Search / andree johnson-bell

Andree Johnston-Bell (1917-2007), pioneer publisher of articles on Australian antiques, was born in China of Belgian parents and educated in Belgium.

1 portrait in the collection

Andree Johnston-Bell, c. 1945

Walter Langhammer

Portrait, oil on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jocelyne MacLeod 2008

Andree Rosenfeld

Andrée Rosenfeld (1934–2008), archaeologist, was born in Belgium, the daughter of two scientists.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Johnson Pilton Walker, Inside the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 25 Hours 31 minutes, 22-23rd of May 2009

Portrait of Johnson Pilton Walker, Inside the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 25 Hours 31 minutes, 22-23rd of May 2009, 2009 (printed 2010)

Portrait, type C photographs on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2009

Dr Andree Rosenfeld, 1996

Robin Wallace-Crabbe, Dianne Fogwell

Portrait, etching

Gift of the artist 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

George Bell OBE

George Bell studied in Melbourne and Paris, and was elected a member of the Modern Society of Portrait Painters, London, in 1908.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Bell

Richard Bell (b. 1953), an artist of Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) and Anglo-Celtic heritage, has described himself as an 'inactivist who kicked the habit'.

1 portrait in the collection

Esme Bell

Esme Bell (1919-2018), daughter of inventor, animal fancier and philanthropist Sir Edward Hallstrom, wrote and illustrated a children’s book, The Rainbow Painter, which was published in 1939.

2 portraits in the collection

John Bell AO OBE

John Bell AO OBE (b. 1940), actor and director, is one of Australia's best-known theatre personalities.

3 portraits in the collection

George Bell

In their own words

Recorded 1965

John Bell

In their own words

Recorded 1962

John Bell

In their own words

Recorded 1973

John Bell, c. 1968

Greg Weight

Portrait, ink, charcoal and conté on paper

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

Study for John Bell as King Lear, 1998-2001

Nicholas Harding

Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Bell, 1962 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint and spray paint on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Richard Bell, 2009

Mike Chavez

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

George Bell, 1951

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Life mask of John Bell, c. 1980

an unknown artist

Portrait, cast plaster

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Roslyn Lawson 2013

Gift of Susan Crawford OAM 2016

Sir Edward Hallstrom, c. 1960

Esme Bell

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of the Musgrave Family 2018

John Bell as King Lear oil on Belgian linen, 2001 by Nicholas Harding

Lear unbuttoned

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Sarah Engledow steps up to the footlights and applauds the storyline behind Nicholas Harding's portraits of actor John Bell.

Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson, Sydney-based artist, was part of a circle of urban conceptual artists in the 1970s.

4 portraits in the collection

Melissa Madden Gray, at home

Pia Johnson

Mickey Johnson

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Mickey Johnson (1834-1906) was an Indigenous leader in the Illawarra district of New South Wales during the second half of the nineteenth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Johnson, 1994 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased 2018

William Johnson

William Johnson was a commercial photographer who operated a studio on the corner of Pitt and Market Streets in Sydney from the 1890s to the 1920s.

4 portraits in the collection

The Capel Family

Cornelius Johnson

Tim Johnson, 1991

Greg Weight

Magazine article by Graeme Dix, 2016

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

Portrait of the Gallery

A design diary retrospective.

Patrick Johnson, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Mickey Johnson, c. 1896

an unknown artist

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Richard Johnson 23 May 2009 3:07PM

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, 1988

Greg Weight

Portrait, pencil and polymer vinyl paint on canvas

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

Clifford Possum Study 1, 2002

Tim Johnson

Gift of Morris Low 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, 2002

Tim Johnson

Portrait, oil and polymer vinyl paint on canvas

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Robert Carter, c. 1910

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on grey cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2012

Henry Lawson, 1915

Purchased 2009

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

Johnson Pilton Walker

Sydney-based practice Johnson Pilton Walker designed the new National Portrait Gallery building.

President Johnson and Prime Minister Holt at Canberra Airport

President Johnson and Prime Minister Holt at Canberra Airport, 1966 (printed 2000)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001.

Adrian Lawlor

Adrian Lawlor, critic and artist, came to Australia from his native England at the age of about twenty.

2 portraits in the collection

Anna Volska

Anna Volska (b. 1944), actor, came from Poland to Australia with her mother when she was seven.

1 portrait in the collection

Boxer, Blake Travers, 2017

by Patrick Bell

Portrait, cast bronze on granite base

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Harold Holt, 1969

Victor Greenhalgh

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Paul and Wendy Greenhalgh 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Samuel Woolf

Samuel Johnson Woolf, American painter, lithographer and illustrator, was born in New York City and named after the English essayist Samuel Johnson.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 40

July - August 2011

Magazine

This issue features Claudia Karvan & Jimmy Pozarik, Agus Suwage & Contemporary Portraiture from Asia, Fred Williams, Zhong Chen, John Bell, The French Antipodes and more.

Lady Maisie Drysdale

Lady Maisie Drysdale (1915–2001), children's librarian and artists' muse, developed an interest in art as a child, and attended both the University of Melbourne and George Bell's art school.

1 portrait in the collection

Jean Shepeard

Jean Shepeard was an actress and artist who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

1 portrait in the collection

Plenty, 2009

by Anton Perry

Michele Aboud

Michele Aboud, commercial, fashion and portrait photographer, is a graduate of the Photographic College of London and UCLA.

1 portrait in the collection

Jean Goldberg

Previous exhibition, 2009

Jean Nethercote (now Goldberg) first met Ola Cohn when she took a life class in Cohn's studio in the mid-50s.

1 portrait in the collection

Portraits + Architecture

This exhibition explores creative process and identity.

On commission

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2002

Former NPG Director Andrew Sayers discusses the art of commissioning portraits.

Tomáš Kantor in Bell Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, 2023

A Performance of Portraiture

Ralph Heimans tour

Event, Starts Friday 17 May

Join actor Tomáš Kantor for an immersive, theatrical journey through Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence.

Omai

Omai (Mai) (c. 1750-1778), the first Polynesian to visit Britain, was a young man of middling social standing who volunteered to sail from Huahine to England with Captain Furneaux on the Adventure (the ship accompanying James Cook's Resolution on Cook's second voyage of discovery (1772-1775).

2 portraits in the collection

Lina Bryans

Lina Bryans OAM (1909-2000), artist, was born into a prosperous Melbourne family and grew up moving freely between Toorak and Europe.

3 portraits in the collection

Mary MacQueen

Mary MacQueen studied for a year at the George Bell School after the war, and for another year at RMIT a decade later.

2 portraits in the collection

Bruce Pollard

Bruce Pollard (b. 1936), gallerist, established the Pinocotheca Gallery in a St Kilda mansion in 1967, and relocated it to an old hat factory in Richmond in 1970.

1 portrait in the collection

Arnold Shore

Arnold Shore, a lifelong inhabitant of Melbourne, was apprenticed to a stained glass and leadlight company called Brooks, Robinson soon after leaving school at the age of twelve.

2 portraits in the collection

Joshua Ross

Joshua Ross (b. 1981) excelled at athletics as a child, but didn't take up sprinting in earnest until 2000, inspired by watching the Sydney Olympics on television.

1 portrait in the collection

Alan Sumner MBE

Alan Sumner MBE (1911-1994) was a painter, printmaker, teacher and stained glass designer.

1 portrait in the collection

David Campese AM

Portrait, pastel on paper

David Ian Campese (b. 1962) is the world's leading representative rugby union footballer, having played 101 tests for Australia between 1982 and 1996.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, 1981

Michael Shannon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Les Rowe 1998
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac, 1857

an unknown artist

Portrait, oil on canvas

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2014

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Percy Leason's Aboriginal Portraits

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), acknowledged as one of the world's great portraitists, was master of portraits in the 'Grand Manner', replete with moral and heroic symbolism.

3 portraits in the collection

William Johnson (1873—1948) by Percy Leason

Recognition

Previous exhibition, 1999

Originally conceived as an anthropological record, Percy Leason’s powerful 1934 portraits of Victorian Aboriginal people are today considered to be a highlight of 20th century Australian portraiture

Nathan Kelly

Youth theatre comes to the Gallery

Nathan Kelly (b. 1976), photographer, studied fine arts at the Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney before being named as one of Australia’s top 30 photography graduates by Australian Commercial Photography magazine.

