Andrew Sayers

Andrew Sayers was born in England in 1957. After moving to Australia in 1964 he completed a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts at Sydney University in 1979.

Mr Sayers first appointment was in 1979, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales where he took the position of curatorial assistant. After a year he was appointed Registrar of Collections, a position he left in 1981 to accept the job of Assistant Director at the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, where he remained until 1985.

In 1985 Sayers moved to the National Gallery of Australia where he remained for 13 years. Whilst at the National Gallery, Mr Sayers developed an expertise in Australian drawings, watercolours and colonial paintings. His first appointment was as Curator of Australian Drawings. In 1993 this portfolio was extended to include Australian watercolours and colonial paintings. In May 1996, Mr Sayers was appointed Assistant Director (Collections).

Andrew Sayers was appointed Director of the National Portrait Gallery in April 1998.

Mr Sayers has made a significant contribution to scholarly works on Australian art in a range of publications, including Drawing in Australia, 1989, Sidney Nolan: The Ned Kelly Story, 1994, Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century and the Australian Art volume in the Oxford History of Art.

His principal exhibitions include New Worlds from Old: 19th Century Australian and American Landscapes, Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, Sidney Nolan: The Ned Kelly Story and (with Dr Sarah Engledow) The World of Thea Proctor.