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Conduct becoming

Penelope Grist speaks to Bill Henson and Simone Young to discover the origins of the artist’s stunning photographic triptych.

No shirt, no service

Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.

Hail Cézanne

John Elderfield lauds the portraiture of Paul Cézanne, the artist described by both Matisse and Picasso as ‘the father of us all’.

The alchemist’s profile

John Zubrzycki meets Australian paint pioneer Jim Cobb.

Risky business

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

Artists' space

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd presents 61 of some of Australia’s most respected and significant painters working in the studio environment.

Portrait of the artist as a young man

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the early life and career of John Brack.

Humour’s warm refuge

Angus Trumble pays tribute to John Clarke.

Clay, water, fire

Ah Xian's porcelain portrait of paediatrician Dr. John Yu reflects Yu's heritage and interests.

Birds of a feather

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

Head, hand, heart

An extensive selection of portraits by John Brack were on display at the National Portrait Gallery in late 2007.

Somewhere to hang your cap

A pair of portraits by John Brack; Portrait of Kym Bonython and Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap combine to create a quirky depiction of their subject.

Hearts of Darkness

The National Portrait Gallery's acquisition of the portrait of Edward John Eyre by pioneering English photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

Lear unbuttoned

Sarah Engledow steps up to the footlights and applauds the storyline behind Nicholas Harding's portraits of actor John Bell.

String of Pearls

Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.

Lauded legacy

Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.

Capturing Cook

In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.

Meeting by Murder

The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.

The importance of being bearded

Joanna Gilmour discovers that the beards of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills were as epic as their expedition to traverse Australia from south to north.

South-bound and down

Joanna Gilmour recounts the story of ill-fated sea voyages in the early stages of the Antipodean colony.

Celebrities on the field

Robin Sellick's portraits of Australian sportspeople include Harry Kewell, Adam Scott, Shane Warne, Mark Webber and John Newcombe.

Melbourne experience

Diana Warnes explores the lives of Hal and Katherine 'Kate' Hattam through their portraits painted by Fred Williams and Clifton Pugh.

Bonfire of the vanities

Australian Galleries Director Stuart Purves tells the story of two portraits by John Brack.

Three Dimensional

Kate Gollings describes an encounter between three generations of Australian photographers; David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings.

Thousand mile stare

John Elliott talks about his photographic portrait practice, including his iconic image of Slim Dusty arm-in-arm with Dame Edna Everage.

Fits of delicacy and despair

Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.

Inspiration + Realisation: John Singer Sargent

Katherine Russell examines the art of Australian artist Paul Newton, referencing the portraiture of John Singer Sargent.

Portrait 58

Paul Cézanne, Bill Henson and Simone Young, Australian cinema’s iconic women, and feminist portraits by Kate Just.

Sketches and sermons

Jessica Smith looks at the 'fetching' portrait of Tasmania's first Anglican Bishop, Francis Russell Nixon by George Richmond

Portrait 49

This issue features Jude Rae, Arthur Boyd, Darren McDonald, John Singer Sargent, Tom Wills the 'inventor' of Australian Rules Football and more.

Portrait 45

This issue features Paul Kelly, Rineke Dijkstra, John Brack, the National Photographic Portrait Prize and more.

Portrait 24

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Robert Hannaford, Walter Lindrum, John Brack, judicial portraits, Vincent Lingiari and more.

Portrait 14

This issue of Portrait Magazine features the exhibition Masters of Fare, Greg Weight's photographic collection, John Elliott, Barbara Blackman and more.

Portrait 38

This issue features Martin Schoeller, Bess Norriss Tait, Emanuel Solomon and the sisters of St Joseph, Rennie Ellis and AC/DC, John Brack and more.

Portrait 27

This issue of Portrait Magazine feature Lucian Frued, John Witzig, colonial death portraits, William Kinghorne, Henry Crock, and more.

Portrait 2

This issue of Portrait Magazine features David Moore, Midnight Oil, Dr Joan Croll by John Brack, the acquisition of the Captain Cook portrait, and more.

