Search / david young

Sir George Young (1732–1810), naval officer, first went to sea at the age of fourteen and saw action in Europe and India before joining the East India Company’s marine in 1753.

1 portrait in the collection

John Young

John Young, mezzotint engraver, studied under Valentine Green then worked with several of the painters who collaborated with Green, notably Benjamin West, John Hoppner and Johann Gerhard Huck.

1 portrait in the collection

Simone Young AM

Simone Young AM (b. 1961) is one of the leading conductors of her generation.

1 portrait in the collection

Angus Young

Angus Young (b. 1955), guitarist and songwriter, was a founding member of Australia's most successful ever band, AC/DC.

3 portraits in the collection

Sir John Young

Sir John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar (1807-1876), governor of New South Wales from 1861 to 1867, was the son of a director of the East India Co.

1 portrait in the collection

Nick Young

Portrait, papercut silhouette drawing

Full time professional artist represented by the Woollahra Times Gallery in Sydney and Hart Galleries in Queensland..

1 portrait in the collection

Ah Young, 2017

Pamela See

Purchased 2019

Bill Henson

Recorded 2021

Nat Young, c. 1968

Albert Falzon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Witzig 2006

Bruce Beresford at home in Birchgrove, 2018

Zoe Young

Pro Hart & Associates, 2004

Nick Young

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Nat in Hawaii, 1967

John Witzig

Gift of the artist 2008

Simone Young, 2002

Portrait, triptych of type C photographs on on paper

Commissioned with funds from the Farrell Family Foundation and the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Angus Young, 2003 (printed 2014)

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

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

Sir John Young, c. 1862

Freeman Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Simone Young

Simone Young

Angus Young, AC/DC, LA, 1978

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Simone Young

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia, 1978 (printed 2010)

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2010

Yaritji Tjingila Young, 2021

Robert Fielding

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Arcadia

Sound of the sea

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2017

An exhibition of photographs by John Witzig, drawings by Nicholas Harding and film footage by Albe Falzon, expressive of the free-spirited, hot-blooded energy of Australian surfers under the cloud of conscription to Vietnam.

Conduct becoming

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

No shirt, no service

The Illustrated London News after Jesse Young

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

The Australian exploring expedition travelling through scrub (from the Illustrated London News 1879)

The Australian exploring expedition travelling through scrub (from the Illustrated London News 1879), 1876

Portrait, wood engraving on paper

Purchased 2010

Painting mates

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

Michael Desmond discusses Fred Williams' portraits of friends, artist Clifton Pugh, David Aspden and writer Stephen Murray-Smith, and the stylistic connections between his portraits and landscapes.

Lord Viscount Sydney, c. 1790

John Young after Gilbert Stuart

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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

Blood, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office after John Smart

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

David Potts reflected in a magazine page

David Potts reflected in a magazine page, c. 1949 (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.

David Gulpilil, Arnhem Land, 1981 (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

Aboriginal couple, Finniss Springs Mission, South Australia

Aboriginal couple, Finniss Springs Mission, South Australia, 1959 (printed 2000)

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.

Nicholas Hannen and Athene Seyler, London

Nicholas Hannen and Athene Seyler, London, c. 1952 (printed 2000)

Daddy Cool, Melbourne, 1974

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2005

Professor Gilbert Murray, OM, Oxford, c. 1957 (printed 2000)

Ed Murrow, New York, 1956 (printed 2000)

David Low

Previous exhibition, 2011

Sir David Low, caricaturist, published his first cartoon in the British comic Big Budget at the age of eleven, while resident in his native New Zealand.

5 portraits in the collection

David M Thomas

Dream Job

Since 1993 Brisbane-based artist David M Thomas has investigated self identity through art works that encompass painting, text, audio, video and performance.

David, 2016

by David Darcy

David Rankin OAM

David Rankin OAM (b. 1946) came to Australia with his English parents at the age of two in 1948.

1 portrait in the collection

David Simpson

David Simpson, photographer, is represented in the Art Gallery of South Australia, his subjects including HM Queen Elizabeth II, Don Bradman, David Gulpilil and Sir Mark and Lady Oliphant.

1 portrait in the collection

David McKenzie Dow OBE

David McKenzie Dow OBE (1870-1953) was official secretary for Australia in America in 1924-31, and acting commissioner-general in 1931-38.

1 portrait in the collection

David Potts

David Potts (1926-2012) was a documentary photographer with a career spanning more than fifty years.

3 portraits in the collection

David Combe

David Combe (b.1943) became interested in politics at Adelaide University and was motivated to join the ALP in 1962, partly through his friendship with Don Dunstan.

1 portrait in the collection

David Jones

David Jones (1793-1873), merchant, began his retail career in Pembrokeshire and London before emigrating to Sydney via Hobart.

1 portrait in the collection

David Moore

David Moore was a photographer who helped to establish the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney with colleague Wesley Stacey.

115 portraits in the collection

David Rastovich

'Playwriting, people and punchlines'

David 'Rasta' Rastovich (b. 1979), professional surfer and conservation activist, was born in rural New Zealand.

1 portrait in the collection

David Williamson

Australian playwright, David Williamson tells us tales from his career.

David Campese AM

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

1 portrait in the collection

David Brooks

David Brooks, poet, literary critic and academic, studied in the early 1970s at the Australian National University, where he fell in with a group of Canberra writers including AD Hope, Rosemary Dobson, David Campbell and Judith Wright and co-founded Open Door Press with Alan Gould.

1 portrait in the collection

David Gwinnutt

David Gwinnutt has photographed many artists, performers and fashion personalities.

1 portrait in the collection

David Aspden

David Aspden (1935-2005), artist, came to Australia from England in 1950.

1 portrait in the collection

David Strachan

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

David Collins

David Collins (1756–1810), lieutenant-governor, began his career in the British Navy, rising to the rank of captain before being returning to dry land and being placed on half-pay in late 1783.

1 portrait in the collection

David Rosetzky

David Rosetzky (b. 1970) is a Melbourne-based contemporary artist working across photography, video and installation.

2 portraits in the collection

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

David Hockney

David Warren

David Warren graduated from RMIT in 1964, after which he taught for some twenty years at the Prahran School of Art, RMIT and Ballarat CAE.

1 portrait in the collection

David Godfrey

Mervyn Godfrey OAM (1924-2013), Dean Godfrey (b. 1970), David Godfrey (b.

1 portrait in the collection

David Moore, Corio, Victoria, 1942 (printed 2000)

Runners, 2010

by David Kelly

David McComb

David McComb (1962-1999) was the songwriter and frontman for The Triffids, who remain one of Australia's best-loved post-punk bands.

1 portrait in the collection

David Chalmers

David Chalmers (b. 1966) is world-renowned in the field of the philosophy of consciousness.

2 portraits in the collection

David Unaipon

David Unaipon (1872-1967) writer, public speaker and inventor, was a Ngarrindjeri man, fourth of nine children of the evangelist James Ngunaitponi and his wife Nymbulda, both of whom were Yaraldi speakers.

1 portrait in the collection

David Smith

David Smith, painter, draughtsman, printmaker and teacher, was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, where he attended the Technical School and the Lowestoft and Norwich Schools of Art.

1 portrait in the collection

David Davies

David Davies began studying art at the School of Mines and Industries in his birthplace, Ballarat.

1 portrait in the collection

David Williamson AO

David Williamson AO (b. 1942), playwright, studied and lectured in mechanical engineering and psychology before achieving success with his works for the stage.

4 portraits in the collection

David Gist

David Gist is an Acquisitions Officer at the Australian War Memorial, the most recent position in a career spanning a broad range of fields in the museums sector.

David Foster OAM

David Foster OAM (b. 1957), champion axeman, is the most successful competitor in the history of the sport of woodchopping.

1 portrait in the collection

David Walsh

David Walsh (b. 1961), professional gambler, art collector and gallerist, established Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).

1 portrait in the collection

David Roberts

Melbourne-based photographer David Roberts was born in Forest City, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University with an honours degree in philosophy.

4 portraits in the collection

David Campbell

David Campbell (1952–1984) decided to become an artist while a student at Erina High on the New South Wales Central Coast.

3 portraits in the collection

David Malouf

David Malouf (b.1934), educated at Brisbane Grammar and the University of Queensland, left Australia at the age of 24 and remained abroad for a decade, teaching in England and travelling throughout Europe.

3 portraits in the collection

David McAllister AC

David McAllister AC (b. 1963), dancer and former artistic director of the Australian Ballet, was born in Perth and began studying ballet in the early 1970s.

3 portraits in the collection

David Wenham AM

David Wenham AM (b. 1965), actor, studied drama at the Nepean College of Advanced Education (now the University of Western Sydney), graduating with a BA in Performing Arts in 1987.

1 portrait in the collection

David Naseby

David Naseby (1937–2022) was born in England and studied in the United Kingdom before coming to Australia in 1953.

8 portraits in the collection

David Gulpilil AM

David Gulpilil AM (1953-2021), actor and dancer, was a Yolngu man of the Mandhalpuyngu language group and was born near Maningrida in Arnhem Land.

5 portraits in the collection

David Dridan OAM

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

David Mitchell

David Mitchell (1829-1916), builder, contractor and businessman, arrived in Melbourne in mid-1852 in the Anna.

1 portrait in the collection

Mr David Mort

States of significance: NSW.

David McAllister

Recorded 2017

David Williamson

Recorded 1976

David Malouf

Recorded 2016

David Aspden

Recorded 1970

Stuart, 2008

by David Finnegan

Lyu with orchid, 2017

by David Rosetzky

David Moore part two

Recorded 1973

Untitled, 2013

by David Apostol

Eddie Liu, 2012

by David Kelly

Tre, Dubbo, 2017

by David Prichard

Make Hay, 2006

by David Anderson

Alyssa, 2006

by David Knight

Olive, 2011

by David Glazebrook

Len Green, 2007

by David Sandison

David Moore part one

Recorded 1973

My Two Sides, 2016

by David Anthony Knight

Beau & Leon, 2014

by David Rosendale

Puddled state, 2008

by David Wills

Wendy Bowman, 2019

David Darcy

Australian Portrait, 2006

by David Helsham

Thirty Three Weeks, 2013

by David Roberts

Levi Miller on the set of "Red Dog: True Blue", 2015

by David Darcy

People's Choice Award announcement

We are delighted to announce the winner of the $10,000 People's Choice Award for the inaugural Darling Portrait Prize is David Darcy for his painting of farmer and environmentalist Wendy Bowman.

Shane Balcomb aka. Sasha Trajik-Mole, drag queen, 2011

by David Kelly

Self portrait, Cyprus, 1953

David Potts

Portrait, oil on canvas board

Purchased 2001

Portrait of an Artist (Self portrait), 1944

David Strachan

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Bookmakers at race meeting, England, c. 1954 (printed 2000)

A folio of British street portraits 1824–1844

Copeman, gardener, Great Yarmouth by John Dempsey

Dempsey's people

Previous exhibition, 2017

Dempsey’s people: a folio of British street portraits 1824–1844 is the first exhibition to showcase the compelling watercolour images of English street people made by the itinerant English painter John Dempsey throughout the first half of the nineteenth century.

Racegoers, Melbourne Cup, 1991 (printed 2000)

Semi self portrait, Hunter Valley, 1992 (printed 2000)

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

Self portrait, 1976 (printed 2005)

David Malin

Magazine article by David Thomas AM, 2012

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

My dream job

Artist David M Thomas lists some of the ideas and influences behind his video portraits.

Thua Tich, South Vietnam, 1969-06 by Christopher Bellis

The jungle look

Magazine article by David Gist, 2019

David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.

Thomas Gainsborough, c.1758-59 by Thomas Gainsborough

Keep it in the family

Magazine article by David Solkin, 2019

David Solkin ponders the provocations and inspirations of the enigmatic Thomas Gainsborough.

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

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

Yarnangu

David Darcy

Ugandan Ssebabi

David Cossini

Magazine article by David Rosetzky, 2019

Observation point

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

Three lemons for Simon

David Darcy

In my dreams I am dirty, broke, beautiful & free.

David Cossini

David Lloyd Jones

David Lloyd Jones (1931–1961) was the great-grandson of the original David Jones – who founded the eponymous department store in Sydney in 1838 – and the eldest son of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones (1878–1958), who was chairman of David Jones Ltd from 1920 until his death.

1 portrait in the collection

Jarinyanu David Downs

'Complex stories without words'

Jarinyanu David Downs (c. 1925–1995), Wangkajunga/Walmajarri painter, printmaker and preacher, lived a traditional life in the Great Sandy Desert of West Australia until he was a young man.

2 portraits in the collection

David McAllister

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister describes the trajectory of his relationship with dance.

David Malangi Daymirringu

David Malangi Daymirringu (1927-1999), Manharrngu, bark painter, printer and designer, was born at Mulanga, near the mouth of the Glyde River, just before Christian missionaries arrived on the nearby island of Milingimbi.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir David (Albert Cherbury) Rivett KCMG FRS

Sir David Rivett KCMG FRS

Sir David (Albert Cherbury) Rivett KCMG FRS (1885- 1961) was a scientist who graduated with first-class honours in chemistry from the University of Melbourne and who played an influential role within Australia's scientific community.

1 portrait in the collection

David Ramsey McNicoll CBE

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on cardboard

David Ramsay McNicoll CBE (1914-2000) was editor-in-chief of Sir Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press from 1953 to 1972, and wrote an immensely popular column for the Bulletin magazine from 1972 to 1999.

1 portrait in the collection

David Low, 1917

Rudolph Buchner

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

John David Armstrong

John David Armstrong (1857–1943) was a sideshow and vaudeville performer known as ‘The Australian Tom Thumb’.

2 portraits in the collection

David Clarke, 1995 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Portrait, natural earth pigments and synthetic polymer paint on linen

Purchased 2018

Jarinyanu Dancing at Broome Festival, 1990

Jarinyanu David Downs

Purchased 2017

David Mitchell, 1903 (later reworked)

Ada Whiting

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Gift of the Mitchell Family 2012

John David, Davids Holdings, Largest Grocery Wholesalers

John David, Davids Holdings, Largest Grocery Wholesalers,

Joe Greenberg

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil, fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

The Honourable Bob Hawke savouring a strawberry milkshake, 2017

by Harold David

Federal Statistician Knibbs, 1919

Portrait, ink and gouache on paper

Purchased 2011

Study for portrait of Les Murray, 1995

Portrait, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of the artist 2001

Fay Bottrell, 1981

David Campbell

Gift of Elizabeth Campbell-MacKenzie on behalf of the family of David Campbell 2012

Alec Hope, c. 1985 (printed 2007)

David Brooks

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2007

Study for portrait of Les Murray, 1995

Gift of the artist 2001

Hal Porter, Port Fairy, Victoria, 1969 (printed 2000)

Tim Riley, Santa Teresa Mission, near Alice Springs

Tim Riley, Santa Teresa Mission, near Alice Springs, 1965 (printed 2000)

Les Blakebrough, Mittagong, New South Wales

Les Blakebrough, Mittagong, New South Wales, 1962 (printed 2000)

Len Howard, Surrey, 1957 (printed 2000)

Bernard O'Dowd, Poet, 1919

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Study for portrait of Bob Ellis, 1999

Gift of the artist 2001

Study for portrait of Bob Ellis, 1999

Gift of the artist 2001

Les Murray, 1995

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Professor A D Hope, Canberra, 1963 (printed 2000)

Max Dupain, Artamon, Sydney, 1979 (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

Bob Ellis, 1999

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

The numbers man

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

Max Schubert, 1980

David Simpson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Dave Dow, 1922

Tom Glover

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Tribute

Bob Ellis

Magazine article, 2016

Bob Ellis (1942–2016) was a journalist, columnist, screenwriter, film director, playwright, speechwriter and critic.

A blackguard rehearsing - Max Cullen, 2001

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Nigel Naseby 2007
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

David Campese by Paul Newton

An interview with Paul Newton, the creator of the portrait of rugby legend David Campese.

TW Edgeworth David and Vilhjalmur Stefansson

Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE

Portrait, inkjet print and oil on canvas, mounted with inset axe pendant

Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE (1858-1934) was an eminent geologist.

2 portraits in the collection

What the tree saw: David Foster, 2018

Jacqui Stockdale

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

Jarinyanu David Downs, 1986

Purchased 2005

Sketch portrait of David Aspden, 1975

Fred Williams

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

David Malangi Daymirringu, 1986

Portrait, offset lithograph on paper

Purchased 2005

Boy with surfboard cross: David Rastovich, 1999 (printed 2005)

Scott Redford

Gift of the artist 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

David Combe and the portrait, 1983

Keith Looby

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

David Carter, London, 2009

by Dave Tacon

Portrait of David Dridan, 1992

Brian Dunlop

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Dridan OAM 2017

David Chalmers, 2011

Nick Mourtzakis

Commissioned 2011

David McComb (of The Triffids), 1987

Bleddyn Butcher

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

David Campese II, 2000

Paul Newton

Portrait, pencil on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

David Malouf, 1980

Jeffrey Smart AO

Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Australian Tom Thumb (John David Armstrong), c. 1880

J D. Cooper

Portrait, photographic print from film on paper

Purchased 2014

David Gulpilil's Hands, 2004

Ross Honeysett

Gift of the artist 2021

David Gulpilil, c. 1981

Juno Gemes

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

David Alexander Stewart Campbell

David Alexander Stewart Campbell (1898-1970), wool buyer and journal editor, undertook a woolclassing course in Sydney, worked as a jackeroo, served in the AIF in Egypt and gained further experience with wool in England before he was inducted into the wool trade in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

David Malouf, 2012

Commissioned with the assistance of funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2012

Gulpilil (David) Dreaming - Kakadu 2006, 2006

George Fetting

Gift of the artist 2008

David Warren, c. 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Commonwealth Department of Defence 2005

David Williamson, 1974 (printed 2001)

Gordon Glenn

Purchased 2001

Cathy Freeman, 2000

David Caird

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Caird and Melbourne Herald Sun 2003

Adrian Rawlins, 1977

David Campbell

Gift of Elizabeth Campbell-MacKenzie on behalf of the family of David Campbell 2012

David Williamson, late 1970s

Louis Kahan AO

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

David Wenham, 1998 (printed 2005)

Ingvar Kenne

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

David Williamson, 2012

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

David Walsh, 2010

Andres Serrano

Purchased 2014

David Malouf, 1993

Portrait, etching and drypoint on wove paper

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

David Helfgott, 1987

Geoffrey McGeachin

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Geoffrey McGeachin 2015

David Unaipon, n.d.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Get Wet series (David Twohill)

Paul Worstead

The Vivisector - David Williamson, 2017

Danelle Bergstrom

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

Determined, 2008

by David Anderson

Paddy Mann, 2008

by David Van Royen

The Australian Tom Thumb (John David Armstrong), c. 1880

Sarony & Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

The black coat: Lily Brett, 1989

David Rankin OAM

Portrait, pastel and graphite on paper

Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Study for painting commission. David Chalmers Portrait Study 3

Study for painting commission. David Chalmers Portrait Study 3, 2010

Nick Mourtzakis

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2011

A Captured Moment

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2001

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

Lloyd Rees at 90, Northwood, Sydney, 1985 (printed 2000)

Julian Burnside AO KC, 2004 (printed 2012)

Purchased 2012

Rodney Hall, 2005

David Warren

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Robert Menzies, Lancaster House, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Sidney Nolan, Western Australia, 1962 (printed 2000)

Prue Acton, 2012

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Jessica Mauboy, 2018

David Rosetzky

Commissioned with funds provided by Sony Music Entertainment Australia 2018

Philip Noyce on the set of 'Heatwave', Sydney

Philip Noyce on the set of 'Heatwave', Sydney, 1981 (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

Portrait of Henry Vernon Crock AO, 1988

David Smith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Henry Vernon Crock AO in memory of David Smith 2007
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Joshua Smith, Woolloomooloo, Sydney, 1985 (printed 2000)

Bruce Dawe, Melbourne, 1969 (printed 2000)

Harry Seidler, Killara, Sydney, 1984 (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

Tall-ship sailor, Torbay, Devon, c. 1954 (printed 2000)

Peasant woman, the Dolomites, Italy, 1951 (printed 2000)

Battersea Fun Fair, London, c. 1952 (printed 2000)

Portrait, single channel moving image, colour, sound, 9 minutes, 56 seconds

Portrait of Cate Blanchett, 2008

David Rosetzky

Commissioned with funds provided by Ian Darling 2008

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

Caroline Jones, 1978

David Campbell

Gift of Elizabeth Campbell-MacKenzie on behalf of the family of David Campbell 2012

Miners, Pacific Colliery, Hunter Valley, New South Wales

Miners, Pacific Colliery, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, c. 1949 (printed 2000)

Traffic dodgers, Piccadilly Circus, London

Traffic dodgers, Piccadilly Circus, London, c. 1953 (printed 2000)

Coalmine manager, Burragorang Valley, New South Wales

Coalmine manager, Burragorang Valley, New South Wales, c. 1949 (printed 2000)

Traffic dodgers, Piccadilly Circus, London, c. 1953 (printed 2000)

Surry Hills boy 1, 1948 (printed 2000)

Traffic dodgers, Piccadilly Circus, London, c. 1953 (printed 2000)

Traffic dodgers, Piccadilly Circus, London, c. 1953 (printed 2000)

New Year's Eve, Piccadilly Circus, London

New Year's Eve, Piccadilly Circus, London, c. 1952 (printed 2000)

Leigh Bowery in Fur Coat, c. 1983 (printed 2005)

David Gwinnutt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

John Olsen, Woollahra, Sydney, 1962 (printed 2000)

Portrait, montage of gelatin silver photographs

Migrants arriving in Sydney, 1966 (printed 2000)

Sugarcane cutter, Murwillumbah, New South Wales

Sugarcane cutter, Murwillumbah, New South Wales, 1966 (printed 2000)

Toby Wilson, Murwillumbah, 1966 (printed 2000)

Averell Harriman, New York State, 1956 (printed 2000)

Dublin Horse Show spectators, 1956 (printed 2000)

Nelson Mandela, Sydney, 2000

Pitjantjatjara schoolboy, Ernabella, South Australia

Pitjantjatjara schoolboy, Ernabella, South Australia, 1963 (printed 2000)

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Mick Jagger, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2000)

Mary McCarthy, New York, 1956 (printed 2000)

Mick Scully, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney

Mick Scully, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney, 1995 (printed 2000)

Ivan Carapina, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney

Ivan Carapina, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney, 1995 (printed 2000)

Colin McCahon, Auckland, New Zealand, 1963 (printed 2000)

Nelson Mandela, Sydney, 2000

Bar, Betoota races, Queensland, 1961 (printed 2000)

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Rolling Stones fans, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2000)

John Braine, Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

John Braine, Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire, 1958 (printed 2000)

Laurie Chow, engineer, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney

Laurie Chow, engineer, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney, 1995 (printed 2000)

Anthony Eden, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Russian oarsmen at Henley Royal Regatta, Oxfordshire

Russian oarsmen at Henley Royal Regatta, Oxfordshire, 1955 (printed 2000)

Nelson Mandela, Sydney, 2000

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Chelsea Flower Show, London, c. 1956 (printed 2000)

Mick Jagger, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2000)

Georgi Malenkov, Russian Embassy, London

Georgi Malenkov, Russian Embassy, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Nuns at Lourdes Centenary, France, 1958 (printed 2000)

Sydney pedestrian, 1963 (printed 2000)

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Dean Dixon, Chatswood, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2000)

Mick Jagger, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2000)

Bar Billiards, Lancelin, Western Australia

Bar Billiards, Lancelin, Western Australia, 1963 (printed 2000)

Priest at Lourdes Centenary, France, 1958 (printed 2000)

Kofeinu Matavesi, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney

Kofeinu Matavesi, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney, 1994 (printed 2000)

Baseball fans, Yankee Stadium, New York, 1956 (printed 2000)

André Kertész, New York, USA, 1975 (printed 2000)

Mick Jagger, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2000)

Cray fishermen, Lancelin, Western Australia

Cray fishermen, Lancelin, Western Australia, 1963 (printed 2000)

John Foster Dulles, Washington, 1956 (printed 2000)

Henry Figueira, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney

Henry Figueira, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney, 1995 (printed 2000)

Portrait of Kenneth Rowell, 1967

David Strachan

Gift of Margaret Olley 2002. Transferred from the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Geoff Cousins, 2017

Gift of Geoff Cousins AM 2007

Wes Stacey, Kurnell, Sydney, 1973 (printed 2000)

Andrew Sibley, painter, Sydney, 1960

David Potts

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Bob Croll of the AAA Vic., 1916

Portrait, pencil, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

The Billy Book, 1918

Portrait, pastel on paper

Portrait, book

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Suzie Campbell 2001

The Colonel (Portrait of Walter Withers)

The Colonel (Portrait of Walter Withers), 1896

David Davies

Purchased 2009

Gordon Andrews, Lovett Bay, Sydney, 1987 (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

Peter Sculthorpe, c. 1969

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Robert Klippel, Birchgrove, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Russell Drysdale, Woollahra, Sydney, 1964 (printed 2000)

George Johnston, Fleet Street, London, c. 1952 (printed 2000)

Russell Drysdale, Tallow Beach, New South Wales

Russell Drysdale, Tallow Beach, New South Wales, 1969 (printed 2000)

Judy Davis on the set of 'Heatwave', Sydney

Judy Davis on the set of 'Heatwave', Sydney, 1981 (printed 2000)

Yvonne Audette, Vaucluse, Sydney, 1968 (printed 2000)

William Dobell, Potts Point, Sydney, 1960 (printed 2000)

Janet Dawson, Paddington, Sydney, 1966 (printed 2000)

Robert Helpmann, 1969

Portrait, montage of gelatin silver photographs on paper

Purchased 1998

Arthur Boyd, Bundanon, New South Wales, 1995 (printed 2000)

Marea Gazzard, Paddington, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000)

Leonard French, Heathcote, Victoria, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robert Menzies, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000)

Earth to earth

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.

Fred Williams, Upwey, Victoria, 1963 (printed 2000)

Gordon Andrews, Cottage Rock, Hawkesbury River, New South Wales

Gordon Andrews, Cottage Rock, Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, 1968 (printed 2000)

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2004

Depth of Field

The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.

Dawn Fraser, 1963

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 1998

Unheroic Materialism: little harmless fragments of memory and association: a portrait of Angus Trumble, 2019 Evert Ploeg

The last word

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2022

David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.

Skyhooks (Red Symons, Bob Starkie, Shirley Strachan, Greg Macainsh, Freddie Strauks) in Parker’s studio, Fitzroy, 1975 David Parker

Cool cool world

Penelope Grist unpacks photographs by David Parker, who captured the phenomenal emergence of the 1970s and 80s Melbourne music scene.

Portrait of Peter Nicholson, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001

Robert Klippel, 1979

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 1998

Fred Williams, 1969

Purchased 1999

Cardinal George Pell, 2007 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Portrait of Peter Nicholson, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001

Portrait of Peter Nicholson, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001

David Lloyd Jones, 1944

Sir William Dobell OBE

Gift of David Lloyd Jones, in memory of his father, David Lloyd Jones 2021. Donated through Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

David Foster

'What the tree saw'

'The person who is the writer'

World champion woodcutter David Foster and artist Jacqui Stockdale.

David Malouf

Australian author David Malouf discusses the creation of his portrait by artist Rick Amor.

Portrait of Cate Blanchett

by David Rosetzky

'Consciousness, iPhones and philosophical zombies'

David Rosetzky and Cate Blanchett talk about the creation of their video portrait.

David Chalmers

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Professor David Chalmers explains his interest in philosophy and introduces some of his theories on the conscious mind.

David Jones, 1853

Henry Robinson Smith

Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Dance - David McAllister, 2016

Portrait, cast bronze medallion on wood plaque

Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016

Sir David (Albert Cherbury) Rivett KCMG FRS, 1985

Andor Meszaros

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Ray Marginson AM 2001

Sketchbook journal for the commission portrait

Sketchbook journal for the commission portrait "The Dance - David McAllister", 2016

Portrait, 48 page journal with 25 illustrated pages in pencil, pastel, ink and collage of printed images with masking tape

Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016

David Morrison, 2016

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Portrait of David Gonski AC, 2012

Paul Newton

Portrait, oil on linen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Jessica Mauboy

'Chaos and stillness'

Singer, songwriter and actress Jessica Mauboy with artist David Rosetzky.

Lord Goddard, White City Stadium, London

Lord Goddard, White City Stadium, London, c. 1957 (printed 2000)

Professor Brian Schmidt, 2015

Portrait, triptych of gelatin silver photographs on paper

Commissioned 2015

President Johnson and Prime Minister Holt at Canberra Airport

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

Professor Allan Snyder, 2000

Magazine article by David Sequeira, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Super League

The portrait of Ian Roberts by Ross Watson.

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

Clifton Pugh AO

Anthony Cardon after John T. Barber

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

David Collins Esq, 1804

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

D.A.S. Campbell (David Alexander Stewart Campbell), 1963

Sir William Dargie CBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Mary Newlinds and Sheena Simpson in memory of their father, D.A.S. Campbell, 2014

Professor David of Antarctic Expedition, c. 1910

Anthony Buckley & Constantine Ltd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Portrait photograph of David McNicoll, 1987

Portrait, photograph on canvas lining

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

Golden boy

Dr Christopher Chapman examines Scott Redford's photographic portrait of Australian surfer David 'Rasta' Rastovich.

Being Cate

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

Russell Drysdale and Peter Sculthorpe, Tallow Beach, New South Wales

Russell Drysdale and Peter Sculthorpe, Tallow Beach, New South Wales, 1969 (printed 2000)

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra, 1982 (printed 2000)

Rudy Komon and Leonard French, Beaumaris, Melbourne

Rudy Komon and Leonard French, Beaumaris, Melbourne, 1967 (printed 2000)

Previous exhibition, 2011

Inner Worlds

Portraits and Psychology

Portraits of Australia’s pioneering psychologists and artworks by artists fascinated by the subconscious mind.

Private practice

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

David Smith portrayed Dr Henry Crock without the accoutrements of an orthopaedic surgeon, adding to the National Portrait Gallery's collection of eminent Australian medical practitioners.

Hyperversity

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.

A non-material and non-physical portrait

Lecture, 21 May 2011

Inner Worlds features the recently commissioned portrait of world-renowned philosopher of consciousness David Chalmers by Melbourne-based artist Nick Mourtzakis.

Brooke Lockett, Heidi Martin, Karen Nanasca, Halaina Hills; New York, 2012 Lisa Tomasetti

Dance like everyone’s watching

Theresa Walker after David D'Angers

Penelope Grist’s spirits soar with Lisa Tomasetti’s Dancers in the Streets series.

Sir John Franklin, c. 1846

Portrait, cast wax

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Wesley Enoch and David McAllister, 2020

Layered portraits from the collection

Purchased with funds provided by Alan Dodge AM and Neil Archibald 2021

Dissections

This display sets two impressive portraits from the collection into direct dialogue: Sam Jinks’ sculptural self portrait and Nick Mourtzakis’ painted portrait of David Chalmers, along with related maquette and sketches.Together they explore physical and psychological manifestations of the strata of self-hood.

TW Edgeworth David and Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 1924

Annie May Moore

an unknown artist, The London Magazine

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

David Brown Dignam [and] George Barrington drawn from the life

David Brown Dignam [and] George Barrington drawn from the life, 1777

Portrait, copperplate engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Creatures of Leisure, 1982

Paul Worstead

Portrait, 5 screenprints on paper

Get Wet Series, 1979

Paul Worstead

Portrait, five screenprints on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings

David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings, 1980

Kate Gollings

Portrait, colour digital print on photographic paper

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

Walter Reginald Hume, c. 1944

Sir William Dargie CBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Hume OAM 2016

Stephen, Russell and David Page, c. 2000

Francis Reiss and June Orford, Tim Ainsworth

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

The Godfrey family of Melways guides, 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Matthew Moore with pergola shadows, McMahon's Point, Sydney

Matthew Moore with pergola shadows, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1978 (printed 2000)

Henry Moore, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, c. 1955 (printed 2000)

The Movie Star (David Gulpilil), 1985

Tracey Moffatt

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

Portrait of a young Aussie, Matuse Peace, 2016

by John McRae

David Stratton, 2012

by Sharon Zwi

David Menadue

Ivan Gaal

From Face to Face

Portraits by David Moore

Through David Moore's camera we meet many of the outstanding figures of the twentieth century - in diverse areas of achievement - as well as anonymous faces which speak directly to us in these photographs.

David Terrazas, ING Group, 2008

by Montalbetti+Campbell

David, 2016

by Chase Middleton

Harold David Takes out the People’s Choice Award for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize

8 June 2018

Portrait, oil on galvanised iron

The votes are in and the National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce The Honourable Bob Hawke savouring a strawberry milkshake by Harold David is the people’s choice for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018.

