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Purchased 2017
Barry Gibb (b. 1946) and twins Robin (b. 1949) and Maurice Gibb (1949-2003), were the brothers comprising the band The Bee Gees.
1 portrait in the collection
Barry Jones, politician, lawyer and writer.
Alfred Barry (1826-1910), Anglican bishop of Sydney and primate of the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, was educated at King’s College, London and at Cambridge.
2 portraits in the collection
The exhibition begins with Barry's childhood in Camberwell, Melbourne and chronicles his days as a struggling actor in Australia and England, his creation of characters including Barry McKenzie, Dame Edna Everage, Sandy Stone and Sir Les Patterson
Barry Tuckwell AC OBE (1931-2020), horn soloist, conductor, teacher and author spent his early years in Melbourne, where he learned a variety of instruments including piano and violin.
1 portrait in the collection
Barry Walsh (b. 1951) is a painter, photographer and printmaker who has studied in Italy and France and has exhibited since the early '80s in Europe as well as Australia.
1 portrait in the collection
Barry Humphries AO CBE (1934–2023), actor, writer and artist, was the world's all-time most successful solo theatrical performer.
12 portraits in the collection
Barry Sullivan (1821-1891), English actor, performed on the Melbourne stage between 1862 and 1866.
1 portrait in the collection
Barry Jones AC (b. 1932) is a politician, lawyer and writer. He was educated at the University of Melbourne and worked as a public servant and high school teacher before rising to fame as Australia's Quiz champion from 1960 to 1968.
2 portraits in the collection
Recorded 1981
Recorded 2022
Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2003
Barry York charts the course from childhood request to autographed celebrity portrait anthology.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Purchased 2018
Purchased with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan 2000
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018
Gift of Marlene McCarthy 2006. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999
Gift of the artist 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Timothy Fairfax AC 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC, Allan Myers AC KC and Maria Myers AC 2022
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rabbi John Levi AC 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
The biographical exhibition of Barry Humphries was the first display of its kind at the National Portrait Gallery.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2010
Gift of the artist 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
Gift of Helga Leunig 2013
Commissioned 2007
Purchased 2013
Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The exhibition includes such striking works as Portrait of Fred Williams, and Barry Humphries in the character of Edna Everage, the enigmatic Portrait of Hal Hattam, a group of revealing self portraits including the mysterious Inside and Outside, as well as endearing portraits of the artist's children.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
Bruce Beresford (b. 1940), director, made his first film while an undergraduate at the University of Sydney in the early 1960s.
2 portraits in the collection
Known as the 'Kings of Disco', The Bee Gees have sold over 120 million records worldwide and are among the highest-selling musical artists in history.
1 portrait in the collection
This issue of Portrait Magazine features articles about the NPG's Barry Humphries exhibition and Polly Borland's portrait of The Queen.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Kathleen Barry 2009
Kim Spooner (b. 1955), artist, studied at the University of Sydney and the Julian Ashton School, from which she gained a travel scholarship.
2 portraits in the collection
Gift of the artist 2017
Offering portraiture in all its flavours: painting, photography, drawing, textiles, printmaking and sculpture, this exhibition is a feast for minds and eyes.
Purchased 2021
Paul Capsis (b. 1964), performer, was raised by his mother and grandmother in the inner-Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.
1 portrait in the collection
Sarah Engledow steps up to the footlights and applauds the storyline behind Nicholas Harding's portraits of actor John Bell.
The National Photographic Portrait Prize 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.
Esther Erlich (b. 1955), a Melbourne-based painter, has been exhibiting since the early 1980s, often with the Libby Edwards Galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and the Barry Newton Gallery in Adelaide.
3 portraits in the collection
Purchased 2002
Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry
Miranda Otto (b. 1967), actress, is the daughter of the prominent Australian actor Barry Otto.
3 portraits in the collection
Fiona Lowry is a Sydney-based artist. Having held her first solo exhibition in 2002, she exhibited at Sydney’s Gallery Barry Keldoulis from 2004 to 2010; from 2010 she was also represented by Hugo Michell in Adelaide, and she is currently handled by Martin Browne Contemporary in Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Louise Hearman (b. 1963), graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1984 and has built her visual arts career over the decades since.
