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

Esther Erlich (b. 1955), a Melbourne-based painter, has been exhibiting since the early 1980s, often with the Libby Edwards Galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and the Barry Newton Gallery in Adelaide.
3 portraits in the collection




Gift of an anonymous donor 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.



Gift of an anonymous donor 2014



Gift of the artist 2017



Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Joe is my grandson, he's the youngest of my son's kids, and the other two have been painted already so I did him.



Gift of an anonymous donor 2004

If music be the food of love

Bill Leak (1956-2017), portrait painter and caricaturist, trained at the Julian Ashton art school in the mid-1970s, and began his career painting landscapes.
7 portraits in the collection

Nikki Toole has travelled the world to photograph skateboarders.


Annette Kellerman (1886–1975), champion swimmer and entertainer, was among the early twentieth century's most recognisable women.
2 portraits in the collection

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.



Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009