Young Mo (Roy Rene), 1977

Martin Sharp

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

David McAllister to join National Portrait Gallery collection

26 April 2016

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister AM will join the Portrait Gallery’s national collection in a newly-commissioned portrait taken by illustrious Australian photographer, Peter Brew-Bevan.

Portrait of the artist as a young man

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the early life and career of John Brack.

David McAllister

Lisa Tomasetti

Jessica Mauboy, 2018

by David Rosetzky

Commissioned with funds provided by Sony Music Entertainment Australia 2018

Still life with vanitas symbols (after David Bailly), 2008

by Kevin Best

David Beckham

Lorenzo Agius

What the tree saw: David Foster, 2018

by Jacqui Stockdale

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

Bon Scott and Angus Young, AC/DC

Bob King

Young Mo (Roy Rene)

'The artist's notebook'

An interview with Australian artist and collector of quirky artefacts, Martin Sharp.

Young Australian #3, 2009

by Vittoria Dussoni

Portrait of a young man, held to be John Robertson

Portrait of a young man, held to be John Robertson, c. 1852

Portrait, daguerreotype, hand coloured

Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Young girl in a dance class waiting to be photographed, 2010

by John Slaytor

Noah Taylor

Noah Taylor (b. 1969) left school at 16 to join Melbourne's St Martin's Youth Theatre.

1 portrait in the collection

Unconditional Love, 2006

by Samuel Khusunawi

Nikki – Yurrkan Mantangka Ngargnyi – coll 1 (Nikki – young woman on Country)

Martine Perret

Yuge, 2019

Kathrin Longhurst

Ivan Gaal

I know David, whom I used to work with 40 years ago, when he got his HIV/AIDS.

Knox Rocket, 2018

by Natalie Nowotarsk

David Cossini

B Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

Godfrey's amazing man. I've known him for four years now. He has a very tough story.

Nouvelle-Hollane: N.lle Galles de Sud. Ourou-Maraé, dit bull-dog par leas Anglais, Jeune guerrier de la Tribu des Gwea-Gal (New Holland: New South Wales. Ouron Marae, called Bull Dog by the English. a young Warrior of the Gwea Gal tribe)

Nouvelle-Hollane: N.lle Galles de Sud. Ourou-Maraé, dit bull-dog par leas Anglais, Jeune guerrier de la Tribu des Gwea-Gal (New Holland: New South Wales. Ouron Marae, called Bull Dog by the English. a young Warrior of the Gwea Gal tribe), c. 1800

Portrait, colour printed stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Charles Lloyd Jones, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil, ink, fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper

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

Brian Walsh, David Jones,

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Don Walker, 2006

by Nathan David Kelly

John Darling

Magazine article by Kate Gollings, 2004

John Darling (1923-2015), businessman, company director and media producer was the son of Harold Gordon Darling, chair of BHP.

1 portrait in the collection

Three Dimensional

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

Lucio Galletto OAM

Lucio Galletto OAM (birth date undisclosed) was born into a family of farmers and restaurateurs in north-west Italy.

1 portrait in the collection

Shining light, 2008

by Rick Carter

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones (1878-1958), merchant and arts patron, grew up in Sydney, where he studied at Julian Ashton's art school in 1895.

1 portrait in the collection

American dream leads to tragic end

Young love lost, treasured

Darling Portrait Prize 2020

The Darling Prize is a new biennial prize for Australian portrait painters, painting Australian sitters. The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

Boyca dharraka mayung ngurr gartji. Lardum ratjuk gurr (Boyca at Mayung Creek, Gartji. Hunting for barramundi)

Cassandra Scott-Finn

The private life of a portrait

Before hand

Revealing the backstories behind the NPG collection, Before hand features interviews with artists and sitters as well as working drawings, scrapbooks, sketches and footage taken in artists’ studios and out on location.

Becky feeding Hazel, 2012

by Louise Allerton

Fifteen, 2016

by Fiona Morris

Mr King was once on Countdown, 2010

by Ben Searcy

Previous exhibition, 2001

Headspace 2

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

Sir Richard Branson, 1999 by David Mach (b. 1956)

Best of British

Contemporary Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, London

For the first hundred years or so of its existence, The National Portrait Gallery in London had no contemporary collection at all

Sayeh: from the series Iranians, 2011

by Aletheia Casey

Georgie Swift

Georgie Swift (1920-2008), journalist, publicist and chatelaine, was born Georgette Marie Hiro Matsui to a French-born mother and Japanese father in Sydney after the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Nancy Menetrey

Nancy Menetrey (née Wilkinson) was born in Sydney in 1924. After serving with the Australian Women's Land Army, formed during the Second World War to address labour shortages in the agricultural sector, she travelled overseas in the early 1950s, living and working in London for a number of years.

1 portrait in the collection

‘Never break this heart of stone’

Lust

Desired by millions

Portrait of a Girl Eating, 2006

by Leyla Stevens

Bangarra brothers: songman, storyteller, dancer

Passion

Creative kin

The Merioola Group, 1940s

Alec Murray

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Larry Clark

Tough & Tender

Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945

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

Listen: Mysterious eyes

Portrait, watercolour on paper

An open house, recollections of my early life: extracts from the reminiscences of David Boyd.

John Sumner, 1984

Eleanor Constance Gude

Gift of Professor David Phillips 2023

Alex Frayne

An interview with the photographer.

John Witzig

John Witzig, photographer, writer and designer, contributed his first piece to Surfing World in 1963.

5 portraits in the collection

Treading Water, 2017

by Josh Owen

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel digital video

Donald Friend

Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945

Donald Friend (1915-1989), painter, writer and diarist, studied at the RAS and Dattilo-Rubbo’s school in Sydney before spending 1935 and 1936 at the Westminster School in London.

2 portraits in the collection

Mysterious eyes

Boyd’s self-portrait at age 25 is joined by his equally emotive portraits of those around him.

Art Handler's Award 2023

The Art Handlers' Award for 2023 went to Ugandan Ssebabi, 2022 by David Cossini.

Society of Artists Selection Committee, 1907

Henry King

Purchased 2008

Edward Lloyd Jones, c. 1885

Herbert Beecroft

December 2001 - February 2002

Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait 2

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on masonite

This issue of Portrait Magazine features David Moore, Midnight Oil, Dr Joan Croll by John Brack, the acquisition of the Captain Cook portrait, and more.

Brian Fitzpatrick, 1953

Graeme Inson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sheila and David Fitzpatrick in memory of their father 2008

Now and then

Polly Cutmore

Magazine article, 2023

Photographed 35 years apart, these two portraits offer both a timeline of, and thematic thread for, Maria (Polly) Cutmore’s life – from a young woman to a respected Gomeroi Elder.

Paul Newton

Paul Newton (b. 1961), is a Sydney-based portrait painter noted for his ability to capture likeness and sensibility.

6 portraits in the collection

Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Shirley Purdie

Using ochres collected on her country in Western Australia’s East Kimberley, Shirley Purdie’s self-portrait is a kaleidoscope of traditional Gija stories and Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) passed down to her.

Bill Henson

'Scale and presence'

Photographer Bill Henson describes creating his three part portrait of Simone Young.

Donald Friend, 1987

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

Lleyton Hewitt, 1998

Robin Sellick

Portrait, ink and charcoal on paper

Gift of the artist 2004

Donald Friend at Owl Creek, 1983

Lawrence Daws

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lawrence Daws 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Tim Burstall, Andamooka (filming of the Last of the Knucklemen)

Tim Burstall, Andamooka (filming of the Last of the Knucklemen), c. 1979

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Man of many faces, 2014

by Jason Ierace

Phillip Gudthaykudthay, 1986

Purchased 2005

The Murdoch

Moustaches

Sport was a potent means by which, in the lead up to Federation, Australians began to assert a sense of themselves as youthful, manly and athletic – the products of an equally young and virile new nation.

John Marsden

John Marsden (b. 1950), children's writer and social commentator, grew up in country Victoria and Tasmania and then attended the Kings School in Parramatta.

1 portrait in the collection

Sage

Sage (b. 1963) was born in Wales and studied at the School of Documentary Photography in South Wales under magnum photographer David Hurn.

7 portraits in the collection

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.

Ian Fairweather, c. 1966

Ray Crooke AM

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

Sir William Windeyer

Sir William Windeyer (1834-1897) was a politician and judge. One of the first undergraduates to study at the University of Sydney, he developed a particular interest in education and the rights of women - he was responsible for the Married Women's Property Act of 1879, and was Founding Chairman of the university's Women's College.

4 portraits in the collection

Noah Taylor, 1994 (printed 2010)

Ross Honeysett

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Famous

Karin Catt Portraits

Australian photographer Karin Catt has photographed world leaders, a host of rock stars and Oscar-winning compatriots Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett.

Margaret Fink, 1975

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Naomi Watts

Portrait, oil on composition board

Naomi Watts (b. 1968), actress, was born in England and came to Australia from Wales at the age of fourteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, 1951

Sir William Dobell OBE

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Naomi Watts, 2003

Gift of the artist 2004

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

Tarcissius, 2006

by Heide Smith

Portrait 58

Summer 2017-18

Paul Cézanne, Bill Henson and Simone Young, Australian cinema’s iconic women, and feminist portraits by Kate Just.

Mark Ella AM

Mark Ella AM (b. 1959) was one of four Australians named amongst the eleven inaugural ‘legends’ of the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame in 2013.

1 portrait in the collection

Gervaise Purcell

Gervaise Purcell was a commercial photographer specialising in fashion.

1 portrait in the collection

Sporting Archibald

Celebrating the focus on sport during 2000, this special exhibition features our national sporting heroes and heroines immortalised on canvas

Time is precious

Magazine article by David Sequeira, 2004

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.

Backstage on the way to the top

Passion

Living for the moment

Family portrait

Fiona Bowring

Portrait, oil and hand-stitching with diamantes on canvas

Margaret Fink, 1989

Kerrie Lester

Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Amanda, 2017

by Bill Gekas

Stevie Wright

Stevie Wright (1947-2015), singer songwriter, came to Australia from England at the age of nine.

2 portraits in the collection

Bare

Degrees of undress

Bare: Degrees of undress celebrates the candid, contrived, natural, sexy, ironic, beautiful, and fascinating in Australian portraiture that shows a bit of skin.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2016

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.

William Macleod

William Macleod, artist and magazine proprietor, attended the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts as a young teenager and saw his first illustration published in 1866.

4 portraits in the collection

Margaret Fink AO

Previous exhibition, 2022

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

WHO ARE YOU

Australian portraiture

Featuring 130 works across painting, film, photography, screen printing, sculpture, and then some – it explores our inner worlds, outer selves, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and more.

Leanne Benjamin AM OBE

Leanne Benjamin AM OBE (b. 1964) was Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet between 1993 and 2013.

1 portrait in the collection

The Perch Creek Family Jugband, 2008

by John Van-Den-Broeke

McLean Edwards, 2006

by Gary Grealy

Rowan Thomas, 2015

by Graham Caughley

Portrait of Zachary

Grace Costa

Thomas Wentworth Wills

Claude-Marie Dubufe

Claude-Marie Dubufe, born in Paris, is said to have studied with Jacques-Louis David.

1 portrait in the collection

Linda and Binni, 1984 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

The Hinders: doyens of Australian modernism

Passion

Progressive partnership

Sir William Charles Windeyer, 1892

Tom Roberts

Previous exhibition, 2019

Gift of the family of Sir Victor and Lady Windeyer 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ryan Presley: Paradise won

Current exhibition

Marri Ngarr artist Ryan Presley's site-specific commission Paradise won is prominently positioned at the Gallery’s entrance. This ambitious new work invites conversations about the ongoing legacies of colonisation and celebrates First Nations survival and autonomy.

Eye to eye

Eye to Eye is a summer Portrait Gallery Collection remix arranged by degree of eye contact – from turned away with eyes closed all the way through to right-back-at-you – as we explore artists’ and subjects’ choices around the direction of the gaze.

Troppo Architects

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

The studios of Troppo Architects are located away from Australia’s major urban centres.

Jane Mander Jones, 1853

Henry Robinson Smith

Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

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

To coin a (farewell) phrase

Previous exhibition, 2007

A penny for their thoughts

A D Hope and his circle

To celebrate the centenary of the birth of poet Alec Derwent Hope AC OBE (1907-2000), the National Portrait Gallery exhibited a selection from its many portraits of Australian poets and authors.

Keenan

Emma Pegrum

Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer

On train from New York to Memphis, July 4, 1956 by Alfred Wertheimer

Elvis At 21

Previous exhibition, 2013

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.

Hot Scots

Magazine article by Christopher Baker, 2013

James Holloway describes the first portraits you encounter when entering the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The Hunting Lodge (The Dogs Breakfast Group), 2006

by Jules Boag

Boyd to man

Thinking of something, someone

Christopher Chapman looks at influences and insight in the formative years of Arthur Boyd.

Gulgawarnigu

Previous exhibition, 2023

In partnership with Big hART we are proud to present Gulgawarnigu - Thinking of something, someone, a national presentation of digital artworks created from Ngarluma country leramagadu (Roebourne), in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

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.

Earl Carter

Earl Carter completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology before embarking on his a freelance photographic career in 1981.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry, 2006

by Bronek Kozka

Trevor Jamieson

Trevor Jamieson (b. 1975), Pitjantjatjara/Nyungar actor, didgeridoo player, guitarist, singer, dancer and storyteller, grew up in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter van der Veer

Stop in all the byways, playin' rock 'n roll

Peter van der Veer, photographer, designer and painter, studied at Prahran College in the 1970s.

1 portrait in the collection

Guthugga Pipeline, Christmas Show, upstairs, The (old) Griffin Centre, Civic, 22 December 1979. Crowd, L-R : Ben Donaldson, Anne Redmond, Nick Vollis, Esa Makela, Megan Woodrow (Mohawk), Andy Hall (scarf) 'pling

Capital Cool

Outsiders tend to give Canberra a bad rap: sterile, plagued by politicians, a comatose capital for professionals and academics. Nick Cave once said he didn’t like the city because there were too many punks.

Bangardidjan

Renae Saxby

Robert Grieve

Robert Grieve (1924-2006), painter and printmaker, exhibited in Melbourne in 1948 before leaving for Europe and England, where he studied lithography at the Regent Polytechnic.

1 portrait in the collection

Hattie Shepparde, 1872

Bardwell's Royal Studio

Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM, Tjanpi Desert Weavers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Ngayulu Minyma Tjanpinya, I am a Tjanpi Woman

Ngayulu Minyma Tjanpinya, I am a Tjanpi Woman, 2018

Portrait, Tjanpi (dry grass), acrylic wool, raffia, wire

Purchased 2022

Martin Manca, 2019

Benny Capp

Ivan and Lillian, 2012

by Margot Sharman

Magazine article by The Huxleys, 2022

Style Over Substance 2020 (still), 2020 The Huxleys

Observation point

Growing up feeling isolated, ostracised and ornate in the heated homogeny of the suburbs of Perth and the Gold Coast we often longed and dreamed for an escape.

In Doubt, 2017

by Eva Collins

Zareth, 2009

by Scott Bycroft

Trevor Jamieson, 2016

Brett Canét-Gibson

Purchased 2018

Bon Scott

Ronald 'Bon' Scott (1946-1980) had come to Australia with his family in 1952, aged six, had lived in Melbourne and Fremantle, where he joined a pipe band; had dropped out of school at fifteen; and had spent some time in custody.

1 portrait in the collection

The Assumption of Virginity, 2014

by Xanthe Dobbie

Finalist, MDPA 2014

Danny, 2013

by Daniel Arnaldi

Photographed by Nathalie Latham

Steven Bishop, performer by Nathalie Latham

Australia's Creative Diaspora

Previous exhibition, 2007

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.

Tribute

Stevie Wright

Magazine article, 2016

Stevie Wright (1947-2015), singer-songwriter, came to Australia from England at the age of nine.

Shirley Purdie

Contributing artists

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

Eleni and the bookshop

Tracy Ponich

Sophie at 17

Ilana Rose

Shahleena Musk, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Malala Yousafzai

Shirin Neshat

Gettin’ robbed, gettin’ stoned, gettin’ beat up, broken boned

Oz Rock

Previous exhibition, 2008

Two of the music industry’s highest-selling performers originated in suburban Australia. The Bee Gees started out in Brisbane, for instance, and AC/DC played their first gigs at a nightclub in inner Sydney.

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2008

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.

Masters of modern Indonesian portraiture

Masters of modern Indonesian portraiture presents key modernist paintings and drawings along with a selection of contemporary works.

Look Whales

Jiawei Shen

Arianne McNaught

I think the most important thing in capturing candid shots is to never take the photo when people are expecting you to press the shutter. The more poignant moments are not the stock standard images of people looking at the camera smiling but after or before when they are really interacting with each other.

Sasha and Gus, 2014

by Amanda James

Clem Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

George Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Alfie Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Russell Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Dave Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Icons Syndicate

Lists alphabetically

2020 Annual Appeal

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

National Portrait Gallery Director's tenure ends in triumph

30 November 2018

National Portrait Gallery Director Angus Trumble is ending his five-year tenure with a flourish, after announcing that Gallery publication Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits 1824-1844 has been awarded the 2018 William MB Berger Prize for British Art History.

Icons

Parliament House

Touring exhibition, 2019

When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

Dissections: Layered portraits from the collection is now open

19 August 2016

Dissections, showcases the hyper-realist sculptural self-portrait of artist Sam Jinks, Divide, alongside the painted portrait of philosopher David Chalmers by Nick Mourtzakis, which was commissioned by the Gallery in 2011.

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2010

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

Cecil Beaton

Portraits

Accomplished illustrator, painter, writer and diarist, set designer and one of the most distinguished photographers of the twentieth century, Cecil Beaton is renowned for his portraits of well known faces from the worlds of fashion, literature, and film.

Alice Mills

Victorian-born Alice Mills was one of a significant number of women photographers in business between 1900 and 1920.

1 portrait in the collection

Before dark (Metamorphosis)

Rachel Gregg

Portrait Photography from the Collection

In the mirror: self portrait with Joy Hester

Depth of Field

Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.

John Mitchel with John Martin and Father John Kenyon [the three Johns]

John Mitchel with John Martin and Father John Kenyon [the three Johns], 1866

Edouard Gatel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

The 70 year old jetty jumper, 2011

by Alex Frayne

Lleyton Hewitt AM

At twenty years old, Lleyton Hewitt AM (b. 1981) was the youngest male tennis player ever to be ranked world number one.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Ezgi, 2016

by Alana Holmberg

Karl Fender, 2019

Anna Minardo

Sleep, 2019

Natasha Bieniek

Portrait 67

Winter 2022

Portrait, conté crayon on paper

William Yang on his autobiographical self portraits, David Parker's 1970s and 80s Melbourne music photographs, seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon, and Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis.

Self portrait, c. 1948

John Brack

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2010

The Dipper

Moustaches

One of the versions of thick, macho moustache strongly associated in the Australian visual lexicon with sportsmen of the 1970s and 80s.

My Olivia, 2017

by Filomena Rizzo

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

Your backstage pass to 70s and 80s sounds and scenes

The Photographic Society of Victoria was formed in 1876 to 'bring photographers together in a friendly spirit, in order to advance the art and science of photography in the colony, without any attempt at binding or dictating to members any special trading rules, such as charges for photographs or hours or days for closing or opening their respective establishments.' At the time of the first annual meeting on 9 March 1877 there were 61 members, five whom were ladies.

1 portrait in the collection

Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel 1984 (detail) Grant Matthews

Pub Rock

Celebrate the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on our nation’s identity.

Mervyn Godfrey OAM

Mervyn Godfrey OAM (1924-2013), Dean Godfrey (b. 1970), David Godfrey (b.

2 portraits in the collection

Dean Godfrey

Mervyn Godfrey OAM (1924-2013), Dean Godfrey (b. 1970), David Godfrey (b.

1 portrait in the collection

Murray Godfrey

Mervyn Godfrey OAM (1924-2013), Dean Godfrey (b. 1970), David Godfrey (b.

1 portrait in the collection

Jesse, 2010

by Lia Steele

Rhoda Roberts, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Cameron and the prosthetic arm, 2016

by Steve Wise

Binowee, 2010

by Murray Vanderveer

Headspace 6

Who Am I?

Portraits by Stuart Campbell

The sixth in the National Portrait Gallery’s series of student exhibitions, will feature 200 portrait artworks, both two and three-dimensional, from secondary school students from across Australia

Between Light and Shadow

Previous exhibition, 2011

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

Isaiah, arms and legs folded, 2015

by Marc Bowden

Marissa

Ben McNamara

Robert, 2010

by CJ Taylor

Garry Shead and Adrienne Levenson

Soffritto di Lucio, 2009

Portrait, oil on linen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lucio Galletto OAM 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Anne

Nathan Dyer

Apollo's breath

Magazine article by Robert McFarlane, 2004

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

Insightful

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

Tiffany, 2015

by Brett Canet-Gibson

Noel Rubie

Noel Rubie (1901–1976) was a painter and photographer who had a portrait and industrial photography studio in Sydney and worked during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

1 portrait in the collection

Sage, 2015

by Jacinta Short

Magazine article by Patrick McCaughey, 2015

Self Portrait in red shirt, 1937 by Arthur Boyd

Arthur as Alyosha?

Patrick McCaughey explores a striking Boyd self portrait.

Brian McInerney

Brian McInerney, professional photographer, was a young assistant photographer at Channel Seven in Sydney in the 1960s.

2 portraits in the collection

Dayannah, 2018

by Raphaela Rosella

A weekend at Edie's, 2016

by Kristyn Jones

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

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.

Collection: Icons

Volume One

The Salway family

Dion Georgopoulos

Cactus World, Lester Meyers, 2014

by Man Tsun Cheung

Fatima, 2016

by Anu Kumar

by Kellie Maree Leczinska

Kuei - The Sea of Gazelles - South Sudan to Oz, 2016

Fostin outside his mum's, Kings Park, Melbourne, 2015

by Nicola Dracoulis

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Nora Heysen with her dog standing outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen with her dog standing outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney, 2000

Sage

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Nora Heysen with her dog sitting outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen with her dog sitting outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney, 2000

Sage

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Barry Walsh

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

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

Dave

Jay Hynes

Breast cancer, age 37

Cat Leedon

Weight of the Mind's Periapt

Jane Allan

Janet Dawson

Archived media releases 2017

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

Calling all family history buffs

3 July 2017

The National Portrait Gallery is calling on family history enthusiasts and amateur historians to tell it more about the people in its new show, Dempsey’s People: A folio of British street portraits from 1824-1844.

Divine, 2014

by Hugh Peachey

Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake: Ella Havelka, Beijing

Lisa Tomasetti

Gurkirat, 2009

by Rod McNicol

Chris Gentle

Chris Gentle (b.1939) arrived in Australia from the United Kingdom in 1967 and is a painter, lecturer and writer.

1 portrait in the collection

Bleddyn Butcher

Bleddyn Butcher was born in London and came to Australia when he was six.

5 portraits in the collection

Troye Sivan, 2018

by James Brickwood

Blek Bala MJ, 2017

by Timothy Hillier

Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

All that fall

Focussing on the wide-ranging theme of loss and absence, this exhibition provides a moving ‘portrait’ of loss during the First World War on the Australian home front. Powerful symbolic images, including contemporary works, evoke the emotional intensity of loss. All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War is the National Portrait Gallery’s contribution to the Anzac Centenary.

George Judah Cohen

George Judah Cohen (1842-1937), banker, took over the Maitland office of his father's wholesale firm David Cohen and Co.

1 portrait in the collection

Arthur Boyd’s Mysterious Eyes

6 May 2016

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a focus exhibition of captivating portraits by renowned artist Arthur Boyd, titled Mysterious eyes: Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945.

The girls, 2017

by Tamara Dean

Magazine article by Anthony Browell, 2004

Charmed by the Rose

Anthony Browell reminisces about meeting Rose Lindsay, the wife of Australian artist Norman Lindsay.

Clara Crosbie, c. 1885

Arthur William Burman

Gift of John McPhee 2018

The Skin I'm In II, 2016

by Brian Cassey

Mela

Bahram Mia

Adam Perkins

Adam Perkins, an Arrernte and Kalkadoon man, is the son of Indigenous rights campaigner and bureaucrat Charles Perkins AO.

1 portrait in the collection

Neil Armfield, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

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.

Slim Dusty OBE

Slim Dusty AO MBE (1927-2003) (David Gordon Kirkpatrick) is Australia's most prolific recording artist, and his travelling show has become an Australian tradition.

2 portraits in the collection

Reshid Bey

Reshid Bey was a Victorian painter and teacher. Born in Berlin when his father was Turkish ambassador there, he came to Australia, his mother’s homeland, when he was a young man.

3 portraits in the collection

Prince William of Wales, by Mario Testino, 2003 publ. September 2003.
Credit: Mario Testino

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

Vanity Fair Portraits traces the birth and evolution of photographic portraiture through the archives of Vanity Fair magazine.

George Milpurrurru

George Milpurrurru (1934-1998), Ganalbingu (Yolgnu) painter, was one of the most important bark painters of the twentieth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Douglas Mawson, c. 1916

Thomson Studios

Magazine article by Rineke Dijkstra, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs J.Q. McEwin 2000

Almerisa, Asylumseekerscenter Leiden, March 14, 1993

Interview

Rineke Dijkstra's photographic series of her subject, Almerisa Sehric, evolved over the course of 14 years.

Speed demon

Scott Redford discusses his dynamic portrait commission of motorcycling champion and 2008 Young Australian of the Year Casey Stoner.

Tan Le

Tan Le (b. 1977) is an innovator in the field of neurotechnology. Le arrived in Australia at age four with her mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and uncle, all refugees who had undertaken the perilous boat journey from Vietnam.

1 portrait in the collection

Basil P. Bressler

Basil Philip Bressler, who died in 2000, was a surveyor with an amateur interest in art and music.

Portrait 61

Summer 2018/19

Max Dupain's unknown portrait subjects, phrenologist Madame Sibly, Indigenous-European relationships, Thomas Gainsborough and more.

Arcadia: Sound of the sea

Exhibition introduction

One night in the spring of 1970 in an old house in Whale Beach, north of Sydney, John Witzig, Albe Falzon and David Elfick put together the first issue of Tracks, playing Neil Young’s album Harvest over and over again as they pasted up galleys of type.

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.

Headspace 7

Me and My Place

Headspace 7: Me and My Place, the seventh in the National Portrait Gallery's series of student exhibitions, will be presented at Commonwealth Place. Me and My Place is the curatorial theme for the 2006 exhibition.

Tony Mitchell

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Tony Mitchell was in a band called Wheelbarrow, who released a single, 'Dame Zara' before Mitchell left to join Harry Young and Sabbath.

3 portraits in the collection

Nora Heysen inside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen inside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney, 2000

Sage

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Inspiration + Realisation: John Singer Sargent

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

Katherine Russell examines the art of Australian artist Paul Newton, referencing the portraiture of John Singer Sargent.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, 1899 by Carl Pietzner

The Archduke

The immediate chain of events that led to the outbreak of the First World War began 100 years ago on June 28.

Casey Stoner AM

Previous exhibition, 2023

Casey Stoner (b. 1985), the 2008 Young Australian of the Year, won the MotoGP World Championship motorcycle competition held at Phillip Island in 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Professor Derek Freeman

Derek Freeman (1916–2001) was an anthropologist. Born in New Zealand, he gained his doctorate from Cambridge before moving to Canberra in 1955 to work at the Australian National University.

1 portrait in the collection

You Look Like a...Matthew, 2016

by Cherine Fahd

Carla Zampatti AC

Italian-born Carla Zampatti AC (1942–2021) moved to a small town in Western Australia with her family in 1950.

1 portrait in the collection

Elizabeth Chong

For many years Elizabeth Chong has shared her love of Chinese cuisine with Australian audiences.

1 portrait in the collection

Living Memory National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist images

Prizes

Thanks to Canon Australia, the Winner of Living Memory will be awarded over $50,000 in prizes. Thanks to Eizo, the Highly Commended winner will receive a ColorEdge monitor, and the winner of the Art Handlers' Award will receive $2,000 thanks to IAS Fine Art Logistics.

Janette Howard

Janette Howard (b. 1943), wife of former prime minister the Hon. John Howard OM AC, was born in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Pennant

Thomas Pennant (1726-1798), Welsh traveller, antiquary, naturalist, and author, visited Joseph Banks in September 1771, shortly after Banks returned from his voyage with Cook on the Endeavour.

1 portrait in the collection

To Look Away – Tilda, 2015

by Sophie Hyde

Finalist, DPA 2016

Elia, 2006

by Alan Lesheim

Jaq Grantford

A self-portrait from a different time, feels like a different time, even though it's only a couple of years ago or one and a half years, if that, and it was my commentary on COVID and how I was feeling about it at the time.

Jimmy Wululu

Previous exhibition, 2022

Jimmy Wululu (1936-2005) was a Gupapuyngu (Yolgnu) painter and sculptor.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Portrait 57

Winter 2017

Archived media releases 2017

The discovery of Dempsey's People, Australian rugby greats, Athol Shmith's progressive pictures, and powerful Indigenous portraits.

Billy the match man, Liverpool, 1844 by John Dempsey

Rare Set of Watercolour Paintings on Display for the First Time

15 June 2017

A rare and enchanting collection of 52 portraits of British street people will be on display for the first time in the National Portrait Gallery’s winter show, Dempsey’s People: a folio of British street portraits 1824-1844.

NPPP 2009 exhibition essay

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

Sophie and Mercy, 2016

by Zelko Nedic

Cat Leedon

Previous exhibition, 2017

This was taken as part of a series, documenting my, I call it my shit show roller coaster.

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

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.

Self portrait

John Constable

Melissa Beowulf

The Yarra Boot Trunk Tragedy, 12 January 1899

Melissa Beowulf grew up in Sydney, where she became a graphic artist.

2 portraits in the collection

Olga Radalyski prison records, on loan from the Public Record Office of Victoria.

The sensational denouement of the case

The 'Yarra Boot Trunk Tragedy' unfolded a week before Christmas 1898, when some neighbourhood boys noticed a wooden box floating in the river at Richmond.

Max Dupain

The Vintage Years

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

Sir William Beechey

Sir William Beechey, portrait painter and pupil of Johann Zoffany, was greatly influenced by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

1 portrait in the collection

Karin Catt

Magazine article by Helena Bezzina, 2008

Karin Catt grew up in Newcastle, where she began taking photographs of touring bands while a schoolgirl, and also in London and Hong Kong.

9 portraits in the collection

Emerging realities

Fans at an Easybeats concert, Sydney Stadium, 1965 Bob King

Oz Origins

A little bit louder now

Australia’s passion for rock ‘n roll was kindled by American and British acts in the 1950s and 60s. The novel genre’s driving, licentious rhythms and voices captured imaginations and libidos, not to mention aspiring young musicians.

Jules Henry Roy Rousel

Jules Henry Roy Rousel (1897-1985) studied at the Royal Art Society School from 1912 to 1918 and the Slade School and RAS in London from 1935-1938.

2 portraits in the collection

Nikki Toole

An interview with the photographer.

Wayne Quilliam

Previous exhibition, 2002

The important part about it is is where it was captured. That's the Laura Quinkan Dance Festival, where our remote communities gather every two years to celebrate culture, to share knowledge, and to share stories.

Contemporary Australian Portraits

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

Rolf de Heer

Rolf de Heer (b. 1951) was born in Heemskerk, Holland, and migrated to Australia with his family in 1959.

1 portrait in the collection

Matt Ottley, 2019

Jana Vodesil-Baruffi

Thomas Morris, M N. Bates, Joseph C. Stadler after George Garrard

Woburn Sheepshearing, 1811

Portrait, aquatint with stipple and etching and engraving, hand coloured on chine colle on paper laid down on cotton stretched over wooden strainer

Purchased 2018

Johnny, 2006

by Sean Hobbs

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Sir Joshua Reynolds

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

3 portraits in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

8 March 2018

Images for media use will be available from 8 March 2018.

D. H. Souter

David Henry Souter (1862-1935) was a cartoonist, painter and art editor.

2 portraits in the collection

2022 Annual Appeal

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

Montalbetti + Campbell

Canadian-born photographic team Denis Montalbetti and Gay Campbell arrived in Australia in 1988.

14 portraits in the collection

Australians in Hollywood

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

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

9 lives of Karin Catt

Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.

Marcie Elizabeth Fairfax

Marcie Elizabeth 'Betty' Fairfax (1907–1995) was a leading figure in fashionable circles in Sydney in the 1920s and 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Henderson Croll

Robert Henderson Croll (1869-1947), author, worked as a clerk in the Victorian public service for over 40 years, but is better remembered for his books and journalism.

2 portraits in the collection

Andrew Maccoll

Andrew Maccoll (b. 1978) is a photographer and creative director. Born into an artistic family (his father is a press photographer and his mother a documentary producer) he worked as a darkroom printing assistant while studying for his degree in Visual Arts in Photography at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.

3 portraits in the collection

George Hoyningen-Huene

Previous exhibition, 1999

Baron George Hoyningen-Huene (1900–1968) was a high-profile American fashion photographer and Hollywood figure.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Lloyd Rees, 1973

Robert Walker

Purchased 1999

Portrait of Paddy Japaljarrii Stewart, 2004

Francis Reiss

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

Rennie Ellis: Aussies All is a celebration of the life and work of the late Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.

Bruce Dawe

Bruce Dawe AO (1930-2020), poet and teacher, was born in Fitzroy and worked as a labourer, clerk, sawmill hand, farmhand and postman before joining the RAAF in 1959.

1 portrait in the collection

Lyndon Dadswell, with his sculpture 'Native'

Lyndon Dadswell CMG

Lyndon Dadswell CMG (1908-1986) studied at the Julian Ashton School before working with Rayner Hoff from 1926 to 1929 and Paul Montford from 1929 to 1935.

3 portraits in the collection

Tough & Tender

Bea Maddock AM, Larry Rawlings

Art by Warwick Baker, Chris Burden, Larry Clark, Rozalind Drummond, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe and Collier Schorr explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity.

Fleeing figure, 1988

Portrait, colour photo screenprint on paper

Gift of David Archer 2016

John Landy, c. 1954

Ern McQuillan OAM

Magazine article by Tim Storrier, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Observation point

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

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

Elizabeth Chong, 2000

Jaime Murcia

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Subtle emotion

Christopher Chapman considers photographer Rozalind Drummond's portrait of author Nam Le.

Slow Motion @ 300kms per hour Mark ‘Sparky’ Webber, Formula 1 Driver, 2016

by Gino Zardo

Googie Withers AO

Georgette Lizette (Googie) Withers AO (1917–2011), stage, film and television actor, was born in India and studied drama at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.

1 portrait in the collection

Helen Grieve

Helen Grieve (1931–1981), child actress, was born in Sydney. Her first film role was in The Overlanders (1946), opposite Chips Rafferty.

1 portrait in the collection

Mathew Lynn

Mathew Lynn (b. 1963), primarily a portrait painter, lives and works between Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

2 portraits in the collection

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

Collier Schorr

Tough & Tender

This is the first time Collier Schorr's photographs, which explore gender and identity, have been shown in Australia.

Roderick Shaw

Roderick Shaw (1915-1992) is perhaps best known for his worker paintings of the social realist school, such as Cable Layers (in the Art Gallery of NSW).

2 portraits in the collection

Benny (42nd Street Series), 1979–80 by Larry Clark

City boys

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

Enrico Taglietti AO

Portrait photography by John Elliott

Enrico Taglietti (1926-2019), architect, spent his early childhood in Milan, moving to Eritrea in the year leading up to World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

Thousand Mile Stare

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

Lindy Morrison

Lindy Morrison joined The Go-Betweens as drummer in 1980. After the band split up in early 1990, she teamed up with another ex Go-Between, Amanda Brown, in a group called Cleopatra Wong.

1 portrait in the collection

James Gleeson

An exhibition of sporting photographs by Anderson & Low

James Gleeson AO was Australia's best-known surrealist artist, and from the late 1930s onwards he was a tireless supporter of Australian modern art.

3 portraits in the collection

The Athlete

The Athlete explores the sporting life well beyond the superficial image of the human physique

Andree Johnson-Bell

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

1 portrait in the collection

Slow Motion @ 300kms per hour Mark 'Sparky'™ Webber, Formula 1 Driver

Slow Motion @ 300kms per hour Mark 'Sparky'™ Webber, Formula 1 Driver, 2016

Gino Zardo

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Garry Shead

Born in Sydney, Garry Shead studied at the National Art School in 1961-2.

3 portraits in the collection

Kylie Kwong AM

Kylie Kwong was born into a fourth generation Australian Chinese family in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Governor of South Australia

Sir William F. Jervois

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois (1821-1897), governor, attended the Royal Military Academy before being commissioned to the Royal Engineers in 1839.

1 portrait in the collection

Werner Baer MBE

Werner Baer MBE (1914-1992) grew up in Berlin, where he studied piano with Artur Schnabel and worked at the Berlin Stadtsoper.

1 portrait in the collection

Adam Knott

Adam Knott (b. 1966) began taking photographs for local newspapers as a schoolboy in St George, South Sydney.

7 portraits in the collection

Yu Hong

Born 1966 in Beijing, China. Lives and works in Beijing.

Frederick Burnaby

James Jacques Tissot

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.

Rolf de Heer, Adelaide, SA, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Percy Spence

Portrait, oil on hessian laid on cardboard

Percy Spence, born in Balmain, grew up in Fiji and began art classes in Sydney in about 1888.

1 portrait in the collection

George Duncan, c. 1940

Alison Rehfisch

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Margaret Adams 1999

John Hamilton

As a young reporter for the Melbourne Age, John Hamilton (b.1940 UK, migrated to Aust.

1 portrait in the collection

Boxer, Blake Travers, 2017

by Patrick Bell

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Jacques Etienne Victor Arago

Jacques Etienne Victor Arago (1790-1855), author, artist and explorer, travelled with Louis-Claude de Saulces de Freycinet on his 1817 voyage around the world on the Uranie.

3 portraits in the collection

Reg Lindsay, Scone, NSW, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

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

18 October 2018

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.

Younger Australians more engaged with arts and history

11 April 2016

The second annual brand-awareness snapshot of the National Portrait Gallery is again positive, with indicators moving in the right direction – for the Gallery and for Australia’s cultural engagement.

Linda Jackson

Archived media releases 2014

Linda Mary Jackson (b. 1950) is a fashion designer and artist. Having studied fashion design at Emily McPherson College and photography at Prahran Technical College, she travelled to New Guinea, through Asia and Europe, and worked for Parisian couture house Mia-Vicky.

1 portrait in the collection

Arcadia media information

31 July 2014

Press releases and image downloads for media.

Sir Percy Spender, 1981

Alex Kolozsy

Portrait, cold cast bronze

Gift of the artist and the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party of Australia 2004

The Possibilities of Portraiture

Previous exhibition, 1999

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.

Decorative portrait – Len Lye, c.1925 by Rayner Hoff (1894-1937)

Presence and Absence

Portrait Sculpture in Australia

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

Sydney Edward Gregory

Sydney Edward Gregory (1870–1929) was born on the site of the Sydney Cricket Ground, the son of batsman Ned Gregory (1839–1899), who was one of five boys from the same family who all played cricket at national or international level.

1 portrait in the collection

Chandler P. Coventry AM

Chandler Phillip Coventry AM (1924–1999), grazier, gallerist, art collector and arts patron, was born in Armidale, New South Wales to an established New England grazing family.

1 portrait in the collection

Adam Cullen

Adam Cullen (1965-2012), painter, studied art in Sydney from 1986 to 1999, when he obtained his master’s degree in fine arts from the University of New South Wales.

8 portraits in the collection

Living Memory – National Photographic Portrait Prize extended to January 2022

6 September 2021

In light of recent and ongoing gallery closures brought on by the COVID pandemic, the NPG’s 2021 National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition season will be extended until 16 January next year.

Portrait of a beautiful mind - Adam Cullen, Blue Mountains

Portrait of a beautiful mind - Adam Cullen, Blue Mountains, 2005 (printed 2019)

George Fetting

Purchased with funds provided by Alan Dodge AM & Neil Archibald 2019

John Bell AO OBE

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

3 portraits in the collection

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

Portrait, pen and ink, brush and ink on paper

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

Googie Withers, 1962

Don Bachardy

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

John Firth Smith

John Firth-Smith (b. 1943) is a Sydney abstract painter. In the early 1960s he won a number of 'young artist' prizes for his paintings of yachts on Sydney Harbour, but by 1968 his work was becoming increasingly abstract, featuring large fields of opaque colour.

2 portraits in the collection

Dressing for dinner, 1992

Davida Allen

Portrait, oil on plywood

Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The People’s Choice Awards

16 June 2020

The votes have been counted, and the winners of the National Portrait Gallery’s People’s Choice Awards for the Prize exhibitions are...

Lindy (No. 2 of Robert, Lindy, Grant)

Jenny Watson

Peter Brock AM

Portraits in the Landscape

Peter Brock (1945-2006), a professional racing driver from 1972 to 1997, was undoubtedly Australia's best known and most popular motor sports personality.

1 portrait in the collection

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

A bond of friendship

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

Australia's major abstract painter Yvonne Audette discusses her portrait of sculptor Robert Kippel.

Herb Elliott AC MBE

James Herbert 'Herb' Elliott AC MBE (b. 1938), runner, won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the Rome Olympics in 1960.

1 portrait in the collection

Sharon Atkinson-Firebrace, c. 2000

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Hari Ho

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on masonite

Hari Ho left his native Malaysia as a young man to travel and work throughout the US, Europe and Asia.

2 portraits in the collection

Carl Cooper, 1945-1946

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Bequest of Alan Boxer 2014

Kylie Kwong, 2003

Simon Griffiths

Purchased 2005

Lily Brett OAM

Lily Brett OAM (b. 1946) is a New York-based novelist, essayist and poet.

2 portraits in the collection

Shane Maloney

Shane Maloney (b. 1953) is the creator of the popular 'Murray Whelan' series of six crime novels, beginning with Stiff (1994) and The Brush-Off (1996) and currently ending at Sucked In (2007).

1 portrait in the collection

Barbara Robison, 1935

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rex Dupain 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Carol Spencer AM

Carol Spencer AM (b. 1943), known as Carlotta, is a cabaret performer, television personality and LGBTIQ+ advocate.

1 portrait in the collection

Sarah Siddons (née Kemble)

John Downman

Tommy Tycho AM MBE

Tommy Tycho AM MBE (1928-2013), musician, began studying at the Conservatorium of Music in his native Budapest at the age of eight.

1 portrait in the collection

Enrico Taglietti, c. 1985

Edward Richards

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Phillip Gudthaykudthay

Philip Gudthaykudthay (b. 1935) Liyagalawumirr (Yolgnu) bark painter, worked as a young man as a stockman, fencer and crocodile hunter around Milingimbi and Ramingining.

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Burstall AM

Betty Burstall AM (1926–2013) played a vital role in the development of theatre in Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Matthew Reilly

Matthew Reilly (b. 1974) is a successful writer of popular fiction novels, characterised by suspenseful narratives and futuristic scenarios.

1 portrait in the collection

Samantha Nimunburr Wyborn, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Sir Jack Brabham OBE

Opportunities for support

Sir Jack Brabham OBE (1926-2014), racing car driver, was born in Hurstville, NSW, and studied mechanical engineering before working as a mechanic for the RAAF during WW2.

2 portraits in the collection

Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, 1983 by Harold Thornton

Learning programs

Unique experiences and programs for enquiring young minds, teachers and lifelong learners.

