait,” Boymal recalled. “I kept it for a number of years and it was auctioned with some of my works in early 2025, at Amanda Adams Auctions in Ormond,” Boymal explained.

Boymal’s portrait of Robert Walls will more than likely share wallspace in the Carlton archive with another Archibald Prize entrant gifted to the club – a Benjamin Crampton portrait in oil of the dual Premiership ruckman Justin Madden reclining on a red Featherstone chair.