Search / charlie white

Oscar, 2015

Bonnie, 2012

Nasty, before the Dam, 2016

Georgia and Angus (Australian Gothic), 2016

The Bamugura

Aunty Helen

Noel Charlie, 2011

Patrick White, 1987

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Patrick White with Tom Jones, 1956

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Patrick White, 1990

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

Patrick White, Castle Hill, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000)

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

Patrick White #1, 1980

Purchased 1998

Patrick White by William Yang

An interview with photographer William Yang who recalls his encounters with the author Patrick White.

Patrick White and Manoly Lascaris, 1987

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

White Whiteley

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

Sidney Nolan and Patrick White, Adelaide Arts Festival, c. 1964 (printed 2015)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

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.

Cultural kaleidoscope

The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.

The activist A-list

Dr Sarah Engledow examines a number of figures in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery who were pioneers or substantial supporters of the seminal Australian environmental campaigns of the early 1970s and 1980s.

Painting writing

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Charlie, 2017

Paul White from 'The Cells Beneath'

Self portrait with Charlie (David Hockney; Charles Dare Scheips)

Dr Charlie Teo operating on my brain

Charlie's angles

Stephen Phillips talks to neurosurgeon Charlie Teo about his practice, perspectives and the anatomy of hope.

White Drummer Ghost Class

Finalist, MDPA 2015

Nancy Wake - The White Mouse, 2001

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Charlie Ford

I had my medium format camera to take like a nice portrait of the family and just happened to see Helen in this really natural pose, shutting the gate to keep the dog away from the spit.

All there in black and white

The National Portrait Gallery acquired a beguiling silhouette group portrait by Samuel Metford, an English artist who spent periods of his working life in America.

Charlie (Lord Charles Robert Carrington), 1874

Purchased 2013

Portrait 55

Explore convict art, photography by Ruth Hollick and Collier Schorr, an interview with neurosurgeon Charlie Teo, portraiture on money, and more!

Nothing black and white about the Greys

Marriage: a prolonged disaster

Black and white history

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

Nancy Wake

A portrait story describing the amazing life of World War II resistance fighter, Nancy Wake.

Thomas White, midshipman, c. 1838

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Professor Frank Fenner

An interview with Professor Frank Fenner who describes his life and the creation of his portrait.

Flora and Fauna, Giara: White Cockatoo

Sir George Young Kt, Admiral of the White Squadron, 1814

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

Lord Goddard, White City Stadium, London, c. 1957 (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.

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (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.

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (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.

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (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.

The Right Honourable Viscount Keppel, Admiral of the White Squadron, 1802

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (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.

The hidden half, 2019

A life shared

Wartime romance

Runners, 2010

Noah Taylor, 1994 (printed 2010)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Top of their game

Macfarlane Burnet and Patrick White

I'm not there

William Barak

Henry Wade, c. 1841

Gift of the Wade and Hannah families 2013

Colonel J.C.M. Traill DSO MC, c. 1921

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mr C.W. Traill 2001

Missy Higgins, 2004

Gift of the artist 2006

Portrait 21

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Margaret Cameron, the 'Truth and Likeness' exhibition, Reg Mombassa, Patrick White, George Foxhill and more.

The Home of the Blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 (2 volumes), 1915

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Portrait 43

This issue features Cindy Sherman, Tim Storrier, Brett Whiteley and Patrick White, contemporary Chinese portraiture, Charles Blackman and more.

Study for portrait of Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

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

William at Queensland University, 1968/2008

Gift of the artist 2022. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The aviator, 2008

Man of many faces, 2014

Larry Clark

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

Self portrait, 1999/2005

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AM 2013

The heart that is theirs, 2008

Buckley discovering himself to the early settlers, 1869

Purchased 2009

Ayman Kaake

This photo is a self portrait. So this is me. So you can see the eye resemblance. So, and this photo is inspired by my friends, my workplace.

Women Make History

Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.

Rachel, 2021

Purchased 2022

Charles and Adam, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Standing in the now and looking to the future

Ningali Lawford-Wolf

Recorded 1996

Jonno and Api, 2016

Jasperware medallion of Captain James Cook, 1779

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Portrait of a lady (Sonia McMahon), 1999

Gift of an anonymous donor 2014

Elvis At 21

Elvis at 21 is a photographic exhibition capturing Elvis’ rise to fame in the year 1956, before security and money built walls between him and his fans.

Queen Rose of the Wathaurung People, c. 1876-1877

Purchased 2017

Face of South Sudan, 2012

Abraham Admasu (School of St Yared student, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 winner announced

Finalists have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Winner and Highly Commended for the National Photographic Portrait Prize since December. It is our pleasure to announce the Winner for 2018 is Lee Grant for her portrait titled Charlie and Highly Commended has been awarded to Filomena Rizzo for her portrait titled My Olivia.

Isaiah, arms and legs folded, 2015

Reading the map

Collection in focus: Brook Andrew

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

Lyu with orchid, 2017

Mirror identical twins with autism, 2018

The great echo chamber, 2017

Charles Haddon Chambers, 1921

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Presence and Absence

This exhibition focuses on exploring national and communal identity through sculptural production in Australia, from the early decades of settlement through to the present day

Between Light and Shadow

The late Australian photographer Stuart Campbell produced superb photographs of Australian actors of stage and screen.

In Leopard Print

A Life in Service

Artist Mandy Martin describes the creation of her portrait of Aldo Giurgola, principal architect of Australia's Parliament House.

Maykarran, 2017

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video using projection

Emma Lee – flight

Thousand Mile Stare

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

Trukanini, n.d.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Allanah Dopson and Nicholas Heyward 2009

Alwar Balasubramaniam

Born in 1971 in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, Alwar Balasubramaniam's sculptures, prints and installations challenge our perceptions while creating forms for the invisible and the intangible.

Peter Hadfield OAM, from the series ‘People’s Park’, 2012

Rod Laver,

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Nolan Heads

Nolan Heads will focus on the portraiture of one of Australia's most original painters and one of the few to have achieved an international reputation

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

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.

International issue

Michael Desmond looks at the history of the Vanity Fair magazine in conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008

A Tribute to William Dobell

Adapted from A Tribute to William Dobell an exhibition presented by the Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, The National Gallery of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial. Dobell is of course, celebrated for his achievements in portraiture, winning the Archibald prize (1943, 1948 and 1959), the Wynne Prize (1948), and representing Australia at the 1954 Venice Biennale. Curator Mary Eagle concludes her essay in the catalogue of the exhibition thus, "Overall I see a dissonance in Dobell’s art and life

Kerry Walker, c. 1979

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Sean Slattery

This is Davide Di Giovanni and he was a principal dancer for the Sydney Dance Company for six or seven years. He got in touch with me to do some video work together and he was just so amazing.

Aubrey Beardsley

The Parkes

It wasn’t uncommon for the pro-beard fraternity of the mid nineteenth century to cite beards as a sign of wisdom on the grounds that Socrates and other ancient philosophers had worn them.

The 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize

Shea Kirk’s portrait of friend and fellow-artist Emma Armstrong-Porter has won the 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Philip Hunter, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Colin Preece, 1968

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Heidi Margocsy

Perrin is an amazing amazing woman, and what I wanted to do with this particular sitting was create something raw and stripped back.

Brett Whiteley - portrait 1, 1975

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

Thea Astley, 1985 (printed 2006)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Henry Lawson, c. 1919

Purchased 2010

Colour by numbers

Alistair McGhie explores the many shades of Angélica Dass’ Humanæ project.

The Jester (self portrait), 1923

Gift of Sir Richard Kingsland AO CBE DFC 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Capturing the Mouse

Nancy Wake AC (b. 1912), one of the most­ decorated women of World War 2, earned the name the 'White Mouse' for her maddening ability to evade the Gestapo.

Australia's Creative Diaspora

Paris based Australian photographer and filmmaker Nathalie Latham has an ongoing interest in the creative achievements of other Australian artists living in various locations around the globe.

Lost in thought, 2008

Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh)

Cyril Henschke in his tasting room at Keyneton, 1968

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

At the end of 2007 the National Portrait Gallery launched the inaugural National Youth Self Portrait Prize and artists aged between eighteen and twenty-five were invited to submit self portraits using a variety of media including drawing, painting, printmaking and traditional or digital photography.

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Christina Stead, 1981

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

The Athlete

Robert Hunter, July 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Bishop Spong, 2006

Self Portrait with Light Meter, 1987/2007

Purchased 2022

Heather Corrigan

The lovely faces in my photograph are that of my best friends. Some I have only known for a couple of months, others for most of my life. For me, recreating a family portrait with individuals I love was supremely important. I was reconstructing a photo of people I cherish with people I adore.

Harry Belafonte

Russell Crowe, 2001 (printed 2004)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Young Mo (Roy Rene), 1977

Gift of Richard Wherrett 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Henry Lee

Bill Leak, 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Liu Wei

Born 1965 in Beijing. Lives and works in Beijing.

Pro Hart & Associates, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Queen Elizabeth I

Robert O'Hara Burke, c. 1860

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Dave Graney and Clare Moore, 1996

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

The Possibilities of Portraiture

What does 'portraiture mean at the end of the 20th century? At the outset of building a national portrait collection it seems an appropriate question to investigate.

Textiles Scientist Voted the People’s Favourite

The black and white portrait of an elderly woman with sidelong glance and irreverent, contemplative smile has taken out the people’s choice award in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Y-erran-gou-la-ga, published 1807

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Zhang Xiaogang

Born 1958, Kunming, Yunnan Province. Lives and works in Beijing.

Lew Hoad, 1954

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

The Legend of Ruby and Archie

A bond in song

Natalie Imbruglia, 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

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.

Wainburranga (Paddy Fordham), 1986

Purchased 2005

Hop, skip, shoot

Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.

Study for portrait of Frank Fenner AC CMG MBE, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Mr Anthony Adair and Ms Karen MacLeod 2007

Study for portrait of Frank Fenner AC CMG MBE, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Mr Anthony Adair and Ms Karen MacLeod 2007

Study for portrait of Frank Fenner AC CMG MBE, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Mr Anthony Adair and Ms Karen MacLeod 2007

Of Pansy, plastiques and prudes

Near-naked subversion

David Gulpilil's Hands, 2004

Gift of the artist 2021

Henry Reynolds, 2012

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir Sidney Kidman, 1932

Purchased 2009

James Macarthur, c. 1836-1838

Purchased 2019

M.O. Ranger 3: Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground', 2001

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Francis Russell Nixon, c. 1845-1855

Purchased 2009

William Lanne, c. 1866

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by
Allanah Dopson & Nicholas Heyward 2009

Rosalie Kunoth, 1953 printed 1958

Purchased 2016

NPPP 2013 exhibition essay

Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2013 Prize.

Ron and Valerie Taylor, n.d.

Gift of Valerie Taylor and Ron Taylor AM 2006

Sarah Tuckfield, c. 1854

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

Francis Tuckfield, c. 1854

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

Surface tension

Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.

Bob Hawke, 2012

Purchased 2013

Vincent Fantauzzo on Hugh Jackman

Recorded 2021

Flynn of the Inland, 1955-1956

Purchased 1999

Observation point

Tim Storrier describes the influences on the development of his artistic style.

Narelle Autio

Recorded 2018

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal, 1807-1817

Purchased 2009

"Poet of the Hawkesbury" Robert Adamson, 2012

Gift of the artist 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Fay Zwicky, c. 1981 (printed 2018)

Purchased 2018

Ron Castan AM QC, 1995

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

Harold Holt, n.d.

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

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.

Self portrait, 1964

Gift of Denis Savill 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Max Dupain

During his long and distinguished career Max Dupain took thousands of photographs of people

Darrell, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Professor John Mulvaney, 1984

Gift of John and Jean Mulvaney 2000

Portrait of Alex Dimitriades, 2005

Gift of the artist 2006. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Paddy Jaminji, 1986

Purchased 2005

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.

Burnum Burnum, 1987 (printed 2010)

Purchased with funds provided by James Bain AM and Janette Bain 2010

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.

Dr Paul Scully-Power, 2005

Purchased with funds provided by donors 2006

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Gnoung-a-gnoung-a Mour-re-mour-ga (dit Collins), 1807-1817

Purchased 2009

Peter Sculthorpe, 1982

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

Trucaninny [Trukanini], wife of Woureddy [Wurati], 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Tender tragedies

George Foxhill's self portraits were the subject of a small focus display at the National Portrait Gallery in 2006.

Tim Fairfax, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

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

John Kaldor, 1975 (printed 2002)

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

Elle Macpherson, 2000

Purchased 2001

The World of Thea Proctor

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

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1978 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Brook Andrew

Recorded 2011

Dame Mary Gilmore, c. 1938

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Home truths

Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.

Burnum Burnum and Guboo Ted Thomas, 1984

Purchased 2004

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), 1943-1944

Purchased 2019

Caroline Chisholm, 1853

Purchased 2015

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.

Tim Flannery

Recorded 2016

Andrew Campbell

An interview with the photographer.

Miscellaneous obsessions

William Yang shares the stories behind his autobiographical self portraits that celebrate his cultural heritage and identity.

Geoffrey Legge and Frank Watters, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Elegance in exile

Elegance in exile is an exhibition surveying the work of Richard Read senior, Thomas Bock, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and Charles Rodius: four artists who, though exiled to Australia as convicts, created many of the most significant and elegant portraits of the colonial period.

Storytelling

The fourth row of paintings interweave Ngarranggarni, memories, relationships and Country.

Charles Lloyd Jones, n.d.

Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Considering Persephone - Gay Bilson, 2009

Purchased with funds provided by Jan and Gary Whyte, Brian and Barbara Crisp, Gloria Kurtze, Jonathon Mills and Lawsoft Pty Ltd 2011

Aden Ridgeway & pallbearers entering Sydney Town Hall, State Funeral for Kwementyaye Perkins AO, 25th October 2000, 2000

Purchased 2001

The more things change...

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

Three Dimensional

Kate Gollings describes an encounter between three generations of Australian photographers; David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings.

Colin Friels, n.d.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Alfred Simpson, c. 1866

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

Trukanini, 1866 (printed 1890s)

Purchased 2011

Nicholas Harding

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.

Australia and the Nobel Prize

This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia

Darren McDonald

The wild balancing act of McDonald’s home décor (is that there as a joke? where do I actually sit down? is this ironic or what? what a lovely photo of Darren and Robin in Europe!) is reflected in his own personality.

The Changing Face of the Scientist

Scientists tend to conjure up images of men in white coats in labs but this is just one stereotype in an evolving history of how we have perceived scientists, and how their profession has been understood over the years.

Queenie McKenzie Nakara, 1997

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

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.

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.

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.

Marcia Langton, 2009

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2009

Robyn Davidson (near Uluru), 1979 (printed 2014)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

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

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.

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi, 2010

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior, c. 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Aretha Brown

Gumbaynggirr artist Aretha Brown talks street art, collaboration and ghost stories with First Nations Curator and Meriam woman, Rebecca Ray.

Some lads #1, 1986

Gift of the artist 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

We encourage you to look, to feel, to think, to question and most importantly, to identify and connect.

At easel

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

Tom E Lewis [Balang T E Lewis], n.d.

Purchased 2021

Reflection

British novelist and poet, Michael Rosen, weaves a tale about his early encounters with creativity and the self-portrait of a childhood friend.

Leah Purcell, c. 2000

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Dave Graney, 1996

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

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.

Michelle de Kretser, Geography & History, 2013

Gift of Michelle de Kretser 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Observation point

I work with portraiture as a way to explore the nuances and complexities of contemporary selfhood and subjectivity.

Professor Harry Messel, 1973

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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.

Lust for life

Celebrated Sydney-based photographer and performer William Yang was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to produce a new performance work that premiered at the opening of the Gallery's new building.

The existential lens

Stephen Zagala discusses Richard Avedon’s work from an Australian perspective.

Eleanor Dark, c. 1935 (printed 1940)

Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Australian of the Year

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

Donors

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.

Friends

Warwick Baker’s photos of his friends are intimate. They hold a stillness that allows their subjects to be at ease.

Michelle Simmons

Recorded 2018

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.

Masters of Fare

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

MacKenzie family silhouette, 1846

Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007

Chinese Art

A short overview of modern Chinese art from 1949 to the present.

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Australian Visit

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.

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.

Sharon Zwi

We were in Gaza shooting a documentary and we had heard about the orphanages and wanted to visit and document some of the children who had lost parents during the wars in Gaza.

Dr Sarah Engledow

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

Supporters

Pamela See (Xue Mei-Ling)

Born: 1979, Brisbane
Works: Brisbane

Australians in Hollywood

Although perceived to be a recent phenomenon, the 'Aussie invasion' of Hollywood can actually be traced as far back as the early 1900s

Apollo's breath

Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography

20 20

Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Shirley Purdie

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

Big shots

Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.

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.

Naked nostalgia

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

David Williamson, 1974 (printed 2001)

Purchased 2001

Valerie Kirk

Born: 1957, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Works: Canberra

Glossy too

The Glossy 2 exhibition highlights the integral role magazine photography plays in illustrating and shaping our contemporary culture.

Arianne McNaught

An interview with the photographer.

Leah King-Smith

Born: 1957, Gympie, QLD
Works: Brisbane

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster, c. 1780

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family, the Ian Potter Foundation and John Schaeffer AO 2009

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.

Karen Quinlan AM

Karen Quinlan AM took up her appointment as Director of the National Portrait Gallery in December 2018. Karen commenced her curatorial career in 1994 at National Gallery of Victoria before becoming Curator of Bendigo Art Gallery in 1996, and the Director of Bendigo Art Gallery from 2000 until 2018. Karen was a Professor of Practice and previously Director of the La Trobe Art Institute La Trobe University, a former Trustee of the State Library of Victoria, Board Member and former Chair of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria.

Sir Donald Bradman, 1990

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

City boys

Christopher Chapman immerses himself in Larry Clark’s field of vision.

Activating the space

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

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.

Observation point

Australian artist and Archibald Prize winner, Jenny Sages reflects on her work.

Encounter at Kintore

Photographer Hari Ho describes the creation of his portrait of Papunya Tula artist Makinti Napanangka.

Xavier Herbert, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Dora Byrne, 1951

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

Bloodlines

Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).

Archie Roach, 1992 (printed 2010)

Purchased 2010

Husbands and Wives

'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.

To Look Within

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

Russell Crowe, 1995 (printed 2016)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

The eye and the heart

Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.

The Avedon effect

Dr Christopher Chapman explores how we can understand Richard Avedon's photographs.  

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

Feather voted the people’s favourite

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to announce that the People’s Choice award for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize goes to Natalie Grono from Byron Bay for her photograph Feather and the Goddess Pool 2014.

Primed

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

Robert Dessaix, 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Robert Dessaix 2000
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Public hanging

As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.

Memories

The second row of paintings recall stories relating to specific sites, experiences and activities.

Selfhood transcended

Anne Sanders and Christopher Chapman bring passionate characterisation to Express Yourself, the Portrait Gallery collection exhibition celebrating iconoclastic Australians.

Brenton McGeachie

An interview with the photographer.

The boy, the bed and the gun

Christopher Chapman contemplates the provocative performance art of Chris Burden. 

The news from Washington

Australia's former Cultural Attache to the USA, Ron Ramsey, describes the mood at the opening week of the revitalised American National Portrait Gallery.

Here and there

Nathalie Latham's exhibition Australia's Creative Diaspora explores Australians, in the arts, who live and work internationally.

Untitled (preparatory study for sculpture of Dr John Yu), 2003

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2004

Terms and conditions

Conditions of entry for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2015.

200 Years of Portraiture

To celebrate his family bicentenary, Malcolm Robertson looks at the portraiture legacy left by his ancestors.

Dr J.R. Vickery, O.B.E., 1967

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the CSIRO Agriculture and Food Division 2017

Harry Kewell, 2011

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Air wear

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

Visiting with a school group

Access support for students.

Country man

Angus Trumble’s tribute to the late Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser.

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.

Listening to form

National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman discusses the portraiture of Henri Matisse.

Masters of Fare

The exhibition Masters of Fare: Chefs, Winemaking, Providores celebrates those who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia.

Myles Nelson

It was definitely a candid encounter as was the expression on the face. It was constructed insofar as the image was deliberately taken from a distance so as to minimize intrusion and to magnify the effect of the image.

Creative space

Eric Smith describes the agony and finally the ecstasy of winning the 1982 Archibald Prize with the portrait of Peter Sculthorpe.

Archie Roach, 2008

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

All dressed up

Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman', c. 1869

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

Janet Tavener

Mikala is the eldest of my three daughters. I have photographed her on many an occasion. Needless to say we are both extremely at home with the practice.

Big it up

Former National Portrait Gallery Curator Magda Keaney was a member of the selection panel of the Schwepes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004 at the National Portrait Gallery London.

