Figurative abstract artist and designer Howard Tangye was born in Queensland in 1948 and lived and worked in London from the 1970s until recently. After graduating from London's Central Saint Martins, he went to New York on a scholarship to study life drawing. Having decided not to pursue his own fashion label, Tangye lectured at Central Saint Martins for 35 years. As Head of Womenswear, he taught key figures in British fashion such as John Galliano, Stella McCartney, Zac Posen, Hussein Chalayan and Wes Gordon. Tangye is known for his experimental mixed media drawings, characterised by fluid, energetic lines. His work is held by the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and Harvard University Museums.