Search / marjorie cotton isherwood

Marjorie Cotton Isherwood (1913–2003) was the first professionally qualified children's librarian in New South Wales and many of her initiatives continue today.

1 portrait in the collection

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain)

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain), c. 1935 (printed 1999)

Olive Cotton

Purchased 2010

Jean Isherwood OAM

Jean Isherwood OAM (1911–2006), artist, was born in Marrickville and won a scholarship to the National Art School at East Sydney Technical College at the age of fourteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Jean Isherwood

In their own words

Recorded 1972

Olive Cotton

Olive Cotton (1911-2003) was one of Australia's pioneering modernist photographers.

2 portraits in the collection

Olive Cotton, 1996 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Marjorie Lawrence

Marjorie Lawrence CBE (1907-1979), dramatic soprano, studied singing from 1925 in Melbourne, moving to study with Cécile Gilly in Paris in 1928 after winning the Geelong Sun Aria competition.

2 portraits in the collection

Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE

Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE (b. 1931), former sprinter, was Governor of South Australia from 2001 to 2007.

3 portraits in the collection

Marjorie Lawrence, Paris, 1937

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Marjorie Lawrence, Amneris, 1951

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Marjorie Jackson, 1953

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Purchased 2011

Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE, 2006

Avril Thomas

Portrait, oil on canvas

Commissioned 2006

Preparatory study for Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE

Preparatory study for Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE, 2005

Avril Thomas

Commissioned 2006

Spikes: then and now

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

As part of its ongoing program of commissions of portraits of prominent Australians, the National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a portrait of Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson by South Australian artist Avril Thomas.

Don Bachardy

Don Bachardy (b. 1935) is a portraitist who chronicles literary, musical, artistic and film personalities associated with Los Angeles.

3 portraits in the collection

The cat's out of the bag

Kalyanii Holden

Image

Barbara McGrady, 2017 (printed 2023)

Dr John Janson-Moore

Purchased 2023

Thomas Fitzherbert Hawkins, c. 1790

Portrait, oil on cotton laid down on cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter E.B. Mansell 2018

Avril Thomas

Australian Tapestry Workshop, Merrill Dumbrell, Christopher Pyett, Normana Wight

Avril Thomas (b. 1956), artist, was born in Malaysia and went to boarding school in Scotland and Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, 2000

Portrait, warp: cotton No.12 seinetwine; weft: wool and cotton

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2000

Harmony (Self portrait)

Paule Vézelay

Image

John Slaytor

John Slaytor (b. 1966) is a Sydney based commercial photographer and an accredited member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography.

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Cuthbert AM MBE

Portrait, pigment ink print on paper

Betty Cuthbert AM MBE (1938–2017), sprinting champion, was Australia's leading gold-medal winning track and field athlete.

5 portraits in the collection

Penelope Seidler, 2019 (printed 2021)

Anne Zahalka

Purchased 2021

First Ladies

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Previous exhibition, 2013

First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.

Wilfred John Peisley

Wilfrid John Peisley, born in Bathurst, won a number of prizes at regional shows before gaining a scholarship to the East Sydney Technical College at the age of seventeen.

1 portrait in the collection

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

This 1910 portrait of Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts by Tom Roberts was brought into the Gallery's collection with the assistance of the Acquisition Fund in 2013.

Harold Blair AO

Harold Blair AO (1924–1976), singer and Indigenous advocate, spent his youth on the Purga Mission, and began singing in local concerts on the canefields in the Childers area.

1 portrait in the collection

Russell Shakespeare

Marlene Rubuntja, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Russell Shakespeare (b. 1963) has photographed well-known Australians from a wide range of fields, including writers Tim Winton and Colleen McCullough, sports people Steve Waugh and Stephanie Gilmore, and former politicians Gough Whitlam and Bob Brown.

2 portraits in the collection

Girl with Dillybag full of Bushfood, 2022

Portrait, soft sculpture made with recycled woollen blankets, bush dye, wool, cotton, feathers

Purchased 2023

Me I am Artist, 2022

Marlene Rubuntja, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Portrait, soft sculpture made with recycled woollen blankets, bush dye, wool, cotton, feathers

Purchased 2023

Arkutja (woman), 2022

Marlene Rubuntja, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Portrait, soft sculpture made with recycled woollen blankets, bush dye, wool, cotton, feathers

Purchased 2023

Girl with Big Stick, Cooloman and Bird, 2022

Rhonda Sharpe, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Portrait, soft sculpture made with recycled woollen blankets, bush dye, wool, cotton, feathers

Purchased 2023

My Two Lovely Faces Looking at Each Other and Smiling for Love, 2022

Rhonda Sharpe, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Portrait, soft sculpture made with recycled woollen blankets, bush dye, wool, cotton, feathers

Purchased 2023

Penelope Seidler AM

Penelope Seidler AM (b. 1938), architect, is one of three children of barrister and state parliamentarian Clive Evatt QC (1900–1984) and his wife Marjorie.

