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Snap decisions

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

Unpacked

Rebecca Ray reflects on Robert Fielding’s Mayatjara series, honouring songlines and intergenerational knowedge.

Anatomist's eye

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

A bond of friendship

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

Black tie or wombat: How formal should I go?

Michael Desmond discusses the portrait of Senator Neville Bonner by Robert Campbell Jnr.

Heart of Darkness

Magda Keaney talks with Bill Leak about his bold new portrait of Robert Hughes in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

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.

The Quiet Australian

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

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.

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.

Cultural kaleidoscope

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

Painting writing

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

Fits of delicacy and despair

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

Back in black

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

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.

Black and white history

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

Portrait 54

Explore an Indian treasure trove, photography by Robert McFarlane and Nan Goldin, Michael Taylor's expressionist paintings, the Great War portraits, and more!

Portrait 24

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

Portrait 5

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Bill Leak's portrait of Robert Hughes, Polly Borland's photographs, Bill Brandt, Andy Thomas, Tracey Moffatt and more.

The Obama effect

Kim Sajet reflects on two portraits with a power that extends beyond gallery walls.

Selfhood transcended

Anne Sanders and Christopher Chapman bring passionate characterisation to Express Yourself, the Portrait Gallery collection exhibition celebrating iconoclastic Australians.

Portrait 68

Rebecca Ray on Robert Fielding’s Mayatjara series, Jennifer Higgie on Alice Neel, Elspeth Pitt chats with Yvette Coppersmith, Vincent Fantauzzo on virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman and more.

A real tweet

Sarah Engledow plays wingman to Leila Jeffreys.

Observation Point

Portrait photography, by definition, is a collaboration. It is also the grandest of lies masquerading as the ultimate truth.

Portrait 53

Experience the art of rock music; attend to the neglected aspects of Lord Kitchener's work; and say farewell to the inimitable Bob Ellis.

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.

Apollo's breath

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

All you can eat

In February 2003 the National Portrait Gallery Circle of Friends brought Sir Robert Strong to Australia to present a series of lectures entitled The Artists & The Banquet- A History of Dining, which focused on the links between gardens and table decoration from the Renaissance to the Victorian Era.

The more things change

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

Glossy too

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

Colour by numbers

Alistair McGhie explores the many shades of Angélica Dass’ Humanæ project.

Tender tragedies

George Foxhill's self portraits were the subject of a small focus display at the National Portrait Gallery in 2006.

A self-portrait in focus

In her self-portrait, Tracey Moffatt presents herself as her work.

The Lawrence lustre

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Portrait 59

NPG Washington director Kim Sajet on the Obama portraits, Sarah Ball’s Immigrants, judging the NPPP, Frances Hodgkins, and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Indomitable spirit

Photographer Ricky Maynard talks us through the creation of the portrait commission of Mick Dodson.

Inspiration + Realisation: Peter Wegner

Peter Wegner's approach to portraiture could be considered a visual record of the rapport, the dynamic space between artist and subject.

Bloodlines

Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).

Undercurrent

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the portraiture of Australian artist Nicholas Harding.

Three Dimensional

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

Empire records

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

City boys

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

Observation point

I work with portraiture as a way to explore the nuances and complexities of contemporary selfhood and subjectivity.

A Pioneering Life

During her time in Australian politics, Dame Nancy Buttfield was an impressive advocate for equality for women and was responsible for ending the marriage bar for women in the Public Service.

Obey

Michael Desmond investigates the street art of Shepard Fairey, who was catapulted to fame during the 2008 presidential election with his resonant image of Barack Obama.

Natural born stiller

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

Portrait of a patron

A new painting by Jiawei Shen captures the vision and resolve of the Gallery's founder, L. Gordon Darling AC CMG.

The existential lens

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

Through thick and thin

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

Naked nostalgia

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

Air wear

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

Aussies all

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

Where the wild things are

Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.

Paper, boy

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

Aretha Brown

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

Public hanging

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

Dan the man

Martin Philbey’s portrait of Dan Sultan.

Here and there

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

Michael Kimmelman

Michael Kimmelman, Chief Art Critic of The New York Times and author of Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere, presented the National Portrait Gallery Third Anniversary Lecture on 2 March 2002. He was generously brought to Australia by the Gordon Darling Foundation and Qantas.

More than human

Gillian Raymond investigates the history of humanoid robots and asks, is this the future of portraiture?

The considered life

Andrew Sayers asks whether a portrait can truly be the examination of a life.

Paper weight

Joanna Gilmour delves into a collection display that celebrates the immediacy and potency of drawing as an art form in its own right.

Interiors

Christopher Chapman previews the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009.

Activating the space

Sandra Phillips on portraits of Indigenous activism from Cairns Art Gallery’s 2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture exhibition.

Hyperversity

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

The art of conciliation

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

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.

Little treasures

The acquisition of the ivory miniatures of Mortimer and Mrs Lewis.

Melbourne experience

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

Off her own bat

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

Poison pen

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

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.

Generous Janice

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

The Story So Far...

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

Restoring histories

Photographic conservation practices and the restoration of the Barbara Blackman photographic portrait.

Penn on paper

Michael Desmond discusses Irving Penn's photographic portrait of Nicole Kidman.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

International issue

Michael Desmond looks at the history of the Vanity Fair magazine in conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008

Shiny, happy people

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

101 photographic portraits

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

In the galleries

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

How to be a boy

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

Pop poet

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

People are people

Sandra Bruce chats with seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon about photography, guitars and representing the human story.

Two painters

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

Twin chics

Joanna Gilmour on the exuberant union of fashion pioneers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, captured in luminescent splendour by artist Carla Fletcher.

