"He's had a lot of money and he's given away a lot of money," Schofield told the AFR. "He's had a patrician's sense of duty, but at the same time he's been the most judicious and egalitarian of our philanthropists."
Gordon Darling may not have dispensed the sorts of sums other prominent – more wealthy – benefactors have contributed to charitable causes, but his involvement in institutions like the NGA and NPG has been invaluable.
Former Prime Minister John Howard credits Gordon and Marilyn Darling with the energy and foresight needed to get an institution like the NPG off the ground. Howard describes the gallery as one of his tenure's more significant achievements.
The Howard government allocated $87.8 million to the NPG, whose contents are drawn from gifts and purchases, including John Webber's striking portrait of Captain James Cook, painted in 1782, and bought with the assistance of Robert Oatley and John Schaeffer.
Son James, an artist and cattle breeder in South Australia, has said of his entrepreneurial father he had the knack of "moving into unoccupied space".
More than a century after Federation a national portrait gallery represented such "unoccupied space".
Gordon Darling was an early and enthusiastic collector of Australian art, including works by Albert Namatjira. He bequeathed his collection of Namatjiras to the NGA.
These reside in the Gordon and Marilyn Darling Gallery – Hermannsburg School. It has proved one of the most popular gallery spaces since the NGA's indigenous wing opened in October, 2010.
Darling also contributed to the establishment of the NGA's print collection with a $1 million gift. The Darling print collection holds some 7000 prints drawn from the works of contemporary printmakers in Australia and the pacific, and is adding new works all the time.
Among his legacies will be the Gordon Darling Foundation, whose mission includes helping regional art galleries and art curators. This is ongoing work.
Gordon Darling was born on March 4, 1921 in a grand house near Hyde Park Gate in London where his father Leonard represented the family's flour milling and wheat trading interests. In later years, he liked to say he was born at the No. 74 bus stop.
He was educated at British public schools – Highfield and Stowe – between the wars. He left for Australia at the onset of World War II.
His experiences during the war left their mark in more ways than one. His hearing loss was partly attributable to damage suffered in a badly pressurised aircraft while en route to join the allied war room for the southern Mediterranean campaign.
At the age of 89 he had a Cochlear implant that restored his hearing and enabled him to converse relatively freely in his later years. He regarded such advances in medical science as a minor miracle.
No less than other members of the Darling family, Gordon Darling has left his mark on the country of his family's good fortune. His forebears include great uncle Joe Darling who was Australia's most successful Test captain until Don Bradman's invincibles came along.
Leonard Gordon Darling is survived by his wife, Marilyn Darling AC, sons Michael and James, daughters Sarah and Clare, and 10 grandchildren.