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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 7 December 2019 – Tuesday 7 December 2021

Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown

The Look

Exhibition closes 9 February

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 closes 9 March

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

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
spaces between movement and stillness
spaces between movement and stillness
spaces between movement and stillness
spaces between movement and stillness

Harriet Schwarzrock

spaces between movement and stillness

Exhibition opens 13 February

Harriet Schwarzrock’s new work explores notions of emotional processes and their physical manifestations.

Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan
Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan
Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan
Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan

Australian Love stories

Family, friends, fanatics and foes (and everything in between!)

Exhibition opens 20 March

Reconnect and reflect with our new major exhibition, Australian Love Stories (in real life!) as we explore love, affection and connection in all its guises.

Bookings required
Lee Lin Chin
Lee Lin Chin
Lee Lin Chin
Lee Lin Chin

This is my place

In Galleries Four, Five and Six

Exhibition opens 4 May

An antidote to the months spent in isolation at home, This is my place brings a fresh, intimate focus to the places that define who we are – our spiritual homes, habitats and workspaces.

Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley

Living Memory

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2021

Exhibition opens 31 July

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 required
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Women Make History

In Galleries Seven, Eight and Nine

Exhibition opens 20 November

Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.

More events

Wednesday 8 December 2021 – Saturday 9 December 2023
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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