Johnny O'Keefe (1935-1978) was Australia's first rock 'n' roll star. At a time when radio stations were reluctant to promote local talent, O'Keefe was the first Australian rock performer to have a chart hit with the 1958 song 'Wild One'.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009
‘The Australian Wonder’, Johnny Day (1856–1885), was an undefeated world-champion juvenile walker.
1 portrait in the collection
Johnny Warren OAM MBE (1943-2004), footballer, football administrator and commentator, grew up in southern Sydney where he played his first games of soccer, as his game was then known, for the Botany Methodists.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2014
Purchased 2011
Celebrate the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on our nation’s identity.
Alex Kolozsy left his native Transylvania for Hungary as a small child.
1 portrait in the collection
Australia’s passion for rock ‘n roll was kindled by American and British acts in the 1950s and 60s. The novel genre’s driving, licentious rhythms and voices captured imaginations and libidos, not to mention aspiring young musicians.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019
Francis Gardiner (Christie) (1830-c. 1903), bushranger, came to New South Wales with his family as a child.
1 portrait in the collection
My Favourite Australian is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.
Johnny Bulunbulun (1946-2010), Ganalbingu (Yolgnu) painter and printmaker, grew up on the island of Milingimbi and in Bulman in southern Arnhem Land.
1 portrait in the collection
An exhibition that celebrates the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on the nation’s identity, opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 5 September, 2020.