Portrait 15

This issue of Portrait Magazine features the exhibition The world of Thea Proctor, porcelain sculpture of Dr. John Yu, Pat Mackie, the Kylie Minogue exhibition and more.

Portrait 31

This issue features the new National Portrait Gallery building, James Cook and John Banks, Cate Blanchett, Irina Baranova, Annette Kellerman, Shepard Fairey and more.

Portrait 40

This issue features Claudia Karvan & Jimmy Pozarik, Agus Suwage & Contemporary Portraiture from Asia, Fred Williams, Zhong Chen, John Bell, The French Antipodes and more.

Portrait 41

This issue features Kate Beynon, Philosopher Cynthia Freeland, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, John Tsiavis & Chris Lilley, UK's BP Portrait Award, Purchasing power in colonial Sydney and more.

An Intimate Portrait of an Australian Artist in 1930

Lauren Dalla examines the life of Australian painter Roy de Maistre and his portrait by Jean Shepeard.

Intense identity

Dr Chistopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian author Christos Tsiolkas taken by John Tsiavis.

Tribute

Stevie Wright (1947-2015), singer-songwriter, came to Australia from England at the age of nine.

The Quiet Australian

Robert Oatley talks about the repatriation of the John Webber portrait of Captain James Cook.

The man behind the art

Giles Auty introduces British painter John Wonnacott who will talk at the National Portrait Gallery on 2 November 2002.

Drawing power

The National Portrait Gallery joins the Big Draw, a program dedicated to promoting drawing as a tool for thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement.

101 photographic portraits

Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.

In the National Interest

In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.

Arthur as Alyosha?

Patrick McCaughey explores a striking Boyd self portrait.

Charmed by the Rose

Anthony Browell reminisces about meeting Rose Lindsay, the wife of Australian artist Norman Lindsay.

Observation point

I wanted to be a journalist. I was very idealistic and I had a big chip on my shoulder. I wanted to investigate the human condition, drawing attention to those in need with the hope of someday effecting positive change.

Crikey!

Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.

Interview

Rineke Dijkstra's photographic series of her subject, Almerisa Sehric, evolved over the course of 14 years. 

Feel the music

Dr Christopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian composer Paul Grabowsky by photographer Martin Philbey.

Now and then

Photographed 35 years apart, these two portraits offer both a timeline of, and thematic thread for, Maria (Polly) Cutmore’s life – from a young woman to a respected Gomeroi Elder.

Missionary positions

Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.

Emerging realities

Hot Scots

James Holloway describes the first portraits you encounter when entering the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Star signs

Barry York charts the course from childhood request to autographed celebrity portrait anthology.

Apollo's breath

Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography

City boys

Christopher Chapman immerses himself in Larry Clark’s field of vision.

Myself and Eye

Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.

The Good Doctor

Dr Sarah Engledow describes the achievements of internationally renowned burns and trauma surgeon Professor Fiona Wood.

Imagination

Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.

Golden boy

Dr Christopher Chapman examines Scott Redford's photographic portrait of Australian surfer David 'Rasta' Rastovich.

Cook in context

Robert Oatley's continuing benefaction has helped the National Portrait Gallery acquire works that add another layer to the story of Captain Cook.

Hump days

Jessica Bolton navigates the parallel tracks documenting Robyn Davidson’s astonishing journey.

Here and there

Nathalie Latham's exhibition Australia's Creative Diaspora explores Australians, in the arts, who live and work internationally.

Basking in light

Pieter Roelofs, Head of Painting and Sculpture at Rijksmuseum and co-curator of Vermeer, delves into the largest-ever exhibition of the master artist.

Glamour vs grunge

Christopher Chapman examines the battle of glamour vs. grunge which played out in the fashion and advertising of the 1990s.

Australian visit in Denmark

In April 2006 the National Portrait Gallery showcased Australian portraits at the Fredenksborg Castle in Denmark. 

How to be a boy

Christopher Chapman profiles Chris Lilley, actor and creator of Angry Boys.

Unboxed

Sandra Bruce explores a new acquisition that has within it a story of interconnectivities in the Australian art world.

Speed demon

Scott Redford discusses his dynamic portrait commission of motorcycling champion and 2008 Young Australian of the Year Casey Stoner.

