© National Portrait Gallery 2026
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Bessie Gibson
Biography
Bessie Gibson (1868-1961), like Harold Parker, studied under Godfrey Rivers at the Brisbane Central Technical College, where she developed an interest in miniature painting.
1 portrait in the collection
Harold Parker, c. 1906
Bessie Gibson
Portrait, watercolour on ivory in locket frame
Gift of Rosamond Shepherd 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Betsy (Bessie) Lee
Biography
Betsy (Bessie) Lee Cowie (1860–1950), 'Australia's Temperance Queen', spent the early part of her life in Daylesford, Victoria, one of the five children of Henry Vickery, a butcher and miner, and his wife Emma.
1 portrait in the collection
Bessie Lee, c. 1890
Yeoman & Co, Melbourne
Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on cabinet card
Purchased 2017
Mel Gibson AO
Biography
Mel Gibson (b. 1956), actor, was born in New York state, the sixth of eleven children of a railroad brakeman and an Australian opera singer.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir Robert Gibson
Biography
Sir Robert Gibson GBE (1863-1934) trained in design and drafting in Glasgow, where he began work as a designer at an iron company; he soon became manager of its London office.
1 portrait in the collection
Brett Canét-Gibson
Biography
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
Mel Gibson, 1982
William Yang
Portrait, type C photograph on paper
Purchased 2003
Charles Gibson Millar
Biography
Charles Gibson Millar (1839–1900), entrepreneur, was engaged in a number of industrial and agricultural enterprises in Australia during the 1870s, 80s and 90s.
1 portrait in the collection
Observation Point
Magazine article by Brett Canét-Gibson, 2018
Portrait photography, by definition, is a collaboration. It is also the grandest of lies masquerading as the ultimate truth.
Sir Robert Gibson, 1934
Paul Montford
Portrait, cast bronze on granite base
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of The Australian Industry Group 2012
Ian Thorpe, 1998 (printed 2019)
Brett Canét-Gibson
Portrait, inkjet print on paper
Purchased 2019
Brett Canét-Gibson & Heath Bergersen
'My influence is around 1850'
Portrait story
Brett Canét-Gibson on making a portrait with Heath Bergersen.
Heath, 2020 (printed 2022)
Brett Canét-Gibson
Portrait, inkjet print on paper
Purchased 2022
Trevor Jamieson, 2016
Brett Canét-Gibson
Portrait, inkjet print on paper
Purchased 2018
Saide, R.Y.S. (Charles Gibson Millar), 1894
Sir Leslie Ward, Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Vanity Fair Magazine
Portrait, chromolithograph on paper
Purchased 2015