3 portraits in the collection

The making of SKIN in Bare

William Dickinson after Sir Joshua Reynolds

Responding to Bare, Canberra Youth Theatre in partnership with the Gallery presented a performance that explores identity.

Gordon Darling Hall, National Portrait Gallery

Architecture

About us

Natural light and human proportions – the design by Johnson Pilton Walker

Joseph Banks Esq, 1774

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased 2008

The National Portrait Gallery building in twilight

On a human scale

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2006

The design concepts behind the new National Portrait Gallery building in Canberra.

George Coates

George Coates, Melbourne-born artist, started his art career in a stained glass workshop, attending classes with Frederick McCubbin at the National Gallery school at night.

1 portrait in the collection

The New Arrivals at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art

Peter Purves Smith

Peter Purves Smith (1912–1949), artist, went to Geelong Grammar with his lifelong friend Russell Drysdale.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Asher Joel

Sir Asher Joel (1912-1998), public relations entrepreneur and state politician, started out as a copyboy at Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.

1 portrait in the collection

Leeanne Crisp

Leeanne Crisp (b. 1950) was born in Adelaide, where she attended the South Australian School of Art and gained an advanced diploma from the Western Teacher's College in 1972.

3 portraits in the collection

John Gaden AM

Portrait, pastel and charcoal on paper

John Gaden AM (b. 1941), actor, studied arts and law at the University of Sydney, but when he joined the Sydney University Players, he abandoned his other pursuits for the stage.

1 portrait in the collection

Disillusion self portrait, 1983

Mary MacQueen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Robin MacQueen 2007

Ray Crooke AM

Portrait, charcoal heightened with white chalk on paper

Ray Crooke AM grew up in Melbourne, where after army service in WA, North Queensland and Borneo, he trained at Swinburne Tech from 1946 to 1948.

3 portraits in the collection

Sir Sidney Kidman, 1932

Samuel Woolf

Purchased 2009

The Brontë Sisters (Anne Brontë; Emily Brontë; Charlotte Brontë)

Patrick Branwell Brontë

Peter Allen

Peter Allen (1944–1992), singer/songwriter and entertainer, was born Peter Allen Woolnough in Tenterfield, NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

Eric Thake

Eric Thake (1904-1982), printmaker, painter and photographer, trained at the National Gallery School and the George Bell School and showed with the Contemporary Group in Melbourne between 1932 and 1938 before serving as an official war artist in the RAAF.

7 portraits in the collection

Bob Barnard AM

Magazine article by Esther Agostino, 2015

Bob Barnard AM (1933-2022), jazz cornettist, grew up in a Melbourne musical family and started on cornet with a local brass band at the age of 12.

1 portrait in the collection

Amy Johnson wearing a woollen suit from the collection of flight clothes designed by Madame Schiaparelli for her solo flight from London to Cape Town, 1938 unknown photographer

Air wear

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

Sir Asher Joel, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The rock and the flies, 1952

Gift of Professor Van Sommers 2011

Sunshine and rain, Lygon Street, 1964

Gift of Professor Van Sommers 2011

Epstein/Einstein? I can never remember!, 1962

Gift of Professor Van Sommers 2011

Mr Thake - Dr So and So, 1959

Gift of Professor Van Sommers 2011

Janet Holmes a Court AC

Janet Holmes à Court AC (b. 1943), businesswoman and philanthropist, graduated in science and worked as a teacher before marrying young Perth lawyer Robert Holmes à Court in 1966.

1 portrait in the collection

Figure in a rocky landscape, 1965

Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011

Self portrait among the ant hills, 1950

Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011

Desert Island, 1967

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011

Andy Thomas, 2002

Montalbetti + Campbell

Commissioned with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2002

Maisie, 1938-1939

Peter Purves Smith

Portrait, gouache on paper

Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001

Janet Holmes á Court, 2001 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

No shirt, no service

Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.

Peter Allen, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 2003

Icons Syndicate

Lists alphabetically

Honour board

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.