The intellectual larrikin

Barrie Cassidy pays textured tribute to the inimitable Bob Hawke.

Natural born stiller

Penelope Grist speaks to Robert McFarlane about shooting for the stars.

Handing on the baton

Michael Desmond explores the life of ballerina Irina Baranova through the portrait by Australian artist Jenny Sages.

Boyd to man

Christopher Chapman looks at influences and insight in the formative years of Arthur Boyd.

Eyes on the Prize

A short visual essay of some of the works in the National Youth Self Portrait Prize 2010.

Portrait story

Artist Vincent Fantauzzo on dyslexia, connection and virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman.

1 to 6

The National Portrait Gallery's annual survey of student self portraiture highlights the processes of personal inquiry through portraiture by students from all levels across Australia.

Velasquez Touch

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers, explores the creative collaborations between four Australian artists living in Paris during the first years of the twentieth century.

Australians in Hollywood

The exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.

The highest honour

Bringing eminent scientist Frank Fenner and artist Jude Rae together for the National Portrait Gallery commission was like matchmaking.

Reflection

British novelist and poet, Michael Rosen, weaves a tale about his early encounters with creativity and the self-portrait of a childhood friend.

Brothers on farms

Malcolm Robertson tells the family history of one of Australia's earliest patrons of the arts, his Scottish born great great great grandfather, William Robertson.

A Singular Line

A newly acquired work by Stella Bowen adds to the National Portrait Gallery's growing collection of important Australian self-portraits.

Me Myself I

Andrew Sayers explores the self-portraits created by Australian artist Sidney Nolan.

All there in black and white

The National Portrait Gallery acquired a beguiling silhouette group portrait by Samuel Metford, an English artist who spent periods of his working life in America.

Time is precious

Headspace5: Crystal Gazing highlighted the diversity of materials and techniques that young people use for self expression. David Sequeira presents a personal view of three works in the exhibition.

Is the truth of portraiture vested exclusively in likeness?

Curator Michael Desmond introduces the exhibition Truth and Likeness, an investigation of the importance of likeness to portraiture.

Let’s dance

Emma Batchelor uncovers the compelling contemporary dance made in response to the works in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Portrait of a Modernist

The National Portrait Gallery acquired the self-portrait by Grace Cossington Smith in 2003.

Off the wall

My Favourite Australian

The Australian public was invited in 2008 to vote for their favourite Australian.  After the votes were tallied an exhibition of the top-ten Popular Australians and the top-twenty unsung heroes was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

Village people

Christopher Chapman discusses Rod McNicol's photographic portrait series Newcomers to my village.

Portrait 69

In conversation with Aretha Brown, Pieter Roelofs on Vermeer, humanoid robots, the nationwide search for Archibald portraits, and 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

The family scene

Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.

I'm not there

Dr Who?

It is not well known that the person who composed the famous theme music for the BBC's Doctor Who series was Australian Ron Grainer.

Poison pen

Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Showing character

Joanna Gilmour on Tom Durkin playing with Melbourne's manhood.

Chance encounter

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of one of Melbourne's early socialites, Jessie Eyre Williams.

Who's that?

Michael Desmond discusses the iconic picture of two Rugby League players which became known as 'The Gladiators'.

The life of Bryant

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

Sitter still

Jaynie Anderson reflects on her experience as sitter for Reshid Bey’s 1962 portrait.

9 lives of Karin Catt

Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.

Fine and dandy

Whether the result of misadventure or misdemeanour, many accomplished artists were transported to Australia where they ultimately left a positive mark on the history of art in this country.

The animating signature

Joanna Gilmore delights in the affecting drawings of Mathew Lynn.

Giving and getting

The exhibition Portraits for Posterity celebrates gifts to the Gallery, of purchases made with donated funds, and testifies to the generosity and community spirit of Australians.

Back in black

Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Doodles of the Diva

Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.

Portrait 65

Hugh Ramsay, the fashion of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, Peter Wegner's centenarian series, John and Elizabeth Gould's family connections, Karen Quinlan's top five portraits and more.

The catechist and the cricketer

Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.

Diamond Doll

Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.

The Wonder Years

Sarah Hill introduces the portrait busts of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm by Enid Fleming.

Earth to earth

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.

Aussies all

The exhibition Aussies all features the ecclectic portrait photography of Rennie Ellis which captures Australian life during the 70s and 80s.

Lovingly observed

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

Subtle emotion

Christopher Chapman considers photographer Rozalind Drummond's portrait of author Nam Le.

In our nature

Tara James chats with award-winning artist Tamara Dean about portraiture prizes, the environment and the strength of women.

Facing Facts

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers describes the 1922 Self-portrait with Gladioli by George Lambert.

Listening to form

National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman discusses the portraiture of Henri Matisse.

Big bouquet of Blackmans

Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.

Observation point

Growing up feeling isolated, ostracised and ornate in the heated homogeny of the suburbs of Perth and the Gold Coast we often longed and dreamed for an escape.

All dressed up

Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?

The more things change

National Photographic Portrait Prize curator, Sarah Engledow, finds reward in a difficult task and ultimately uncovers the essence of portraiture.

Flash mob

Sarah Engledow trains her exacting lens on the nine photographs from 20/20.

Bewitching

Roger Neill delves into the life of a lesser-known Australian diva, Frances Alda.

Joan Alone

Julia Gillard pays poignant tribute to her friend and mentor, the late Joan Kirner, Victoria’s first and only female premier.

Wunderkind lost

Inga Walton on the brief but brilliant life of Hugh Ramsay.

The inner voice

Dr Christopher Chapman, curator of Inner Worlds: Portraits & Psychology looks at Albert Tucker's Heidelberg military hospital portraits.

Hottie's Snifter to port

Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.

Friends and Acquaintances

Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.

Mother’s muse

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

In the thick of it

Projecting the splendour of the empire, and the resolve of its subjects, the bust of William Birdwood keeps a stiff upper lip in the National Portrait Gallery.

Suave

Charles Haddon Chambers the Australian-born playboy playwright settled permanently in London in 1880 but never lost his Australian stance when satirising the English.

Beguiling impressions

Sarah Engledow is seduced by the portraits and the connections between the artists and their subjects in the exhibition Impressions: Painting light and life.

Insight and identity

Olivier Krischer in conversation with photographer Wei Leng Tay.

Look who's coming to dinner

Michael Wardell’s personal insight into Jacques van der Merwe’s New Arrivals.

To the end of the earth

The portrait of Dr. Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster from 1780, is one of the oldest in the NPG's collection.

Heartfelt

The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.

Way of the body

Christopher Chapman reveals the intersection of iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato.

The last word

David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.

In the galleries

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

In a good paddock

Celebrating a new painted portrait of Joseph Banks, Sarah Engledow spins a yarn of the naturalist, the first kangaroo in France and Don, a Spanish ram.

Alternative virtue

Joanna Gilmour presents John Kay’s portraits of a more infamous side of Edinburgh.

A guy from Paris

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

Two painters

Chris Chapman explains how Matthys Gerber bridges the gap between abstraction and portraiture.

On commission

Former NPG Director Andrew Sayers discusses the art of commissioning portraits.

Be frank

Close encounters are the genesis for Graeme Drendel’s enticing portraiture.

Progressive pictures

Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.

Sir William Dargie CBE

Sir William Dargie, painter and eight times winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture, died in Melbourne on July 26, 2003, aged 91.

Finding Mrs Frisby

Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.

Illuminating history

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

Oz and beyond

Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.

Situated self-portraits

The theme of the seventh annual survey of secondary school student portraiture, Headspace, was Me and My Place.

Petal to the mettle

Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

Black and white history

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

Interiors

Christopher Chapman previews the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009.

In the round

Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.

The silent partner

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

Dan the man

Martin Philbey’s portrait of Dan Sultan.

Pretty in peach

Aretha Brown

Gumbaynggirr artist Aretha Brown talks street art, collaboration and ghost stories with First Nations Curator and Meriam woman, Rebecca Ray.

Shiny, happy people

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

Hyperversity

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.

Everybody's heard about the bird

Two professionals; Australian surfer Layne Beachley and photographer Petrina Hicks, combine their strengths to achieve a remarkable portrait.

The spirit of the gift

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.

Stigma stigmata

Angus Trumble provides poignant context for Aña Wojak’s portrait of Tony Carden.

Money for Myth

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Anatomist's eye

Robert Hannaford has completed around 400 portraits over the span of his career. 

The art of conciliation

Gareth Knapman explores the politics and opportunism behind the portraits of Tasmania’s Black War.

The portrait writ large

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Little women

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Observation point

Tim Storrier describes the influences on the development of his artistic style.

Super League

The portrait of Ian Roberts by Ross Watson.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

Observation point

Australian artist Shaun Gladwell discusses his portraits of champion athletes.

A bond of friendship

Australia's major abstract painter Yvonne Audette discusses her portrait of sculptor Robert Kippel.

Small worlds

Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.

The Saint and the merchant

Emanuel Solomon gave shelter to the Sisters of St Joseph upon the excommunication of St Mary MacKillop.

Moving pictures

The exhibition California Video at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles demonstrated how video artists expand the boundaries of portraiture.

Great Scots

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The story of us

Gallery directors Karen Quinlan and Tony Ellwood talk to Penelope Grist about the NPG and NGV collaborative exhibition, Who Are You: Australian Portraiture.

The Fairfax Gift

This article examines the portraits gifted to the National Portrait Gallery by Fairfax Holdings in 2003.

Through thick and thin

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

Pop poet

Dr Anne Sanders previews the works in the new focus exhibition Paul Kelly and The Portraits.

A Meeting of Great Minds

The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.

What price self?

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

Eating the seasons

Anne Sanders imbibes Tony Bilson’s gastronomic revolution.

Before Too Long

The story behind the creation of the portrait of singer-songwriter Paul Kelly by the artist Jon Campbell.

Love in the extreme

Joanna Gilmour reveals love’s more intense manifestations in the tale of Lord Kenelm and Venetia Digby.

Celebrity cutpurse

Grace Carroll discusses the portrait of the late-eighteenth century gentleman pickpocket George Barrington.

A feast of friends

John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.

Start Your Engines...

The bronze sculpture by Julie Edgar reflects through both the material and representation the determined and straight-forward nature of Brabham. 

The incomparable Beaton

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

The Story So Far...

A reflection on the National Portrait Gallery's first four years.

The boy, the bed and the gun

Christopher Chapman contemplates the provocative performance art of Chris Burden. 

No Laughing Matter

The biographical exhibition of Barry Humphries was the first display of its kind at the National Portrait Gallery.

Pin-ups

Christopher Chapman describes the art and life of Australian artist Richard Larter.

A rogue's calling card

Joanna Gilmour explores the stories behind the ninteenth-century carte de visites of bushrangers Frank Gardiner and Fred Lowry.

The Dissecting Room

Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture. 

Be bold

The name of Florence Broadhurst, one of Australia’s most significant wallpaper and textile designers, is now firmly cemented in the canon of Australian art and design.

Stevie

Gregory McBean writes about photographing recent ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, singer Stevie Wright.

The essence of you

Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.

Post digital

Tegan McAuley looks at the evolution of video portraiture.

The Lawrence lustre

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Cultural kaleidoscope

The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.

Insightful

Henri-Cartier-Bresson invented the grammar for photographing life in the 20th century.

Now Listen...

Artist Tessa Jones recalls creating her portrait of Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock singer and music producer, Ross Wilson.

Flesh, figure and rock

Aimee Board traces Judy Cassab’s path to the Australian outback, arriving at the junction of inspiration and abstraction.

Take thy face hence

Joanna Gilmour travels through time to explore the National Portrait Gallery London’s masterpieces in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Adam’s Prize Apples

Pamela Gerrish Nunn explores New Zealand’s premium award for portraiture.

A man of superior attainments

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

It's a Mora!

Select extracts from Mirka Mora's autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous, provide rich accompaniment to recent Gallery acquisitions.  

More cash than dash

Joanna Gilmour describes how colonial portraitists found the perfect market among social status seeking Sydneysiders.

