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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

What's on

Saturday 3 November 2018 – Tuesday 3 November 2020

Sir Robert May AC KT
Sir Robert May AC KT
Sir Robert May AC KT
Sir Robert May AC KT

Electric!

Portraits that pop!

Exhibition closes 22 April

Celebrate the Gallery’s 20th birthday summer with Electric! Portraits that pop! The collection exhibition features a mix of bright, bold and colourful paintings, prints and photographs, and buoyant video portraits.

Portrait of Li Cunxin, 2017–2018 (detail) by Jun Chen
Portrait of Li Cunxin, 2017–2018 (detail) by Jun Chen
Portrait of Li Cunxin, 2017–2018 (detail) by Jun Chen
Portrait of Li Cunxin, 2017–2018 (detail) by Jun Chen

20/20

Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions

Exhibition closes 10 February

20/20 showcases the dynamic suite of new portraits commissioned to celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s 20th year. Leaders and individualists invited by the Gallery were matched with unique artists to create distinctive contemporary portraits.

Lady Barkly
Lady Barkly
Lady Barkly
Lady Barkly

Carte-o-mania!

Exhibition opens 8 November

Drawn from the NPG’s burgeoning collection of cartes de visite, Carte-o-mania! celebrates the wit, style and substance of the pocket-sized portraits that were taken and collected like crazy in post-goldrush Australia.

Greta In Her Kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018 by Alana Holmberg
Greta In Her Kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018 by Alana Holmberg
Greta In Her Kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018 by Alana Holmberg
Greta In Her Kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018 by Alana Holmberg

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019

Exhibition opens 23 February

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Bookings available
Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown

The Look

Exhibition opens 14 September

Featuring striking photographic portraits of contemporary figures from the National Portrait Gallery collection, The Look is an aesthetic treat with a lashing of je ne sais quoi.

Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Exhibition opens 14 September

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

Elle Macpherson, 1995 photographed by Andrew Macpherson
Elle Macpherson, 1995 photographed by Andrew Macpherson
Elle Macpherson, 1995 photographed by Andrew Macpherson
Elle Macpherson, 1995 photographed by Andrew Macpherson

Women in Vogue

Celebrating Sixty Years in Australia

Exhibition opens 11 October

This exhibition showcases sixty years of the Vogue Australia archive together with a special tribute to some remarkable Australian women who have featured in the pages of Vogue, and includes iconic portraits of Kylie Minogue and Elle Macpherson, among others.

Bookings available
Miranda Otto
Miranda Otto
Miranda Otto
Miranda Otto

Eye to eye

Exhibition opens 14 December

Eye to Eye is a summer Portrait Gallery Collection remix arranged by degree of eye contact – from turned away with eyes closed all the way through to right-back-at-you – as we explore artists’ and subjects’ choices around the direction of the gaze.

Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Elizabeth

Darling Portrait Prize 2020

Exhibition opens 6 March

The Darling Prize is a new biennial prize for Australian portrait painters, painting Australian sitters. The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer
The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer
The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer
The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

Exhibition opens 6 March

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

© Shirley Purdie/Copyright Agency, 2020
© Shirley Purdie/Copyright Agency, 2020
© Shirley Purdie/Copyright Agency, 2020
© Shirley Purdie/Copyright Agency, 2020

Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Shirley Purdie

Exhibition opens 6 June

Using ochres collected on her country in Western Australia’s East Kimberley, Shirley Purdie’s self-portrait is a kaleidoscope of traditional Gija stories and Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) passed down to her.

Ticketed entry
Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel 1984 (detail) Grant Matthews
Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel 1984 (detail) Grant Matthews
Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel 1984 (detail) Grant Matthews
Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel 1984 (detail) Grant Matthews

Pub Rock

Your backstage pass to 70s and 80s sounds and scenes

Exhibition opens 5 September

Celebrate the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on our nation’s identity.

Ticketed entry
Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023
Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023
Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023
Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023

Collection display galleries

Exhibition open every day

The collection display includes a wide selection of portraits that tell extraordinary stories of encounter, exploration, independence, individuality and achievement in Australia.

Deborah Mailman
Deborah Mailman
Deborah Mailman
Deborah Mailman

Portrait Allsorts

In Gallery Seven

Exhibition opens 26 September

Offering portraiture in all its flavours: painting, photography, drawing, textiles, printmaking and sculpture, this exhibition is a feast for minds and eyes.

Jessica Mauboy, 2018 David Rosetzky
Jessica Mauboy, 2018 David Rosetzky
Jessica Mauboy, 2018 David Rosetzky
Jessica Mauboy, 2018 David Rosetzky

Before hand

The private life of a portrait

Exhibition opens 10 October

Revealing the backstories behind the NPG collection, Before hand features interviews with artists and sitters as well as working drawings, scrapbooks, sketches and footage taken in artists’ studios and out on location.

Ticketed entry

More events

Wednesday 4 November 2020 – Saturday 5 November 2022
© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency