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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.

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Portrait of Elizabeth Gould with a raptor, possibly a red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), painted in her lifetime Artist unknown

Birds of a feather

Magazine article by Annette Twyman, 2021

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

Self portrait

Expect the unexpected

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour revels in accidental artist Charles Rodius’ nineteenth century renderings of Indigenous peoples.

Bungaree, Chief of the Broken Bay Tribe, N S Wales

Bungaree, Chief of the Broken Bay Tribe, N S Wales

Bungaree, Chief of the Broken Bay Tribe, N S Wales

Bungaree, Chief of the Broken Bay Tribe, N S Wales, c. 1830

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Purchased 2018

Vue de George’s Street à Sydney

Vue de George’s Street à Sydney

Vue de George’s Street à Sydney

Vue de George’s Street à Sydney, 1833

Alexis Nicholas Nöel after Louis Auguste de Sainson

Portrait, lithograph on Chine-collé on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Waterfall in Australia, c. 1830 by Augustus Earle

Augustus serendipitous

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

The London-born son of an American painter, Augustus Earle ended up in Australia by accident in January 1825.

Ned Kelly death mask

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Previous exhibition, 2015

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

Captain Matthew Flinders RN

Captain Matthew Flinders RN

Captain Matthew Flinders RN

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

an unknown artist, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Djon

Djon

Djon

Djon, 1990 (printed 2013)

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased 2013

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.

Captain Matthew Flinders RN

Captain Matthew Flinders RN

Captain Matthew Flinders RN

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

an unknown artist, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

Self portrait

Fine and dandy

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Whether the result of misadventure or misdemeanour, many accomplished artists were transported to Australia where they ultimately left a positive mark on the history of art in this country.

The National Portrait Gallery

In the galleries

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

Self portrait

Self portrait

Self portrait

Self portrait, c. 1849

Portrait, pastel with ink wash on paper

Purchased 2009

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

Phillip Parker King

Phillip Parker King

Phillip Parker King

Phillip Parker King, 1854

Portrait, cast plaster

Purchased 2000

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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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