2 portraits in the collection

Jacqui Stockdale

Jacqui Stockdale (b. 1968) works across theatrical portrait photography, painting, drawing and collage to explore ideas surrounding cultural identity, national history, theatricality, masquerade and folkloric traditions.

1 portrait in the collection

Dean Beletich

Dean Beletich (b. 1968), artist and photographer, studied at Newcastle Art School, the National Art School Sydney and the University of Newcastle from 1987 to 1991.

1 portrait in the collection

Harold Blair, 1948

Ernest Buckmaster

Portrait, oil on canvas

Purchased 2010

Betty Cuthbert, 1955 (printed 2003)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Portrait, pastel and chalk on paper laid down on cotton over Cedar strainer

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Jessie Whyte, c. 1840

Thomas Bock

Purchased 2017

Narelle Autio

Narelle Autio (b. 1969) went to art school in South Australia intending to become a painter, but ‘somehow ended up’ with a camera.

1 portrait in the collection

Jim Rolon

New Jersey-born Jim Rolon (b. 1956) began working as a photographer for a family portrait company in his twenties.

6 portraits in the collection

George Moore

George Moore (1923-2008), champion jockey, was born in Mackay, Qld and was apprenticed in Brisbane in 1938.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (1816-1878) was a merchant, shipbuilder, wool broker and pioneer of the technique of freezing meat for export.

1 portrait in the collection

Justin Tjungurrayi, 2007

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Alfred William Cox

Alfred William Cox (1857–1919), racehorse owner and breeder, was born in Liverpool, England, the son of a successful cotton broker.

1 portrait in the collection

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE

Pamela Joyce, Australian Tapestry Workshop

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE (1907–1989), conservationist and fundraiser, studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

The Honourable Margaret Lusink AM, 2019

Portrait, wool and cotton tapestry

Gift of The Honourable Margaret Lusink AM 2021

Stuart Spence

Stuart Spence (b. 1960) born in Geelong, Victoria, established his career in Sydney during the 1980s and 1990s, as a magazine photographer specialising in celebrity portraiture.

2 portraits in the collection

John Tsiavis

John Tsiavis (b. 1977) is a photographer working across portraiture, entertainment, editorial and advertising projects.

6 portraits in the collection

George Fetting

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

George Fetting (b. 1964) is a Sydney-based photographer specialising in portrait, travel and editorial work.

8 portraits in the collection

Drawing inspiration

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

Dulcie Sharpe and Rhonda Sharpe in a room with a brown tile floor, next to a wooden table with soft animal sculptures

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Artists and Collectives

A not-for-profit Aboriginal owned and run art centre, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists in Mparntwe/Alice Springs are known for their unique and distinctive soft sculptures that reveal stories and experiences of life in their community.

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane (1773-1860) was born into an aristocratic Scottish family and entered the army at the age of 16.

2 portraits in the collection

Brett Canét-Gibson

James Faed, W Wilding after John Watson Gordon

Brett Canét-Gibson (b. 1965) has a 25-year career as an image maker, Creative Director, writer and communicator in portrait, still life and landscape commercial and editorial photography, graphic design and visual arts.

3 portraits in the collection

General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1850 (published)

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Tim Fairfax AC, 2018

Russell Shakespeare

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Stan Grant and Tracey Holmes, 2020

Nic Walker

Portrait, archival pigment print on Canson Edition Etching cotton rag paper

Gift of the artist 2021

Dame Helen Blaxland, 1986

Max Dupain OBE

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Betsy Napangardi Lewis, 2007

Johann Paul Georg Fischer

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait of Augustus Leopold Küper, 1823

Portrait, watercolour over pencil on artist board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings

Max Dupain OBE

Freeman Brothers after Edwin Dalton

Max Dupain OBE (1911–1992) was a pioneering modernist photographer.

98 portraits in the collection

Maria Windeyer, c. 1865-1868

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on brown paper studio folder

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi, 2010

Photography and mortality

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot)

Reveries

Previous exhibition, 2007

Featuring works by Australian and New Zealand photographers from the late 1970s up to the present day Reveries focuses on images made in the presence of or consciousness of death.