Man of war

Tedi Bills talks to George Gittoes about canvassing conflict.

Material culture

The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.

Cool cool world

Penelope Grist unpacks photographs by David Parker, who captured the phenomenal emergence of the 1970s and 80s Melbourne music scene.

Painting them gently

Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.

Old Blighty

Angus Trumble ponders the many faces of William Bligh.

Painting writing

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Study in scarlet

Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

Through blue eyes

Works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan bring the desert, the misty seashore and the hot Monaro plains to exhibition Open Air: Portraits in the landscape.

Blue Collar Icon

Dr Sarah Engledow delves into the life of union leader Pat Mackie who is depicted in a portrait by Nancy Borlase AM.

The aviatrix

Joanna Gilmour explores the extraordinary life of Australian female aviator Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE

Lovers of light

Dr Sarah Engledow traces the significant links between Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo and Evelyn Chapman through their portraits.

Virtual lives

A brief introduction to the Weird, Wired World of Internet Portraiture.

Unknown drawer

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Ready , set... shoot

The exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus offers various interpretations of sporting men and women by five Australian photographers.

Past present

Krysia Kitch celebrates Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

Getting a head

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

Love my way

Inga Walton delves into the bohemian group of artists and writers who used each other as muses and transformed British culture.

Demimonde liaisons

Jane Raffan feasts on modernity’s entrée in the Belle Époque theatre of the demimonde.

Of human clay

The first collaborative commission has arrived. It's a self portrait, it's ceramic and it's from Hermannsburg.

Face the music

Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.

The line of fire

Michelle Fracaro examines the life of World War II nurse Margaret Anderson, whose portrait by Napier Waller is in the NPG collection.

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

The real Thea

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

Their brilliant careers

Jenny Gall delves into Starstruck to celebrate some of Australian cinema’s iconic women.

The painter and the princess

Michael Desmond interviews Ralph Heimans about his portrait of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

You are who?

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

Glossy too

The Glossy 2 exhibition highlights the integral role magazine photography plays in illustrating and shaping our contemporary culture.

A sketch for some portraits

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

Emblems of beauty

Keith Christiansen introduces the exhibition The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Queen of cartes

Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.

I walk the line

Bruce Petty's animated self portrait captures a life's journey compressed into a few minutes.

The mind's eye

Christopher Chapman takes a trip through the doors of perception, arriving at the junction of surrealism and psychoanalysis.

Alter ego

Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.

First encounters

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

Courage, Self-analysis and Skill

The story behind George Lambert's Self-portrait with Gladioli.

Australia’s great internationalists

Penelope Grist explores the United Nations stories in the Gallery’s collection.

Strutt your stuff

Matthew Jones on the upshot of a St Kilda Road outrage.

Duty bound

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of colonial women Lady Ellen Stirling, Eliza Darling, Lady Eliza Arthur, Elizabeth Macquarie and Lady Jane Franklin.

Mental as everything

Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.

Big shots

Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

The existential lens

Stephen Zagala discusses Richard Avedon’s work from an Australian perspective.

Picture this...

This edited version of a speech by Andrew Sayers examines some of the antecedents of the National Portrait Gallery and set out the ideas behind the modern Gallery and its collection.

The Avedon effect

Dr Christopher Chapman explores how we can understand Richard Avedon's photographs.  

Australian Princess

The full-length portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark by artist Jiawei Shen, has become a destination piece for visitors.

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

An actress and her fans

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

A potpourri of portraits

Archie 100 curator (and detective) Natalie Wilson’s nationwide search for Archibald portraits unearthed the fascinating stories behind some long-lost treasures.

Give me five

National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan AM nominates her quintet of favourites from the collection, with early twentieth-century ‘selfies’ filling the roster.

Worth her salt

Jerrold Nathan's portrait of Jessie Street shows the elegant side of a many-faceted lady.

Promise Fulfilled

The life and achievements of Sir Edward Holden, who is represented in the portrait collection by a bust created by Leslie Bowles.

In good company

Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.

The art of peace

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

Shadows of light

Mark Haworth-Booth explains why Bill Brandt is one of the most important British photographers of the Twentieth Century.

