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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.

Search / thomas wainewright

Self portrait

Elegance in exile

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2012

Elegance in exile is an exhibition surveying the work of Richard Read senior, Thomas Bock, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and Charles Rodius: four artists who, though exiled to Australia as convicts, created many of the most significant and elegant portraits of the colonial period.

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Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) is one of the most intriguing and talented figures in colonial Australian art.

4 portraits in the collection

Edward Paine Butler

Poison pen

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

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

The Cutmear sisters, Jane and Lucy, c. 1842

A man of superior attainments

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

Edward Paine Butler

Edward Paine Butler

Edward Paine Butler

Edward Paine Butler, c. 1845

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Portrait, watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper

Purchased 2009

Portrait of Henry Hopkins

Portrait of Henry Hopkins

Portrait of Henry Hopkins

Portrait of Henry Hopkins, c. 1845

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2013

Martha Sarah Butler

Martha Sarah Butler

Martha Sarah Butler

Martha Sarah Butler, c. 1845

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Portrait, watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper

Purchased 2009

Reverend William Bedford junior

Reverend William Bedford junior

Reverend William Bedford junior

Reverend William Bedford junior, c. 1846

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2013

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa, c. 1847

an unknown artist, Thomas Wharton

Portrait, daguerreotype in a pinchbeck case

Purchased 2001

The Bushranger Tragedy (from The Australasian Sketcher, 23 November 1878)

The Bushranger Tragedy (from The Australasian Sketcher, 23 November 1878)

The Bushranger Tragedy (from The Australasian Sketcher, 23 November 1878)

The Bushranger Tragedy (from The Australasian Sketcher, 23 November 1878), 1878

an unknown artist, The Australasian Sketcher

Portrait, wood engraving on paper

Purchased 2003

Video still from Dream Job, 2011 by David M Thomas

David M Thomas

Previous exhibition, 2011

Since 1993 Brisbane-based artist David M Thomas has investigated self identity through art works that encompass painting, text, audio, video and performance.

Andy Thomas

'When I grow up I want to be an astronaut'

An interview with Australian astronaut, Dr. Andy Thomas, who describes the experience of space travel.

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Thomas Atkinson

Thomas Lewis Atkinson (1817-c. 1890) is described in the Benezit Dictionary of Artists as 'one of the shining representatives of English engraving'.

1 portrait in the collection

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Avril Thomas

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

2 portraits in the collection

Rover Thomas

Rover Thomas

Rover Thomas (1926-1998), Kukatja-Wangkajunga artist, was born in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia and worked as a stockman and fencer before losing his employment upon the introduction of equal pay for indigenous workers in 1975.

1 portrait in the collection

Burnum Burnum and Guboo Ted Thomas

Gubbo Thomas

Guboo Ted Thomas (1909–2002), land rights activist, was a tribal Elder of the Yuin nation and grew up on the Wallaga Lake Reserve near Narooma.

1 portrait in the collection

© National Portrait Gallery 2025
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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