George Tjungurrayi, 2007

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Walala Tjapaltjarri, 2009

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

George Moore, 1957

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Maria Windeyer

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

Maria Windeyer (née Camfield, 1795–1878), landowner, emigrated to New South Wales in 1835 with her husband Richard, a barrister, and their infant son, William Charles.

2 portraits in the collection

Marilyn Ball, Albatross, 2018 (detail) by Linde Ivimey

So Fine

Previous exhibition, 2018

This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.

Rod McNicol

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Rod McNicol (b. 1946), photographic artist, studied photography at Prahran College in Melbourne, where he formed a close friendship with Athol Shmith.

1 portrait in the collection

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

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.

Valerie Kirk

Contributing artists

Born: 1957, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Works: Canberra

Woburn Sheepshearing, 1811

Thomas Morris, M N. Bates, Joseph C. Stadler after George Garrard

Portrait, aquatint with stipple and etching and engraving, hand coloured on chine colle on paper laid down on cotton stretched over wooden strainer

Purchased 2018

Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1842

Frederick Bromley after Robert Frain

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Sir Edward Wheewall Holden

Archived media releases 2016

Sir Edward Wheewall Holden (1885-1947), industrialist and politician, was the son of Henry Holden, industrialist and civic leader, and the grandson of James Alexander Holden, Adelaide leather and saddlery business owner.

1 portrait in the collection

David McAllister to join National Portrait Gallery collection

26 April 2016

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister AM will join the Portrait Gallery’s national collection in a newly-commissioned portrait taken by illustrious Australian photographer, Peter Brew-Bevan.

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Previous exhibition, 2004

The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery

Anna Meares, 2018

by Narelle Autio

Commissioned with funds provided by King & Wood Mallesons 2018

Marlene Rubuntja

Born in Alice Springs, Arrernte/Western Arrarnta woman Marlene Panankga Rubunjta (b.

3 portraits in the collection

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Magazine article by Helen Ennis, 2007

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Reveries

The exhibition Reveries: Photography and mortality is a powerful display which brings together images that depict the last phase of people's lives.

Jacki Weaver, 2018

by John Tsiavis

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2018

Shen Jiawei

Shen Jiawei was born in China. During the Cultural Revolution he laboured in the Great Northern Wilderness, but even as he worked there, he gained recognition as an artist.

Andrew Campbell

NPPP 2012 learning resource

An interview with the photographer.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Previous exhibition, 2023

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.

Andrew Gaze, 2018

by George Fetting

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

What the tree saw: David Foster, 2018

by Jacqui Stockdale

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

Tan Le, 2018

by John Tsiavis

NPPP 2012 learning resource

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

John McRae

An interview with the photographer.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Previous exhibition, 2015

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

Albert Jonas and John Xiniwe of The African Choir, 1891 London Stereoscopic Co.

Back in black

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

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

Thread bare

Magazine article by Cayce Zavaglia, 2017

US artist Cayce Zavaglia reveals human duality in her striking embroidered portraiture.

Promise Fulfilled

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Indexing, the art of

About Face article

The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.

Progressive pictures

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2017

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

Introversion from High Jinks in the Hydrangeas, 2020 Tamara Dean

In our nature

Magazine article by Tara James, 2022

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

Family collective

Magazine article by Beatrice Gralton, 2013

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

Stigma stigmata

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

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

Rehearsing Godot (Mullins as Lucky) 4.11.2013 by Nicholas Harding

Waiting for Godot

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

'Artist and actors, advancing spasmodically, find their rhythm together' writes Sarah Engledow.

Tiny Trace of a Colonial Giant

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

At just 7.8 x 6.2 cm, the daguerreotype of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa is one of the smallest works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda Courtesy Picnic Productions

Rock star

Magazine article by Jennifer Coombes, 2018

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

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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

You beauty

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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

The art of multiplicity

Magazine article by Meredith Hughes, 2019

Meredith Hughes explores a key Portrait Gallery work, emerging into the infinite iterations of identity.

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

Anna Culliton

Anna Culliton never had a colouring-in book when she was little. Her parents –Tony, a filmmaker, and Stephanie, a painter – wouldn’t let her have one. Instead, they insisted on her drawing her own pictures to colour-in.

Helen Blaxland judging flower arrangements, c. 1940s photographer unknown

Petal to the mettle

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

The Bare story