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Exhibitions

show all 67

Behind your eyes, between your ears

Brainwave interactive artwork by George Khut

Previous exhibition, 2016

As the subject changes the quality of their attention and mental focus, the portrait transforms, both appearance and sound.

George Foxhill

Self Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2006

Foxhill's portraits are more concerned with describing an emotional and psychological state than the surface topography of the human face.

Boxing for Palm Island (Selwyn), 2010 photo by Hamish Cairns

Fighting Spirit

The Art of Boxing

Touring exhibition, 2026

Fighting Spirit: The Art of Boxing is the story of boxing in Australia told through art and screen.

Sam Haskins

Portraits & Other Stories

Previous exhibition, 2006

Haskins is known for his poetic combinations of images and this exhibition of 'extended' portraits builds on this approach.

The Cosmopolitans

In Gallery Two

Previous exhibition, 2023

Spanning the 1880s to the 1930s, this collection display celebrates the innovations in art – and life – introduced by the generation of Australians who travelled to London and Paris for experience and inspiration in the decades either side of 1900.

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2024

Previous exhibition, 2024

Launched at the National Portrait Gallery in 2022, the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize is a competition for primary and secondary students, with four separate age categories across Kindergarten to Year 12.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

Previous exhibition, 2017

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.

Angela Belgiorno-Zegna, 2001 by Salvatore Zofrea

Intimate Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2002

Intimate Portraits is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints that explore the less public side of portraiture

Living Memory

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2021

Previous exhibition, 2021

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.

Tea time, c.1898–1902 by Rupert Bunny (1864–1947)

Impressions

Painting light and life

Previous exhibition, 2011

Impressions: Painting light and life presents portraits by, and of, artists at the heart of Australian impressionism including Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin.

Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Shirley Purdie

Previous exhibition, 2020

Using ochres collected on her country in Western Australia’s East Kimberley, Shirley Purdie’s self-portrait is a kaleidoscope of traditional Gija stories and Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) passed down to her.

William Yang

Australian Chinese

Previous exhibition, 2001

William Yang's art is about the telling of stories, his work is an intriguing mixture of philosophy, autobiography, social history and documentary imbued with a sense of the artist's own curiosity, humanity and humour

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan

Australian Love stories

Family, friends, fanatics and foes (and everything in between!)

Previous exhibition, 2021

Reconnect and reflect with our new major exhibition, Australian Love Stories (in real life!) as we explore love, affection and connection in all its guises.

Flying Over Indulkana, 2022 Kaylene Whiskey

Super Kaylene Whiskey

Current exhibition

Super Kaylene Whiskey celebrates one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, proud Yankunytjatjara woman Kaylene Whiskey.

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Heads of the People

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2000

For Tom Roberts - Australia's best nineteenth-century portrait painter - neither a proto-national portrait gallery nor more popular collections of portrait heads, were sufficient public celebrations for the notables of Australian history

show all 67

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