Louis Nowra

Louis Nowra (b. 1950), writer, grew up in dire family circumstances on a housing commission estate in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

Honour board

Jacob Nash, 2017

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Gift of the artist 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self Portrait (Textanude) by Arlene TextaQueen

Animated

Self Portraits Online

Previous exhibition, 2008

Animated is the National Portrait Gallery's first online exhibition.

Mal Meninga, 2018

by Peter Hudson

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

At the Pantechnetheca, Exhibition, Eastern Arcade, Dominick Sonsee, the smallest man in the world

The Freak Show

Many performers availed themselves of the services of photographic studios, posing for carte de visite portraits that served as souvenirs and as instruments in the making of renown and notoriety.

Shigeo Sawada, c. 1915

Kan Studios

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and gouache on 64 canvas boards (nos. 108101-108164)

Gift of Ron Wylie 2007

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

Imants Tillers

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2017

Nicholas Harding: 28 portraits features paintings of Robert Drewe, John Bell and Hugo Weaving alongside gorgeously coloured recent oil portraits, delicate gouaches and bold ink and charcoal drawings.

Roi de Mestre (Roy de Maistre), c. 1930

Jean Shepeard

Portrait, pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Richard Roxburgh

Archived media releases 2017

Richard Roxburgh (b. 1962), actor, completed an economics degree at the Australian National University before gaining a place at NIDA on his second attempt.

2 portraits in the collection

Self portrait, 2002

Barry Humphries

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2003

Selfie Factory, 2017 by Ralph Kenke and Elmar Trefz, video: 3 minutes

Finalists Announced for Digitial Portraiture Award 2017

23 October 2017

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to announce nine finalists have been selected from the national call for entries for the Digital Portraiture Award 2017.

Lady Primrose Potter AC

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Lady Primrose Potter AC was born in Sydney in 1931 and lives in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Mal Meninga, 2018

Peter Hudson

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Talking heads

Portraits in the Landscape

In their own words lead researcher Louise Maher on the novel project that lets the Gallery’s portraits speak for themselves.

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.

Wayne Blair, 2007 (printed 2014)

Gift of the artist 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Nicholas Harding

Nicholas Harding (1956–2022) was one of Australia's most highly regarded artists, known for his portraits and drawings, and his light-filled, vigorously painted images of the bush and the coast.

5 portraits in the collection

Wayne Blair

Wayne Blair (b. 1971), director, actor and writer, became interested in acting and dance while a high school student in Rockhampton in the 1980s.

1 portrait in the collection

Sydney Cove medallion, 1789 by Josiah Wedgwood

The medallion

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

In recent years I have become fascinated by the so-called Sydney Cove Medallion (1789), a work of art that bridges the 10,000-mile gap between the newly established penal settlement at Port Jackson and the beating heart of Enlightenment England.

Making Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2004

The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

From 2015 to 2017 the Acquisition Fund was focussed on Reg Richardson AM by Mitch Cairns, a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2014, and a great example of minimalist portraiture.

Queen Elizabeth II

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, who subsequently became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

4 portraits in the collection

Rosina Carandini, mid 1860s

Charles Hewitt

Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Fannie Carandini, mid 1860s

Charles Hewitt

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Virginia Woolf, 1902 George Charles Beresford

Love my way

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2022

Inga Walton delves into the bohemian group of artists and writers who used each other as muses and transformed British culture.

Marianne Egan

Previous exhibition, 2019

Mary Anne Egan (also Marianne or Marian, née Cheers, 1818–1857), was born in Sydney, the daughter of ex-convicts.

1 portrait in the collection

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

Australian Love Stories

4 January 2021

Archived media releases 2021

A major new exhibition celebrating love in all its guises. Opening 20 March 2021.

L. Gordon Darling AC CMG

31 August 2015

Archived media releases 2015

The Chairman, Board, Director and all the Staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Founding Patron, who died peacefully in Melbourne this morning. He was 94.

The aviatrix

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Joanna Gilmour explores the extraordinary life of Australian female aviator Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE

What the tree saw: David Foster, 2018

by Jacqui Stockdale

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

An Intimate Portrait of an Australian Artist in 1930

Lauren Dalla examines the life of Australian painter Roy de Maistre and his portrait by Jean Shepeard.