Painters' paradise

Andrew Sayers feels the warmth in the paintings Matthew Perceval made while the sun shone in southern France.

Fugue in Yellow

Roger Benjamin explores the intriguing union of Lina Bryans and Alex Jelinek.

Empire records

Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.

Canadian identities

An exploration of national identity in the Canadian context drawn from the symposium Face to Face at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2004.

In and out of focus

Gael Newton looks at Australian photography, film and the sixties through the novel lens of Mark Strizic.

Why do painted portraits still matter?

Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.

Citizen Kenne

April Thompson explores an exhibition of Ingvar Kenne’s global portrait project.

All in the Family

In 2000, Barbara Blackman donated a portrait of her close friends - poet Judith Wright, her husband Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith - painted by Charles Blackman.

The shipwright's arms

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of convict-turned-artist William Buelow Gould.

Hide/Seek

David Ward writes about the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.

Four from the 30s

Australia's tradition of sculpted portraits stretches back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and continues to sustain a group of dedicated sculptors.

Family collective

Beatrice Gralton looks at a larger than life portrait by Chinese artist Song Dong.

The jungle look

David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.

Starry knight

Aircraft designer, pilot and entrepreneur, Sir Lawrence Wackett rejoins friends and colleagues on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

Self-effacing

Michael Wardell samples the fare in the University of Queensland National Self-portrait Prize.

Big it up

Former National Portrait Gallery Curator Magda Keaney was a member of the selection panel of the Schwepes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004 at the National Portrait Gallery London.

Being Cate

A moving portrait of Cate Blanchett unfolds as an inspired pairing of medium and subject.

Reflections on portraiture

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

Kylie

The Kylie exhibition celebrated the significant achievements of one of Australia's most internationally recognisable faces and gave the general public a rare glimpse into her glamorous life. 

Mrs Cameron and the V&A

In March 2003 Magda Keaney travelled to London to join the photography section of the Victoria & Albert Museum for three months.

Naked nostalgia

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

Confessional conversations

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

Home truths

Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.

Personal Politics

Presence and absence

The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.

Surface tension

Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.

The Philosophy of Teapots and Ducks

Cartoonist Michael Leunig's insights into the human condition and current affairs have become famous Australia-wide.

Support Crew

Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

Vintage Max

Gael Newton delves into the life and art of renowned Australian photographer, Max Dupain.

All that fall

Raimond Gaita comments on war and truth in the context of the First World War.

Portraits and other stories

As the National Portrait Gallery opens its exhibition of portrait and figurative work by veteran photographer Sam Haskins, the artist reflects on the highlights of his fifty-year career so far.

Living landscape

Gillian Raymond ponders landscapes as self-portraiture in Michael Taylor’s intimate expressionism.

Corporate Characters

A collection of thirty-seven caricatures by the artist Joe Greenberg capture the heroes and villians of Australian business in the 1980s.

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.

Sibly irresistible

Alexandra Roginski reveals a forceful feminist figure in the colonial period’s slippery science, phrenology.

A spectral sentience

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

For the boys

The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.

A.I.

Christopher Chapman ponders our digital identity and selfhood.

Regarding Henrys

Sarah Engledow ponders the divergent legacies of Messrs Kendall and Lawson.

Beautiful bones

Sarah Engledow reflects on the shared life and writing of Dorothy Porter and Andrea Goldsmith.

The world of Thea Proctor

The world of Thea Proctor was the National Portrait Gallery's second exhibition to follow the life of a single person, following Rarely Everage: The lives of Barry Humphries.

The long game

Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Michael Desmond profiles a handful of the entrants in first National Photographic Portrait Prize and notes emerging themes and categories.

Public hanging

As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.

Northern exposure

Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.

Seeing stars

Joanna Gilmour explores photographic depictions of Aboriginal sportsmen including Lionel Rose, Dave Sands, Jerry Jerome and Douglas Nicholls.

Painting mates

Michael Desmond discusses Fred Williams' portraits of friends, artist Clifton Pugh, David Aspden and writer Stephen Murray-Smith, and the stylistic connections between his portraits and landscapes.

