Right here, you can view the whole collection of prime ministerial portraits from the House of Commons collection. I like this one of Mackenzie Bowell, prime minister very briefly in the 1890s. The portrait is by Joanne Tod. She did it circa 2001, when the House collection was playing catch up, and it is based on the best-known photograph of Bowell, but who cares? She's a terrific portraitist.
They have just unveiled a new portrait showing a youthful, skinny Joe Clark circa 1976, and it looks like a good one too. The artist is Patrick Douglass Cox. Stephen Harper will join the group in due time, proving, I suppose, that the prime minister may not respect the arts, but the arts will pay him his due.