Gotta catch 'em all

Angus Trumble grabs his life jacket and rides the Pokémon GO tsunami.

Portrait story

Artist Vincent Fantauzzo on dyslexia, connection and virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman.

In a glance

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portrait of Ninette Dutton by Bette Mifsud.

Star signs

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

Mr Movies - Bill Collins OAM, 2009

Gift of Joan Collins and the Todd-Wilson family in memory of Bill Collins 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Nikki Toole

An interview with the photographer.

About the exhibition

The Seekers, 1993

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Self Creation

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

123 Faces

Magda Keaney examines the 123 Faces project by Simon Obarzanek.

Look who's coming to dinner

Michael Wardell’s personal insight into Jacques van der Merwe’s New Arrivals.

Restoring histories

Photographic conservation practices and the restoration of the Barbara Blackman photographic portrait.

Ken Done

With a mum who was married to a tradie, you’d think it a fair chance that the baby Jesus would have grown up with a dog in the house.

Vintage Max

Gael Newton delves into the life and art of renowned Australian photographer, Max Dupain.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

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

Fang Lijun

Born 1963, Handan, Hebei Province China. Lives and works in Beijing.

101 photographic portraits

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

The essence of you

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

Davida Allen

Going around a gallery with a child, we point to a painting of a dog and brightly ask ‘What’s that?’ If they don’t say ‘A dog’, we tell them that’s what it is. We don’t say it’s a shape inscribed by an artist that’s popularly understood to signify a dog. That’d only serve to foster a smarty-pants.

The long game

Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.

Pop poet

Dr Anne Sanders previews the works in the new focus exhibition Paul Kelly and The Portraits.

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.

Powerful energy

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

The Seekers reunite 50 years on, 2011

Gift of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Who's that?

Michael Desmond discusses the iconic picture of two Rugby League players which became known as 'The Gladiators'.

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.

Shen Jiawei

Shen Jiawei was born in China. During the Cultural Revolution he laboured in the Great Northern Wilderness, but even as he worked there, he gained recognition as an artist. 

Jude Rae

Jude Rae’s high reputation rests on her austere, cerebral still lifes of gas canisters, electric jugs and jars, which she groups and rearranges for paintings that catch their difficult curves and reflections. Her self-portrait’s likewise thoughtfully composed.

Jessica Mauboy, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Sony Music Entertainment Australia 2018

William Robinson

Unique in the world, perhaps, is a bronze sculpture that fuses the age-old human portrait bronze tradition, and the later genre of the bronze pug figurine: that’d be William Robinson’s Self-portrait with pug.

Time is precious

Headspace5: Crystal Gazing highlighted the diversity of materials and techniques that young people use for self expression. David Sequeira presents a personal view of three works in the exhibition.

Andrew Gaze, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

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.

Surfer artist rockstar

Christopher Chapman talks with Scott Redford about his character Reinhardt Dammn.

Insightful

Henri-Cartier-Bresson invented the grammar for photographing life in the 20th century.

Rock star

Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film. 

Extremely generous and incredibly close

Michael Desmond examines the daguerreotype portraits created by American artist Chuck Close.

Missionary positions

Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.

The 1890s to the 1940s

Although the tough, weathered, hard-drinking bushmen of the kind mythologised by writers like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson are popularly associated with the character of late nineteenth century Australia, it was also a time when alternative ideas about identity began to come into play.

Unknown drawer

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Handing on the baton

Michael Desmond explores the life of ballerina Irina Baranova through the portrait by Australian artist Jenny Sages.

Anna Culliton

Anna Culliton never had a colouring-in book when she was little. Her parents –Tony, a filmmaker, and Stephanie, a painter – wouldn’t let her have one. Instead, they insisted on her drawing her own pictures to colour-in. 

Suave

Charles Haddon Chambers the Australian-born playboy playwright settled permanently in London in 1880 but never lost his Australian stance when satirising the English.

Safe space

Amy Middleton on the power of portraiture in promoting inclusivity and connecting with intersectionality and diversity in all its forms.

Fugue in Yellow

Roger Benjamin explores the intriguing union of Lina Bryans and Alex Jelinek.

Vanity fair

Ashleigh Wadman rediscovers the Australian characters represented with a kindly touch by the British portrait artist Leslie Ward for the society magazine Vanity Fair.