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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.

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Previous exhibition
from Saturday 14 September 2019 until Monday 9 March 2020
Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke, 2012 Luke Cornish. © Luke Cornish

Only seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. Their portraits have been acquired in random order, mostly according to unexpected opportunity. This is the first time in the Gallery’s 20-year history that the esteemed prime ministers’ portraits have been shown as a group. The contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits, and the different ways they have become available, reflect the exhilarating variety across the collection as a whole.

37 portraits
view all

Julia Gillard
John Howard and Janette Howard
Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hand of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari
Barton and Watson
Billy Hughes bottle stopper
Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies
1 Julia Gillard, 2013 Peter Brew-Bevan. © Peter Brew-Bevan. 2 John Howard and Janette Howard, 2000 Josonia Palaitis. © Josonia Palaitis/Copyright Agency, 2022. 3 Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hand of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari, 1975 Mervyn Bishop. © National Indigenous Australians Agency. 4 Barton and Watson, 1902 G. H. Dancey. 5 Billy Hughes bottle stopper, 1911-1921 Mashman Bros Ltd. 6 Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1962 Victor Greenhalgh. © Estate of Victor Greenhalgh.
George Reid paperweight
George Reid paperweight
George Reid paperweight
George Reid paperweight

Some prime ministers

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

Related people

Dr Sarah Engledow (curator)

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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.

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