2 portraits in the collection
Geoffrey Legge (b. 1935) and Frank Watters (1934–2020) ran Watters Gallery in Darlinghurst from 1964 to 2018.
3 portraits in the collection
Geoffrey Legge (b. 1935) and Frank Watters (1934–2020) ran Watters Gallery in Darlinghurst from 1964 to 2018.
3 portraits in the collection
Andrew Quilty left school after completing Year 10 in 1999, and went to study photography at TAFE, graduating in 2004.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2021
Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018
Margaret Olley AC (1923-2011), painter, studied art at East Sydney Technical College and the Grande Chaumière in Paris.
6 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun
The World of Thea Proctor is the Portrait Gallery's second major biographical exhibition - that is, the second exhibition to focus exclusively on the life and work of a single individual
John Passmore (1904-1984), painter, studied with Julian Ashton in Sydney between the ages of fourteen and twenty-nine, and took some instruction from George Lambert.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Gift of the artist 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Thea Proctor (1879–1966), artist and stylesetter, trained at the Julian Ashton School before leaving Australia for London in 1903.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Lewis Morley (1925–2013) established his reputation as one of the key British photographers of the 1960s and is known for his iconic image of a nude Christine Keeler straddling an Arne Jacobsen chair.
50 portraits in the collection
Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Richard Tognetti AO (b. 1965), violinist, conductor and composer, trained with William Primrose in Wollongong and Alice Waten in Sydney before undertaking further studies with Igor Ozim in Switzerland.
2 portraits in the collection
Margaret Fink AO (b. 1933), film producer, was a key figure in the renaissance of Australian cinema in the 1970s.
2 portraits in the collection
Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.
Purchased 2006
Sir Edward Eyre Williams (1813–1880), judge and barrister, arrived in Port Phillip in 1842 having been admitted to the Bar in London nine years earlier.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012
Bequest of Nick Enright AM 2004
David Dridan (b. 1932), artist, studied at the South Australian School of Art and later at East Sydney Technical College.
1 portrait in the collection
Robert Whitaker, English photographer, spent three years in Melbourne in the early 1960s, becoming friends with Mirka and Georges Mora, Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer, the Heide crowd and Martin Sharp and Richard Neville.
1 portrait in the collection
Joan Sutherland, Robert Helpmann and Raigh Roe
Purchased 2020
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.
Thomas Foster Chuck (1826-1898), photographer and entrepreneur, was born in London and arrived in Victoria in 1861.
4 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Dridan OAM 2017
Carl Cooper (1912-1966), ceramic decorator, contracted poliomyelitis in his twenties.
1 portrait in the collection
David Strachan (1919–1970), painter and printmaker, was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then studied art at the Slade School in London.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010
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.
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.
Explore the beauty and symbolism of flowers in this weird and wonderful floral extravaganza that showcases more than 50 portraits from the collection, new acquisitions and selected loans.
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery Study Collection, Canberra
Gift of John Molony 2018
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009
Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.
Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007
Inspiring Australians tell their own stories in a unique new gallery audio tour, developed in collaboration with the National Library of Australia.
A new painting by Jiawei Shen captures the vision and resolve of the Gallery's founder, L. Gordon Darling AC CMG.
Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of one of Melbourne's early socialites, Jessie Eyre Williams.
In 2006 the National Portrait Gallery acquired a splendid portrait of Victoria's first governor, Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe by Thomas Woolner.
John Zubrzycki meets Australian paint pioneer Jim Cobb.
Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.
David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.
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.
David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.
The Kylie exhibition celebrated the significant achievements of one of Australia's most internationally recognisable faces and gave the general public a rare glimpse into her glamorous life.
Christopher Chapman looks at influences and insight in the formative years of Arthur Boyd.
Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.
In their own words lead researcher Louise Maher on the novel project that lets the Gallery’s portraits speak for themselves.
Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.
Stephen Phillips talks to neurosurgeon Charlie Teo about his practice, perspectives and the anatomy of hope.
Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.
Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.
Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.
Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.
Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.
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.
How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be
Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.
Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.
Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.
One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.