The Royal she

Traversing paint and pixels, Inga Walton examines portraits of select women in Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.

Getting bare

How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.

Charlie's angles

Stephen Phillips talks to neurosurgeon Charlie Teo about his practice, perspectives and the anatomy of hope.

Paths to portraiture

The life and art of Australian artist Jenny Sages is on display in the exhibition Paths to Portraiture.

Desperately seeking Sonia

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

Something old, something new

Andrew Mayo considers the changing face of modern wedding photography through the eyes of two of its finest exponents, Dan O’Day and Kelly Tunney.

Air wear

Aviation carried women’s roles in society to greater heights – fashion followed suit.

Dane reign

Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby bring eloquent context to Ralph Heimans’ portraits of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

Thrown together

Shipmates for years, James Cook and Joseph Banks each kept a journal but neither man shed light on their relationship.

Portrait of the Gallery

A design diary retrospective.

Written in Water

Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.

The right note

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

Technical terminology

Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.

Less than six degrees of separation

Anne Sanders finds connections in Inner Worlds between Hungarian expatriates and the development of psychoanalysis in Australia.

Money and swat

Andrew Sayers discusses the real cost of George Lambert's Self portrait with gladioli 1922.

An Australian story

In his speech launching the new National Portrait Gallery building on 3 December 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the Gallery in a national and historical context.

Paper, boy

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

Abstraction and figuration

James Angus discusses his major sculpture commission Geo Face Distributor with Christopher Chapman.

Rethinking foundational histories

A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.

Rock star

Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film. 

Good, bad and the ugly

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) comedian, impresario and entrepreneur, was a driving force of the early Australian theatre.

A nose by any other name

In the exhibition William Kentridge: Drawn from Africa at the National Gallery of Australia, the artist marries Gogol's Tsarist Russia, with that of Stalin and the damaging history of his homeland, South Africa.

Love scars

Katrina Osborne immerses herself in one of photography’s most fearless chronicles.

Private virtues public lives

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

Of beef in burgundy

Angus Trumble reveals the complex technical mastery behind a striking recent acquisition, Henry Bone’s enamel portrait of William Manning.

Snap decisions

NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.

Kiwi magpie

Penelope Grist finds inspiration in pioneering New Zealand artist, Frances Hodgkins.

Off grid

Aimee Board ventures within and beyond to consider two remarkable new Gallery acquisitions.

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

Of ice and men

Frank Hurley's celebrated images document the heroism and minutiae of Australian exploration in Antarctica.

Shop Talk

Angus and the arbiters talk (photo) shop for the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Us being ourselves

Penelope Grist talks to photographer Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis about capturing moments, telling stories and keeping Culture strong.

Moving still

Anne O’Hehir on the seductive power of the film still to reflect and shape ourselves and our cultural landscape.

Drawing inspiration

Christopher Chapman absorbs the gentle touch of Don Bachardy’s portraiture.

See through me

Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray talk to the artists in Portrait23: Identity about transcending modes of portraiture.

Women make history

Jennifer Higgie uncovers the intriguing stories behind portraits of women by women in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

Naked ambition

Joanna Gilmour dives into the life of Australian swimming legend Annette Kellerman.

High & Bligh

Joanna Gilmour explores the 1790 portrait of William Bligh by Robert Dodd.

Out of the shadows

Joanna Gilmour profiles the life and times of the shutter sisters May and Mina Moore.

Hard truths

Jennifer Higgie reveals how Alice Neel reinvigorated 20th century portraiture with her honest and perceptive depictions of the human experience.

You beauty

Joanna Gilmour explores the fact and fictions surrounding the legendary life of Irish-born dancer Lola Montez.

The Vanity model

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

The activist A-list

Dr Sarah Engledow examines a number of figures in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery who were pioneers or substantial supporters of the seminal Australian environmental campaigns of the early 1970s and 1980s.

Mugshots

A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.

Listomania

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Off her own bat

Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.

Jewelled nights

Anne Sanders celebrates the cinematic union of two pioneering australian women.

Political profiles

Joanna Gilmour examines the prolific output of Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, and discovers the risk of taking a portrait at face value.

Generous Janice

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

Prima facie

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.