Enjoy, sit back, and relax with some of our favourites from the Gallery’s collection, where they find themselves expertly – and comfortably – captured by their artists.

Portraiture. Not as you know it. We invite you to stretch, push, resist and transcend portraiture’s conventional constraints.

Take a 30 minute tour of the Portrait Gallery exploring the collection and the building.

Australian portraiture of the mid-twentieth century was rich with the influence of European modernism, exemplified by the work of artists including Arthur Boyd, Judy Cassab and Clifton Pugh.

Spanning the 1880s to the 1930s, this collection display celebrates the innovations in art – and life – introduced by the generation of Australians who travelled to London and Paris for experience and inspiration in the decades either side of 1900.

In partnership with Big hART we are proud to present Gulgawarnigu - Thinking of something, someone, a national presentation of digital artworks created from Ngarluma country leramagadu (Roebourne), in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

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.

After you have booked your paid exhibition ticket, join us in the Gallery for a 30-minute tour of the National Photographic Portrait Prize to hear more about the artists’ vision and stories of their subjects.

We all have places where we feel at ease, a sense of belonging, of ownership, of relaxation, of self. Given the opportunity, portraitists love to place their sitters in an environment where they are most at home.

Encompassing works created over the past 80 years, this selection of portraits from the Gallery’s collection celebrates inventiveness and diversity in approaches to self portraiture.

The selection of works in Frocked up richly demonstrates the interconnectedness of costume and portraiture – and the many ways in which artists have employed the representation of dress to powerful, insightful effect.

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

Shake off that frosty winter, dodge the magpies, and get creative with us this spring! Drop-in any time with family and friends for free craft activities.

Our National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023 series ends with Brenda L Croft in conversation with our Learning Manager, Krysia Kitch.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Bree Pickering, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, invites you to an afternoon presentation of new acquisitions from the past year.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Come on an animal adventure these school holidays and meet some furry friends, cool critters and pet portraits. We’ll be looking, chatting and creating our way through the Gallery, and please, don’t feed the animals!

Dig out your Woman’s Weekly Dinner Party Cookbook, sit down with an after-dinner mint and enjoy this week’s tour.

Celebrate difference and diversity by listening to a reading of The Chalk Rainbow by Deborah Kelly and Gwynneth Jones. After hearing this story about Zane who has Autism, you’ll have the chance to make a colourful creative response.

Draw while listening to live music by Salar Ayoubi, an Iranian oud player, performing Persian and Kurdish songs.

Come on an animal adventure these school holidays and meet some furry friends, cool critters and pet portraits. We’ll be looking, chatting and creating our way through the Gallery, and please, don’t feed the animals!

Take your antihistamines and join us as we flounce into spring by looking at floral patterns in a bunch of portraits. Try not to sneeze!

This month, Curator Emma Kindred will be taking a look at Tom Roberts’ portrait of Hilda Spong.

Celebrate difference and diversity by listening to a reading of The Chalk Rainbow by Deborah Kelly and Gwynneth Jones. After hearing this story about Zane who has Autism, you’ll have the chance to make a colourful creative response.

Join the National Film and Sound Archives’ Programs and Visitor Experience Manager, Travis Green, as he chats about Australian actor Kerry Walker, her impact on the industry, and why he loves her portrait.

Join us and our NGA friends over three sessions and take a deep dive into six leading Australian women photographers. Register via DART.

Pop on your finest and join us for Virtual Highlights Couture as we try on three artworks from our current collection hang, Frocked up.

Join us in the Gallery as we explore the collection and discover artworks with audio descriptions for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Sighted companions and guide dogs are more than welcome.

Join Joanna Gilmour, Senior Curator, National Portrait Gallery, to be the first to see Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize. You’ll get an introduction to the exhibition, the chance to ask questions, and then some free time in the exhibition space.

This major exhibition celebrates 100 years of Australia’s oldest and most-loved portrait award and reflects upon the changing face of our nation.

Join Natalie Wilson, Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and curator of Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize for a deep dive into the history and evolution of the Prize.

Explore the main collection before our usual opening hours. We welcome anyone of any age who would benefit from a more relaxed gallery experience. We’ll have low sensory spaces, quiet areas and a creative activity for families to enjoy together.

Join us for a 45-minute tour of Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize. Hear more about the history of the century-old prize and uncover the stories of some famous faces and local heroes.

Join Natalie Wilson, curator of Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize and Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of NSW, for a peek into some of the portraits and themes in the exhibition.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Bring us and Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize to your classroom with this virtual excursion.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Join us to celebrate the launch of Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize.

Join our Senior Curator Joanna Gilmour as she explores the life of celebrated portraitist George Lambert. You’ll be glad(ioli) you did.

Bring us and Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize to your classroom with this virtual excursion.

From wigs to glitter, video art to Pompeiian marriage portraits, The Huxleys do it all.

Bring us and Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize to your classroom with this virtual excursion.

Meet some new or familiar faces as you walk through Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize, before settling in for an evening of quizzical questions with iQ Trivia.

Join artist Wendy Sharpe as she talks about being an Archibald finalist eight times – including the time she took out top honours.

Draw while listening to Gracenotes as they play an assortment of beautiful harmonies.

Bring us and Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize to your classroom with this virtual excursion.

Bring us and Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize to your classroom with this virtual excursion.

Grab your BFF and hang out with us as we take a look at artworks exploring friendship.

Join three of our Access and Learning team for a lively portrait discussion where they’ve chosen an artwork to surprise each other.