Powerful energy

Dr Christopher Chapman explores the symbolism in the portrait commission of Marcia Langton by Brook Andrew.

Full time

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

Who's that?

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

With a Little Help from my Friends

The story behind the acquisition of the portrait of Danish architect Jørn Utzon.

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.

Pen power

Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.

Sketches and sermons

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

Pop goes the preconception

A National Portrait Gallery, London exhibition redefines portraiture, shifting the focus towards a new perspective on Pop Art.

Great Scots

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

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.

Times like these

Gavin Fry examines the art and career of the Australian painter Rick Amor.

Listening to form

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

Insightful

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

Flash mob

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

Weaving identity

Rebecca Ray explores the way identity, belonging and connectedness are translated through materiality in First Nations portraiture.

Extremely generous and incredibly close

Michael Desmond examines the daguerreotype portraits created by American artist Chuck Close.

High & Bligh

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

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.

Hop, skip, shoot

Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.

Star signs

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

Mother’s muse

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

Alternative virtue

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

Stigma stigmata

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

South-bound and down

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

All dressed up

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

Hot Scots

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

Movement is my radar

Michael Desmond charts the path of portraiture, arriving at Julian Opie’s digital realm.

Demimonde liaisons

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

Donated duo

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the gift of two striking paintings by the Australian artist Ken Done AM.

Fugue in Yellow

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

One and all

The current exhibition of portraits at the National Gallery of Ireland Print Gallery investigates just how paper-thin ideas of likeness are.

Hope for kindness

Sarah Engledow arrives at the junction of fate and hope in Sarah Ball’s poignant Immigrants series.

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.

Swimming every day

National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Christopher Chapman connects this year’s entries to iconic contemporary american photographers.

You, looking at me

Elspeth Pitt chats with Archibald Prize-winning artist Yvette Coppersmith about performance, coincidences and the intersection of art and life.

Hottie's Snifter to port

Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.

A guy from Paris

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

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.

The animating signature

Joanna Gilmore delights in the affecting drawings of Mathew Lynn.

The first nurse

Tamsin Hong recounts the tale of Marion Smith, the only known Australian Indigenous servicewoman of World War One.

Strutt your stuff

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

Risky business

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

The 'I' in Indigenous art

Jane Raffan examines unique styles of Indigenous portraiture that challenge traditional Western concepts of the artform.

In the round

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

Real close

Peter Ciemitis breached regulations when creating the portrait of the polymath environmental scientist George Seddon.

The Dissecting Room

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

Hide/Seek

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

Be frank

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

Shadows of light

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

Earth to earth

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

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.

In and out of focus

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

Sure thing

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.

Showing character

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

Prima facie

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

Icons and imagery

Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.

Family collective

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

Mugshots

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

Moving still

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

The last word

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

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.

The life of Bryant

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

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.

Me Myself I

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

Corporate Characters

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

Depth of Field

The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.

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.

Unknown drawer

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

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

Hearts of Darkness

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

Flesh, figure and rock

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

Home and away

Sir William Dobell painted the portraits of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Sir Hudson Fysh, who did much to promote the image of Australia in this country and abroad.

The essence of you

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

Vintage Max

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

Of jumpers and river gums, red

Diana O’Neil on Noel Counihan’s vivid 1971 portrait of Alan Marshall.

More cash than dash

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

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.

Oz and beyond

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

The news from Washington

Australia's former Cultural Attache to the USA, Ron Ramsey, describes the mood at the opening week of the revitalised American National Portrait Gallery.

Cool cool world

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

A spectral sentience

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

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.

Elle on wheels

Lucy Quinn compares the approaches of three photographers lured to the action and culture of roller derby.

Beautiful bones

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

Seduce Amuse Entertain

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

Seeing stars

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

The catechist and the cricketer

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

Charlie's angles

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

Vanity fair

Ashleigh Wadman rediscovers the Australian characters represented with a kindly touch by the British portrait artist Leslie Ward for the society magazine Vanity Fair.

Material culture

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

Finest quality

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of Chinese-Australian businessman and philanthropist Quong Tart.

Technical terminology

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

Waiting for Godot

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

A real Pratt

The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.

You are who?

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

The shipwright's arms

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

Adam’s Prize Apples

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

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

The bright-eyed Mariner

Enigma

Grace Carroll contemplates the curious case of Christian Waller.

Finding Mrs Frisby

Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.

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.

Diamond Doll

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

Rock star

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

Rethinking foundational histories

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

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

Dupain detective

Johanna McMahon revels in history and mystery in pursuit of a suite of unknown portrait subjects.

The art of peace

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

Off grid

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

Wunderkind lost

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

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.

Profile of a marriage

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the lives of Sir George Grey and his wife Eliza, the subjects of a pair of wax medallions in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

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.

It's a Mora!

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

20 20

Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Illuminating history

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

Us being ourselves

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

Australia’s great internationalists

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

Splendid, many-splendoured

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

Drawing inspiration

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

Women make history

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

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.

Friends and Acquaintances

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

Naked ambition

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

The numbers man

Dr. Sarah Engledow tells the story of Australia's first Federal statistician, Sir George Knibbs.

Lovingly observed

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

Alter ego

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

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.

Big bouquet of Blackmans

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

What price self?

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

Getting a head

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

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 art of multiplicity

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

The family scene

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

Progressive pictures

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

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.

Augustus serendipitous

The London-born son of an American painter, Augustus Earle ended up in Australia by accident in January 1825. 

Man of war

Tedi Bills talks to George Gittoes about canvassing conflict.

The Royal she

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

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 feast of friends

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

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.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

The tragic tale of Tom Wills, the ‘inventor’ of Australian Rules Football.

Regarding Henrys

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

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.

Thrown together

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

Petal to the mettle

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