Vincent Brady leading anti Bicentenary Protest, Brisbane, 1987 Michael Aird

Activating the space

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

Sandra Phillips on portraits of Indigenous activism from Cairns Art Gallery’s 2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture exhibition.

Staffordshire bull terrier belonging to the Rev. John Gower, 1851

Essential portraiture

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

Michael Desmond in conversation with University of Houston professor of philosophy Cynthia Freeland.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

by Imants Tillers

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AO, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

Janet Dawson

When soulmates Janet Dawson and Michael Boddy moved from Sydney to a property, Boddy was clear about why: ‘Our marriage is one long conversation - we moved to the bush so we could talk to each other without so many interruptions.’

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.

Through thick and thin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

The Final Frontier

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

Magda Keaney talks with Montalbetti+Campbell about their photographic portrait of Australian astronaut Andy Thomas.

Announcing.... In their own words

24 November 2020

Archived media releases 2020

Inspiring Australians tell their own stories in a unique new gallery audio tour, developed in collaboration with the National Library of Australia.

Marian Anderson, contralto, New York, June 30, 1955 Richard Avedon

The right note

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

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.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

The tragic tale of Tom Wills, the ‘inventor’ of Australian Rules Football.

Self Portrait, Stuart Campbell by Stuart Campbell

The essence of you

Magazine article by Lee Tulloch, 2011

Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.

Woman with Fair Hair and Pink Cardigan, 1949 by John Perceval.

The family scene

Magazine article, 2016

Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.

The fat of the land

Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.

Trumble's way

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

At the end of a summer break one is tempted to say that there is nothing much to report. Isn’t one restful holiday very much like another?

The world of Thea Proctor

The world of Thea Proctor was the National Portrait Gallery's second exhibition to follow the life of a single person, following Rarely Everage: The lives of Barry Humphries.

The more things change

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

National Photographic Portrait Prize curator, Sarah Engledow, finds reward in a difficult task and ultimately uncovers the essence of portraiture.

Christian Waller with Baldur, Undine and Siren at Fairy Hills, 1932 by Napier Waller

Enigma

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll contemplates the curious case of Christian Waller.

No Laughing Matter

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

The biographical exhibition of Barry Humphries was the first display of its kind at the National Portrait Gallery.

William Shakespeare, c. 1600-1610 associated with John Taylor

Take thy face hence

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour travels through time to explore the National Portrait Gallery London’s masterpieces in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

A nose by any other name

Magazine article by Jane Kinsman, 2013

In the exhibition William Kentridge: Drawn from Africa at the National Gallery of Australia, the artist marries Gogol's Tsarist Russia, with that of Stalin and the damaging history of his homeland, South Africa.

Judy Davis and Sam Neill in ‘My Brilliant Career’, 1979 David Kynoch

Moving still

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2022

Anne O’Hehir on the seductive power of the film still to reflect and shape ourselves and our cultural landscape.

Heartfelt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.

Drawing inspiration

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

Christopher Chapman absorbs the gentle touch of Don Bachardy’s portraiture.

The numbers man

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Dr. Sarah Engledow tells the story of Australia's first Federal statistician, Sir George Knibbs.

My father-in-law watering his garden, 1986 by Davida Allen

Lovingly observed

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Magazine article by Meredith Hughes, 2019

Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.

The art of multiplicity

Meredith Hughes explores a key Portrait Gallery work, emerging into the infinite iterations of identity.

History

About us

How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Stephen Valambras Graham, 2021

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Nannultera, a young cricketer of the Natives' Training Institution, Poonindie , 1854 John Michael Crossland

The catechist and the cricketer

Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.

Nicholas Harding

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Over the years the young Nicholas Harding got his hands on various mice and guinea pigs, but they served mainly to illustrate the concept of mortality.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

Generous Janice

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

Faces of war

Lecture, 14 May 2011

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

Lesley Harding, Curator, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne explores Albert Tucker’s experience of World War II, his interests in the intersection between psychology and creativity, and their influence on his portrait making.

Material culture

The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.

Helen Blaxland judging flower arrangements, c. 1940s photographer unknown

Petal to the mettle

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.

The silent partner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011