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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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General information

Gary Grealy

Gary Grealy

Winner, National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

General content

Gary Grealy on his portrait photography.

Richard Morecroft & Alison Mackay, 2016 by Gary Grealy

Gary Grealy wins National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

Archived media releases 2017

After months of anticipation, the winner for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 has been announced with renowned Sydney portrait photographer Gary Grealy taking out the award. George Fetting, guest judge for the 2017 Prize, was entranced with the evocative nature of the winning portrait Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay.

Les Darcy

American dream leads to tragic end

Young love lost, treasured

Some lads #2

2024 Annual Appeal

In 1998, acclaimed artist Tracey Moffatt gifted her portrait Some Lads #1 (Russell Page) to the National Portrait Gallery. In 2024 we had the extraordinary opportunity to acquire the full body of work, adding Some Lads #2, Some Lads #3, Some Lads #4 and Some Lads #5 to the collection.

Ken Catchpole

Rugby great unveiled

1 December 2014

Archived media releases 2014

A new portrait commission of Australian Rugby great, Ken Catchpole OAM by Gary Grealy will be officially unveiled on 3 December.

Sensory Kit

Sensory Kits

Does a young person in your life need additional support to feel at ease in a public space? Our sensory-friendly kits were developed in collaboration with Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia) and are free to borrow during your visit.

Billy Mann 1963 by Larry Clark

Larry Clark

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Larry Clark's black-and-white documentary images of young outsiders reveal raw feelings.

Treading Water, 2017 by Josh Owen, video: 5 minutes

Treading Water, 2017

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Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel digital video

The Murdoch

The Murdoch

Sport was a potent means by which, in the lead up to Federation, Australians began to assert a sense of themselves as youthful, manly and athletic – the products of an equally young and virile new nation.

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

Backstage on the way to the top

Living for the moment

Margel and Tarquin, Canberra

The Hinders: doyens of Australian modernism

Progressive partnership

Lan Wang

Artist lovers re-united across the seas

Exile burnishes love’s bond

Convict love token from J. Waldon, 1832

To coin a (farewell) phrase

A penny for their thoughts

Guthugga Pipeline, Christmas Show, upstairs, The (old) Griffin Centre, Civic, 22 December 1979. Crowd, L-R : Ben Donaldson, Anne Redmond, Nick Vollis, Esa Makela, Megan Woodrow (Mohawk), Andy Hall (scarf) 'pling

Capital Cool

Stop in all the byways, playin' rock 'n roll

General content

Outsiders tend to give Canberra a bad rap: sterile, plagued by politicians, a comatose capital for professionals and academics. Nick Cave once said he didn’t like the city because there were too many punks.

Shirlie Purdie tells a story from her mother

General content

"It’s good to learn from old people. They keep saying when you paint you can remember that Country, just like to take a photo, but there’s the Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) and everything. Good to put it in painting, your Country, so kids can know and understand. When the old people die, young people can read the stories from the paintings. They can learn from the paintings and maybe they want to start painting too."

Shirley Purdie

Contributing artists

Born: 1947, Gilbun – Mabel Downs Station, WA
Works: Warmun, WA

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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 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