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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Nicholas Harding, 2016 Mark Mohell

Nicholas Harding

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Over the years the young Nicholas Harding got his hands on various mice and guinea pigs, but they served mainly to illustrate the concept of mortality. 

Fiona McMonagle, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Fiona McMonagle

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Fiona aims to create a dangerous situation with a flood of water on the paper, forcing each work to the point where it can fail, and then rescuing it. 

Noel McKenna, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Noel McKenna

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It’s a matter beyond dispute that in the entire history of Australian art, it’s Noel McKenna who’s painted the liveliest rendition of the head of a Chihuahua.

Graeme Drendel, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Graeme Drendel

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I like talking about Drendel’s pictures as if they expressed dreams of my own.

Kristin Headlam with Basil, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Kristin Headlam

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Basil grew into a speckled beauty – a long-legged leaper and an exceptionally vocal dog, with a great register of sounds, ascending in shock value from a whimper to a growl to a bark to a yelp that’s a violation of the ears.

William Robinson, 2016 by Mark Mohell

William Robinson

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Unique in the world, perhaps, is a bronze sculpture that fuses the age-old human portrait bronze tradition, and the later genre of the bronze pug figurine: that’d be William Robinson’s Self-portrait with pug.

Anna Culliton, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Anna Culliton

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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. 

Janet Dawson, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Janet Dawson

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When soulmates Janet Dawson and Michael Boddy moved from Sydney to a property, Boddy was clear about why: ‘Our marriage is one long conversation - we moved to the bush so we could talk to each other without so many interruptions.’

Barry Humphries

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling
General content

Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.

Tony Shaw

Tony Shaw, 2018

by Sarah Rhodes
General content

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2018

Billie, 2016 by Graeme Drendel

Conversations with the artists

A Popular Pet Show documentary
General content

Exhibition curator Sarah Engledow, explores the creativity of the Popular Pet Show artists and their love for their animals.

Li Cunxin

Twenty new portraits marking Portrait Gallery’s twentieth birthday

21 August 2018
Archived media releases 2018

To celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s twentieth anniversary as an institution, twenty portraits of outstanding Australian individuals have been commissioned for the permanent collection. This is the largest undertaking for the Gallery’s commissioning program in its twenty-year existence.

Jessica Mauboy

National Portrait Gallery unveils twenty new portrait commissions to celebrate twenty years

18 October 2018
Archived media releases 2018

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled twenty new portrait commissions of Australian leaders and individualists as part of its twentieth birthday celebrations in a new exhibition, 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Finalists announced for National Photographic Portrait Prize

14 November 2018
Archived media releases 2018

The National Portrait Gallery would like to congratulate the forty finalists for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019.

Paul Kelly

Corporate Support

Support your Portrait Gallery

Our partners play a vital role in the expansion of the Gallery’s programs, exhibitions and the ongoing development of the collection.

Bree Pickering

Executive

Our team

National Portrait Gallery Director Bree Pickering leads the executive team.

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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency