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Collection in focus: Brook Andrew

Experience the artistic clout of Brook Andrew’s portraits of Marcia Langton AM and Anthony Mundine.

Andrew, 2013

Andrew Hay of Chapman Hay,

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Brook Andrew

Recorded 2011

Fatima, 2013

Dimitri, 2008

Matthew Martin, 2013

Bruno and Batman, 2010

Master chef, 2009

Matilda after the match, 2014

Self portrait, 1990

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait, 1990

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait, 1984-1985

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Rock art

Andrew Mayo talks to three of Australia’s most prominent and prolific music photographers — Martin Philbey, Kane Hibberd and Daniel Boud — about the challenges and inspiration behind their craft.

Something old, something new

Andrew Mayo considers the changing face of modern wedding photography through the eyes of two of its finest exponents, Dan O’Day and Kelly Tunney.

Fisheye

Andrew Mayo explores the portrait piscatorial, with help from two of its most creative practitioners.

The Shuttle

Andrew Leon, 2017

Purchased 2019

At easel

Tim Bonyhady recalls his experience as sitter for his close friend and former National Portrait Gallery Director, the late Andrew Sayers.

Kym Bonython

Former National Portrait Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers, describes John Brack's portrait of Kym Bonython.

Gil Jamieson, 1980

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gil Jamieson, 1981

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Joy Warren, 1997

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Andrew Mezei

Artist Andrew Mezei talks about his art practice and the process behind his portrait of Professor Penny Sackett. 

Penny Sackett and Andrew Mezei

Professor Penny Sackett and artist Andrew Mezei describe the process behind making the portrait.

Andrew Steiner, 2020 (printed 2021)

Gift of the artist 2021

Andrew Gaze, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

Andrew Sibley, painter, Sydney, 1960

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Andrew Southall, 1992

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Andrew Sayers, 2012

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2013

Andrew Southall, 1995

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Andrew B Charlton, 1930s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Andrew Ettingshausen, 1996

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artists 2003

The Chess Player, 2011

Farmer, fisher, scholar and scribe, 2019

Judy Cassab, 1991

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Fred Williams, 1980

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Betty Cuthbert, 2002

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Preparatory study for Betty Cuthbert, 2002

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Preparatory study for Betty Cuthbert, 2002

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Preparatory study for Betty Cuthbert, 2002

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Study for portrait of Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Allan McCulloch, 1980

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gordon Shepherdson, 1980

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Mirka Mora, 1983

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Mick Fanning at Snapper Rocks, 2010

Purchased 2011

Professor Penny Sackett, astronomer and physicist, 2011

Purchased 2012

Sigrid Thornton, 2000

Purchased 2010

Professor Geoffrey Burnstock, 1971

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Professor Geoffrey Burnstock, 1971

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Beach scene

Photographer Andrew Maccoll tells the story behind his portrait of dual world champion pro surfer Mick Fanning.

Eric Bana, 2006 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2012

Fred Williams, 1980

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Study for portrait of Senator John Button, 1992

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Senator John Button, 1987

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Self Creation

Former National Portrait Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers recalls meeting iconic Australian artist Sidney Nolan.

Mick Molloy, 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2009

Velasquez Touch

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers, explores the creative collaborations between four Australian artists living in Paris during the first years of the twentieth century.

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Painters' paradise

Andrew Sayers feels the warmth in the paintings Matthew Perceval made while the sun shone in southern France.

Facing Facts

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers describes the 1922 Self-portrait with Gladioli by George Lambert.

Me Myself I

Andrew Sayers explores the self-portraits created by Australian artist Sidney Nolan.

Flash

Introduction The National Portrait Gallery’s photographic exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus explores various interpretations of Australian sporting men and women.

Open Air

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

My Favourite Australian

My Favourite Australian is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.

Money and swat

Andrew Sayers discusses the real cost of George Lambert's Self portrait with gladioli 1922.

The Fairfax Gift

This article examines the portraits gifted to the National Portrait Gallery by Fairfax Holdings in 2003.

Courage, Self-analysis and Skill

The story behind George Lambert's Self-portrait with Gladioli.

Andrew Gaze

Basketballer Andrew Gaze and photographer George Fetting.

Rev. Andrew Mitchell Ramsay, 1865

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Sasha Grishin, 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Sir Henry Barkly

An interview with former National Portrait Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers, who describes the portrait of Sir Henry Barkly by Thomas Clark.

Professor Paul Korner, 2011

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ann Korner, Nicholas Korner, Anthony Korner and Harriet Bingham 2015

Picture this...

This edited version of a speech by Andrew Sayers examines some of the antecedents of the National Portrait Gallery and set out the ideas behind the modern Gallery and its collection.

Marcia Langton, Brook Andrew and Trent Walter

Professor Marcia Langton, artist Brook Andrew and printer Trent Walter discuss the creation of Marcia's portrait.

Peace, the Man and Hope, 2005

Gift of Brook Andrew in memory of Emmaline Rose Charnock 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

String of Pearls

Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.

Sir Zelman Cowen, 1982

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

In focus

Brook Andrew, Marcia Langton and Anthony Mundine.

Marcia Langton, 2009

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2009

The considered life

Andrew Sayers asks whether a portrait can truly be the examination of a life.

All in the Family

Portrait launch of Major-General Paul Cullen AC CBE DSO and Bar ED (Rtd) and George Judah Cohen.

Four from the 30s

Australia's tradition of sculpted portraits stretches back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and continues to sustain a group of dedicated sculptors.

Ben Quilty, 2012

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2014

Andrew Cowen

Andrew Cowen on photographing his friend Matthew Martin.

Andrew Sayers AM FAHA

The Chairman, Board, Director and staff mourn the loss of the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural director.

Andrew Gaze, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Ring Master, 2013

Andrew Campbell

An interview with the photographer.

Father and son, 2010

Portrait 51

This issue feature articles on Andrew Sayers, Gordon Darling, our summer exhibition Sideshow Alley and more.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2014

The National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition is selected from a national field of entries that reflect the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Portrait 1

The first edition of Portrait Magazine features an article on Sidney Nolan's portraiture by former Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers.

Portrait 37

This issue features Jenny Sages, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, Brook Andrew's portrait of Marcia Langton, Nicholas Harding, Lola Montez, Mick Molloy and more.

Study for portrait of Sir Rupert 'Dick" Hamer', 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sir Andrew Grimwade CBE 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Portrait 42

This issue features Del Kathryn Barton, Renaissance Portraiture in New York, Australian impressionists, Nikki Toole’s Skater project, National Photographic Portrait Prize, Andrew Maccoll & Mick Fanning and more.

Alexander Maurice Ramsay, 1978

Gift of Janet, Andrew, Kathryn and Eleanor Ramsay, daughters and son of Alexander Maurice Ramsay and Amy Jane Ramsay 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Intimate Portraits

Intimate Portraits is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints that explore the less public side of portraiture

Powerful energy

Dr Christopher Chapman explores the symbolism in the portrait commission of Marcia Langton by Brook Andrew.

Headspace 2

A dynamic young people's art exhibition, Hearts/Heads: Headspace II explored portraiture, produced by students from year 7 to year 12

COVID Self portrait 2

Balla Neba

A serious man

Alistair McGhie discusses Andrew MacColl's portrait photograph of Australian comedian Mick Molloy.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Dr Sarah Engledow

Dr Sarah Engledow was appointed Historian at the National Portrait Gallery in 1999.

Supporters

The spirit of the gift

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.

doppelgänger

doppelgänger is the second in a series of virtual exhibitions held by the National Portrait Gallery that explore contemporary notions of portraiture in the online environment.

Headspace 4

Facing Memory: Headspace 4 provides us with valuable insights into the thoughts, creative processes and art-making practices of secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 from sixty-two schools in the Australian Capital Territory, regional New South Wales and Victoria

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022)

The National Portrait Gallery is deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Throughout her 70-year reign, Her Majesty represented graciousness, humanity and stability during times of enormous social change.

Portrait 56

Browse the history of the National Photographic Portrait Prize, Cayce Zavaglia's embroidered portraiture, and modern wedding photography!

Of Kings and men

This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.

Portrait Paintings by Matthew Perceval

From 1967 until 1981 Matthew Perceval lived and painted in France and during those years produced a large body of portrait paintings.

On commission

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

New Australians bring creative wealth

Melbourne’s iconic culture-shapers

Contemporary Australian Portraits

Contemporary Australian Portraits is a cross section, a sampling, of some of the present-day directions in Australian portrait practice

Opening of the first Parliament of the Australian Commonwealth, 9th May 1901, 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Penny Amberg and Andrew Bond 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Eileen, 2017

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

National Portrait Gallery unveils twenty new portrait commissions to celebrate twenty years

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled twenty new portrait commissions of Australian leaders and individualists as part of its twentieth birthday celebrations in a new exhibition, 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Sean Godsell Architects

Based in Melbourne, Sean Godsell is known internationally for his distinctive residential architecture.

The fortepianist - portrait of Dr Geoffrey Lancaster, 2011

Gift of Dr Andrew Lu OAM 2013 . Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

2020 Annual Appeal

In 2020 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Sally Robinson's remarkable portrait of author Tim Winton.

Sir Robert Garran, 1922

Gift of John Garran 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Arts Project Australia

Arts Project Australia is a creative social enterprise based in Naarm/Melbourne that supports neurodiverse artists, promoting their work and advocating for inclusion within contemporary arts practice.

Collection: Icons

The second instalment of a display featuring bold contemporary portraits drawn from the collection. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

Diseased curiosity

Just after 10.00 o'clock on 3 December 1879, four prisoners were brought from their cells at Darlinghurst Gaol and placed in the dock of a courtroom heaving with agitated spectators

Cate Blanchett, 1998

Gift of the artist 1999

2021 Annual Appeal

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

Glossy - Faces Magazines Now

Magazines are the portrait galleries of the 90s... Glossy is about magazines. The exhibition presents the work of eight photographers, Australian by birth or long-term residency, who are producing portraits for publication in magazines around the world.

Annual Appeal

Michael Kelly, 1998

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sporting Archibald

General Cosgrove, Dili, East Timor 1999, 2006

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Cannon and L. Gordon Darling AC CMG 2006

David Armstrong, B.A., B. Phil., 1959

Gift of Jennifer Armstrong 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.

Portrait 64

Marian Anderson, emerging photographer Charles Dennington, piscatorial portraits, and the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou and more.

Studio

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R

Prison and death in the 19th century

These books include sixteen inmates including Ned Kelly, Captain Moonlite and Frederick Deeming and twelve sketches of the deceased, including several children. For Year 7 – 9 students.

Clem Hill (member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Portraits for Posterity

Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.

Leo Schofield, 2001

Commissioned with funds provided by Angela Nevill, Nevill Keating Pictures Ltd, in memory of William Keating 2001

Brian Croser AO, 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Icons Syndicate

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

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

Donors

Headspace 1

Headspace showcases portrait art produced by secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 in Government, Catholic and Independent schools in Canberra and its surrounding regions extending to Wollongong, Deniliquin, Leeton, Crookwell, Bombala, Narooma and Albury

Thousand Mile Stare

Thousand mile stare provides a unique portrait of people of rural Australia

Mirror With A Memory

This is the first major exhibition to examine photographic portraiture in Australia, from its beginnings in the early 1840s to the present day

Cannonical

Walter Lindrum, world-famous billiards player, was one of Australia's greatest sporting champions.

Fred Gruen, 1941

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds donated by Andrew Sayers and from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Reveries

Featuring works by Australian and New Zealand photographers from the late 1970s up to the present day Reveries focuses on images made in the presence of or consciousness of death.

Arthur Boyd Portraits

This is the first in a series of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions to survey the portraits painted by artists who are not thought of, primarily, as portrait painters

Past directors

Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.

Lewis Morley

Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun

Peter Brew-Bevan Portraits

In this exhibition Sydney based photographer Peter Brew-Bevan brings together an intimate collection of works that highlight his passion for the genre of portraiture over the last 10 years

The painter and the princess

Michael Desmond interviews Ralph Heimans about his portrait of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

Valerie Kirk

Born: 1957, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Works: Canberra

Clifton Pugh

This exhibition offers a comprehensive display of Clifton Pugh's portraits revealing his development and growth from tonal paintings to a unique style that was in demand from politicians, artists, academics and Australian personalities.

Making Portraits

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

Portrait of Cate Blanchett, 2008

Commissioned with funds provided by Ian Darling 2008

Richard Walley OAM honoured in new Portrait Gallery commission

A new commissioned portrait funded by the Gallery’s Foundation will be launched at Murdoch University in Perth tonight, Wednesday 2 September.

Maria Kozic and Philip Brophy 1, 1981, 1981 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Reflections on castles

Andrew Sayers describes the unique characteristics of the international band of portrait galleries.

Recognition

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

Rick Amor

Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.

So Fine

This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.

Australian Princess

The full-length portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark by artist Jiawei Shen, has become a destination piece for visitors.

In the round

Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.

Hon Tom Hughes KC, 2001

Commissioned with funds provided by Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull 2003

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.

Mark Strizic

This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.

To Look Within

This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of self-portraits in Australia, from the colonial period to the present

Glossy 2

Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.

A Captured Moment

The acquisition of David Moore's archive of portrait photographs for the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Twenty new portraits marking Portrait Gallery’s twentieth birthday

To celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s twentieth anniversary as an institution, twenty portraits of outstanding Australian individuals have been commissioned for the permanent collection. This is the largest undertaking for the Gallery’s commissioning program in its twenty-year existence.

Interiors

Christopher Chapman previews the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009.

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Beyond the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, a number of other notable anniversaries converge this year. Waterloo deserves a little focussed consideration, for in the decades following 1815 numerous Waterloo and Peninsular War veterans came to Australia.

Uncommon Australians

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

Virtually human

Gillian Raymond describes the National Portrait Gallery's second virtual exhibition doppelgänger.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Lord Kitchener

Once central to military strategy and venerated in patriotic households, Lord Kitchener is now largely forgotten.

Canon Australia takes National Photographic Portrait Prize first place to new heights

Entries are now open for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019, with the winner set to receive $52,000 in cash and prizes, including superb contributions from new sponsor, Canon Australia.

The Quiet Australian

Robert Oatley talks about the repatriation of the John Webber portrait of Captain James Cook.

A Meeting of Great Minds

The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.

Sideshow Alley

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.

True Stories

The story behind the creation of the portrait of Helen Garner by Jenny Sages.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Let’s look closely at the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 together! For students and family groups.

The first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America, 1878

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

The story of us

Gallery directors Karen Quinlan and Tony Ellwood talk to Penelope Grist about the NPG and NGV collaborative exhibition, Who Are You: Australian Portraiture.

101 photographic portraits

Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.

Portrait of the Gallery

A design diary retrospective.

Time and light

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.

Portrait of Professors Margaret Gardner and Glyn Davis, 2017

Commissioned with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins, Sir Roderick Carnegie AC, Rupert Myer AO and Annabel Myer, Louise and Martyn Myer Foundation, Peter and Ruth McMullin, Diana Carlton, Professor Derek Denton AC, Harold Mitchell AC, Peter Jopling AM KC, Andrew and Liz Mackenzie, Patricia Patten, Tamie Fraser AO, Bruce Parncutt and Robin Campbell, Lauraine Diggins, Steven Skala AO and Lousje Skala 2017

Melanie Faith Dove

I had been watching Agnes with intrigue, her face and profile were so mesmerizing. On our final day together I pulled her aside and convinced her that she had such an amazing face that I needed to get a photograph for myself. It was very spontaneous in that I decided quickly how it would best look and shot it in only two frames.

An Australian story

In his speech launching the new National Portrait Gallery building on 3 December 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the Gallery in a national and historical context.

Krystal Seigerman

The photograph was a brief, candid moment, which unfolded into a portrait. Peter and I were in Silverton, NSW, chatting as our students explored the town. The weak afternoon light suddenly became dramatic and defined, so I asked Peter if I could take his portrait.

L. Gordon Darling AC CMG

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 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.

Portrait Donors

Star signs

Barry York charts the course from childhood request to autographed celebrity portrait anthology.

Reflections on portraiture

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

Tracks in the sand

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses Quentin Jones's photograph of Australian author Tim Winton.

NPPP 2009 exhibition essay

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2009 Prize.

2023 Annual Appeal

In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.

Chance encounter

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of one of Melbourne's early socialites, Jessie Eyre Williams.

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

Promise Fulfilled

The life and achievements of Sir Edward Holden, who is represented in the portrait collection by a bust created by Leslie Bowles.

Empire records

Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.

20/20 launch speech

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

Announcing Shakespeare to Winehouse

More than eighty treasures from the National Portrait Gallery London will travel to Canberra for a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from March 2022.

Poet of the Fleeting Moment

Mark Strizic's work crosses a broad spectrum of photographic fields including urban, industrial, commercial, and architectural photography. 

In and out of focus

Gael Newton looks at Australian photography, film and the sixties through the novel lens of Mark Strizic.

Conduct becoming

Penelope Grist speaks to Bill Henson and Simone Young to discover the origins of the artist’s stunning photographic triptych.

All in the Family

In 2000, Barbara Blackman donated a portrait of her close friends - poet Judith Wright, her husband Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith - painted by Charles Blackman.

Giving and getting

The exhibition Portraits for Posterity celebrates gifts to the Gallery, of purchases made with donated funds, and testifies to the generosity and community spirit of Australians.

You are who?

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

Illuminating history

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

NPPP 2012 learning resource

Exploring select works from the NPPP 2012. For secondary students.

Being Cate

A moving portrait of Cate Blanchett unfolds as an inspired pairing of medium and subject.

Provocative talks on Saturdays in September

Join The Saturday Paper’s chief political correspondent, Karen Middleton, for A Month of Saturdays – afternoon conversations bringing current affairs experts to the Gallery for engaging, real-time discussions about the topics that matter.

A sketch for some portraits

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

Support Crew

Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.

Hard truths

Jennifer Higgie reveals how Alice Neel reinvigorated 20th century portraiture with her honest and perceptive depictions of the human experience.

Thousand mile stare

John Elliott talks about his photographic portrait practice, including his iconic image of Slim Dusty arm-in-arm with Dame Edna Everage.

The highest honour

Bringing eminent scientist Frank Fenner and artist Jude Rae together for the National Portrait Gallery commission was like matchmaking.

The Thyssen Art Macabre

Books seldom make me angry but this one did. At first, I was powerfully struck by the uncanny parallels that existed between the Mellons of Pittsburgh and the Thyssens of the Ruhr through the same period, essentially the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Storied portrait

Emily Casey takes in Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait, Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe.

Wicked but Virtuous

Faith Stellmaker shares pioneering artist and restaurateur Mirka Mora’s lasting legacy on Melbourne’s art, dining and culture.

Reflections

All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War exhibition co-curators Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman reflect on the evolution of the Gallery’s Anzac Centenary exhibition.

The essence of you

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

Uncommon Australians

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.

Reveries

The exhibition Reveries: Photography and mortality is a powerful display which brings together images that depict the last phase of people's lives.

Living landscape

Gillian Raymond ponders landscapes as self-portraiture in Michael Taylor’s intimate expressionism.

To arrive at hope

Penelope Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2020 Prize.

Through blue eyes

Works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan bring the desert, the misty seashore and the hot Monaro plains to exhibition Open Air: Portraits in the landscape.

History

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

Seduce, Amuse, Entertain

Michael Desmond, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2007 Prize.

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Michael Desmond profiles a handful of the entrants in first National Photographic Portrait Prize and notes emerging themes and categories.

Mugshots

A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.

Everybody, look serious

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2014 Prize.

Waiting for Godot

'Artist and actors, advancing spasmodically, find their rhythm together' writes Sarah Engledow.

Washington preview

Ron Ramsey, former Director of Cultural Relations at the Embassy of Australia interviewed NPG Washington Director, Marc Pachter, about their building renovations.

Recollections of a sinologist sitter

Professor Stephen Fitzgerald, Australia’s first Ambassador to China, traces the historical course from sino-australian cultural engagement to a maturing Australian identity.

Mental as everything

Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.

Tiny Trace of a Colonial Giant

At just 7.8 x 6.2 cm, the daguerreotype of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa is one of the smallest works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Good, bad and the ugly

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

Adam’s Prize Apples

Pamela Gerrish Nunn explores New Zealand’s premium award for portraiture.

The bright-eyed Mariner

Paper, boy

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

Canadian identities

An exploration of national identity in the Canadian context drawn from the symposium Face to Face at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2004.

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

Prima facie

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

Self-effacing

Michael Wardell samples the fare in the University of Queensland National Self-portrait Prize.

The mind's eye

Christopher Chapman takes a trip through the doors of perception, arriving at the junction of surrealism and psychoanalysis.

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits

Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.

Friends and Acquaintances

Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.

Kristin Headlam

Basil grew into a speckled beauty – a long-legged leaper and an exceptionally vocal dog, with a great register of sounds, ascending in shock value from a whimper to a growl to a bark to a yelp that’s a violation of the ears.

Flash mob

Sarah Engledow trains her exacting lens on the nine photographs from 20/20.

Listomania

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Getting bare

How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.

An actress and her fans

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

Christmas Island

This is my last Trumbology before, in a little more than a week from now, I pass to my successor Karen Quinlan the precious baton of the Directorship of the National Portrait Gallery.

Naked nostalgia

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

Regarding Henrys

Sarah Engledow ponders the divergent legacies of Messrs Kendall and Lawson.

The more things change...

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.

Petal to the mettle

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

Some prime ministers

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