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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.

About Face

Portrait treats and treatises

From punchy short pieces to longer form leanings, it's the place to come for a frequent fix of the world's most accessible art form.

Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, c.1879 attributed to Charles Nettleton
Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, c.1879 attributed to Charles Nettleton
Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, c.1879 attributed to Charles Nettleton

Diseased curiosity

Captain Moonlite et al on trial for murder

by Joanna Gilmour, 3 December 2015

Just after 10.00 o'clock on 3 December 1879, four prisoners were brought from their cells at Darlinghurst Gaol and placed in the dock of a courtroom heaving with agitated spectators
Louise, daughter of the Hon. L. L. Smith by Tom Roberts, 1888
Louise, daughter of the Hon. L. L. Smith by Tom Roberts, 1888
Louise, daughter of the Hon. L. L. Smith by Tom Roberts, 1888

An Australian in Paris

by Angus Trumble, 18 November 2015

This week it is impossible not to contemplate the ways in which France has touched many Australian lives.
Thomas Woolner
Thomas Woolner
Thomas Woolner

Missing Persons

Thomas Woolner in Australia

by Angus Trumble, 28 October 2015

Desperately seeking Woolner medallions
Death mask of George Melville courtesy of National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Old Melbourne Gaol Collection
Death mask of George Melville courtesy of National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Old Melbourne Gaol Collection
Death mask of George Melville courtesy of National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Old Melbourne Gaol Collection

A colourful story from Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

by Joanna Gilmour, 27 October 2015

From infamous bushranger to oyster shop display, curator Jo Gilmour explores the life of George Melville.

Cocky McGrath

by Angus Trumble, 1 October 2015

The long life and few words of a vice-regal cockatoo
HM Queen Elizabeth II
HM Queen Elizabeth II
HM Queen Elizabeth II

Longest reign

by Angus Trumble, 11 September 2015

Queen Elizabeth II is now the longest-reigning British sovereign

Anangu landscape learning

by Angus Trumble, 4 August 2015

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.
Professor Mandyam Srinivasan
Professor Mandyam Srinivasan
Professor Mandyam Srinivasan

Brains trust

by Angus Trumble, 1 July 2015

Eminent doctors and scientists have for more than a century consistently caused our nation to punch far above her weight.
Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851
Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851
Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851

Magna Carta

by Angus Trumble, 15 June 2015

On this day eight hundred years ago at Runnymede near Windsor, King John signed Magna Carta.
Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney
Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney
Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

by Angus Trumble, 1 June 2015

Beyond the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, a number of other notable anniversaries converge this year. Waterloo deserves a little focussed consideration, for in the decades following 1815 numerous Waterloo and Peninsular War veterans came to Australia.
Portrait of Captain John Hunter
Portrait of Captain John Hunter
Portrait of Captain John Hunter

Goods and chattels

by Angus Trumble, 26 May 2015

I have been reading systematically through the ads in the earliest issues of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, such a rich vein of information about certain aspects of daily life in Regency Sydney.
Cooey: an Australian song
Cooey: an Australian song
Cooey: an Australian song

Cooey! An Australian Song

by Angus Trumble, 1 May 2015

"Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey—Love has caught the strain, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey—it whispers back again." The “Australian lady” who composed these fruity lyrics was none other than Desda— Jane Davies, sometime Messiter (née Price) of Leddicott, Lavender Bay.
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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 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.

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