Study of male ballet dancers standing in a line

Study of male ballet dancers standing in a line, 2007

Portrait, charcoal and pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Lloyd Rees, c. 1988

Magazine article by Geoffrey Batchen, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Here and there

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

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

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

Gene Sherman with Family, After Tillers, After Freud, After Watteau

Ondine Sherman

Ondine Sherman (b. 1974), author and animal rights activist, grew up in Sydney and attained her undergraduate degree in communications from University of Technology Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Slim Dusty at Carlton Hill Station, WA, 1993

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

The artist and the doctor

Lust

Art, war, scandal

Gordon Watson AM

Gordon Watson AM (1921-1999), pianist and teacher, taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music from 1964 to 1986 and was head of its keyboard department when he retired.

1 portrait in the collection

Jimmy Wululu, 1986

Magazine article by Pieter Roelofs, 2023

Purchased 2005

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1657–58 Johannes Vermeer

Basking in light

Pieter Roelofs, Head of Painting and Sculpture at Rijksmuseum and co-curator of Vermeer, delves into the largest-ever exhibition of the master artist.

Harry Belafonte

Dorothy Wilding

Les Darcy, Australian Middleweight Boxer

Les Darcy, Australian Middleweight Boxer, c. 1910

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

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.

Reputedly Elizabeth Macarthur, 1785-1790 Unknown

The most material advantages

A one-in-a-thousand woman

Sir Cecil Colville, c. 1965

Sir William Dargie CBE

Previous exhibition, 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Due 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.

Headspace 4

Facing Memory

Chefs, winemakers, providores

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

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.

Brett Whiteley

Brett Whiteley AO, artist, displayed a brilliant talent for drawing as a Sydney private schoolboy.

11 portraits in the collection

Heide Smith

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Heide Smith took up photography as a young girl in Germany in 1948, when her uncle gave her a Zeiss Ikon camera.

3 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Henry Hopkins, c. 1845

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2013

Rose Byrne

Rose Byrne (b. 1979), actor, was raised in the Sydney suburbs of Balmain and Newtown, and joined the Australian Theatre for Young People at the age of eight.

1 portrait in the collection

Dame Roma Mitchell, 1998

Jessica Hromas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Hammond Care Group 1999

Cherry Hood

Portrait, gilcée print on paper

Cherry Hood (b. c. 1950), is an artist well known for her haunting, large-scale images of faces.

3 portraits in the collection

Smalltown Boy (Perth), 2018

The Huxleys

Purchased 2021

Smalltown Boy (Surfers Paradise), 2018

The Huxleys

Portrait, gilcée print on paper

Purchased 2021

Australian visit in Denmark

Magazine article by Mette Skougaard, 2006

In April 2006 the National Portrait Gallery showcased Australian portraits at the Fredenksborg Castle in Denmark.

Syd Gregory (Sydney Edward Gregory, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

H Parker Rolfe

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

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

Andree Johnston-Bell, c. 1945

Walter Langhammer

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jocelyne MacLeod 2008

Lloyd Rees, 1987

Michel Lawrence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Werner Baer, 1947

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Bell, 1962 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Phillip Noyce AO

Phillip Noyce AO (b. 1950), director, was part of the first student intake at the Australian Film and Television School in 1973.

2 portraits in the collection

Bee Miles, 1976

Roderick Shaw

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize

Gift of Brian Griffin 2000

Entry guidelines 2024

Read the full requirements for entering the prize.

Zelman Cowen, c. 1977

Ray Crooke AM

Portrait, pencil and oil on canvas laid on chipboard

Gift of David Crooke 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE (1907–1989), conservationist and fundraiser, studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Study of a pair of ballet dancers, 2007

Portrait, charcoal and pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Lt. A.R.Cutler VC, 1943

Dora Toovey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Cutler family 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Study of female ballet dancers, 2007

Portrait, charcoal and pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Lily Brett, n.d. (printed 2021)

Purchased with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021

Portraits for Posterity

Portrait, pencil and crayon on paper

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.

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Ralph Heimans AM

Gift of the artist 2001

June Dally-Watkins, 1959

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal 2023

Marilyn Ball, Albatross, 2018 (detail) by Linde Ivimey

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.

Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and King James II

Sir Peter Lely

Tjayanka Woods

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Tjayanka Woods (d. 2014) was a senior Pitjantjatjara artist and cultural custodian.

2 portraits in the collection

Kyle Vander-Kuyp, 1998

Anderson & Low

Purchased 2001

Sir Bernard Heinze AC KT

Portrait, pastel on paper

Sir Bernard Heinze AC KT (1894-1982) was a conductor who brought classical music to the general public and promoted the works of Australian composers.

1 portrait in the collection

Michael with beetroot sprouting, 2008

Janet Dawson

Purchased 2015

Glenn Murcutt

Recorded 2017

Wesley Stacey

Wesley Stacey (1941–2023), photographer, was an apprentice silk screener and studied drawing and design at East Sydney Technical College in the early 1960s before working as a graphic designer and photographer in Sydney and London.

3 portraits in the collection

Alan Sandow, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Clive Shakespeare, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Daryl Braithwaite, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Garth Porter, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Tony Mitchell, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Clifton Pugh

Australians

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.

Carla Zampatti, 2015

Georges Antoni

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Lee Lin Chin

Lee Lin Chin, stylesetter and former broadcaster, was born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore, where in 1968 she began working in television and radio.

2 portraits in the collection

Geoffrey Rush, 1997

Montalbetti + Campbell

Portrait, photo screenprint with ballpoint pen framing lines on paper

Purchased 1999

Self portrait, c. 1982

Bea Maddock AM

Gift of David Archer 2016

I dream of Sam Neill when I go to bed, 1986 Davida Allen

The actor, the artist, her life and her fantasies

Lust

Feeling sexy

The 1950s to the present day

Mo and beard timeline

Certain European leaders (needless to name) had the effect of making certain styles of facial hair decidedly undesirable in the years immediately after World War 2.

Georges Antoni

Georges Antoni (b. 1975), fashion photographer, grew up in a small town in central Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Jacqueline Mitelman

Recorded 2017

Prince Charles Edward Stuart

Louis Gabriel Blanchet

Ed Sheeran

Colin Davidson

Charles Kean

Charles Kean (1811-1868), actor, threw in his Eton education when his mother was deserted by his penniless father, the tragedian Edmund Kean.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Cecil Colville

Sir Cecil Colville (1891-1984), medical practitioner, was the first president of the Australian Medical Association.

1 portrait in the collection

George Fetting

George Fetting (b. 1964) is a Sydney-based photographer specialising in portrait, travel and editorial work.

8 portraits in the collection

Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London

Announcing Shakespeare to Winehouse

24 November 2021

Portrait, type C Duraflex print on paper

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.

Ada Bird Petyarre, 1990

Anne Zahalka

Gift of Leo Christie 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Kristina, 1984 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Who is Lillie Roberts?

Talented wife for a talented husband

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Learning resources

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

The crime writer Shane Maloney, 2004

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

Jenny Sages

Paths to Portraiture

The exhibition Sages examines the process of portrait making through four large-scale portraits of women by Jenny Sages, paired with intimate preparatory drawings.

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2009

Edward Scriven, J B Ball & J DeCamp after Sir Thomas Lawrence

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

Rt. Honourable Lord Hawkesbury, 1808

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

Portrait of Florence Broadhurst, 1968

Joshua Smith

Purchased 2007

'Amy-Blue' (Amy Winehouse)

Marlene Dumas

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

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

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

A & G Taylor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Theresa Byrnes

Theresa Byrnes (b. 1969) is a painter, writer and performance artist who first exhibited her paintings in 1986 at the age of sixteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Megan Gale

Megan Gale (b. 1975), model, entrepreneur and media personality, achieved fame in Italy before becoming widely recognised in Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 63

Winter 2019

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Rod McNicol's method and motivation, 19th century Indigenous peoples, Barrie Cassidy on Bob Hawke, five generations of the Kang family from Korea and more.

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

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

Purchased 2009

Brett Whiteley, 1974

Gift of the artist 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Legend of Ruby and Archie

Portrait, pencil and pastel on paper

A bond in song

Portrait of Professor Derek Freeman, 1996

Ralph Heimans AM

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Colleen McCullough

The novelist Colleen McCullough (1937–2015) was born in Wellington, New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Handing on the baton

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

Eyes on the Prize

A short visual essay of some of the works in the National Youth Self Portrait Prize 2010.

Stephen and Russell Page, 1993 (printed 2011)

Robert Rosen

Gift of Robert Rosen 2012

Brian Dunlop

Portrait, pencil on paper

Brian Dunlop studied at East Sydney Technical College and won the Le Gay Brereton Prize for Drawing while still a student.

7 portraits in the collection

Marcie Elizabeth Wilson, 1922

George Lambert

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ross Watson

Ross Watson specialises in interpolating representations of lithe semi-naked men into copies of paintings by masters such as Vermeer, Ter Borsch, David and Bronzino.

2 portraits in the collection

Matthew Reilly, 2006 (printed 2009)

Montalbetti + Campbell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Sherbet, 1974

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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

Patrick Branwell Brontë

George Milpurrurru, 1986

Purchased 2005

Kristina, 1986 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Talking heads

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

Cathy Freeman, 1994

Montalbetti + Campbell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Neil Murray, Bolac, VIC, 2004

Magazine article by Vincent Fantauzzo, 2022

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Portrait story

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

Big shots

Magazine article by Djon Mundine OAM, 2017

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

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist, c. 1870

James E. Bray

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2017

An international troupe of two

It's Complicated

Office romance

Of Burke, Wills ... and wills

It's Complicated

Infatuation and (ill-fated) exploration

1 to 6

Magazine article by David Sequeira, 2005

The National Portrait Gallery's annual survey of student self portraiture highlights the processes of personal inquiry through portraiture by students from all levels across Australia.

Sir Joseph Banks, c. 1788

John Raphael Smith after Sir Benjamin West

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased 2010

Tim Jarvis, 2018

Doug Gimesy

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones, 1970

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Gift of Charles E. Lloyd Jones and Kim Lloyd Jones 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

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.

John Firth-Smith, 1974

Previous exhibition, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Paul Kelly and The Portraits

Aspects of singer songwriter Paul Kelly’s performance persona are communicated by portraits selected from a range of artists and leading music photographers in this focus exhibition.

Julia Matthews

Julia Matthews (1842-1876), actress and singer, came to Australia as a girl with her parents, and made her debut at Sydney's Royal Victoria Theatre in 1854, aged twelve.

1 portrait in the collection

George Richmond

George Richmond, son of the miniature painter Thomas Richmond, grew up in London, took early artistic instruction from his father and enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools in 1824.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Mundy

Previous exhibition, 2023

Artist Henry Mundy arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1831 and took up a position as teacher of drawing, French and music at Ellinthorp Hall, a school near Ross established ‘with a view to the improvement of Young Ladies’.

4 portraits in the collection

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

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.

Lloyd Rees from behind, 1979

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rex Dupain 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Lloyd Rees full face, 1979

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rex Dupain 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Maggie Tabberer AO

Maggie Tabberer AO (b. 1936), designer, writer, editor, publicist and television presenter, is one of Australia's best-known personalities.

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Burstall, 1945

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Purchased 1998

John Farnham AO

John Farnham (b.1949) has sustained a successful career in the Australian music industry for more than 40 years.

1 portrait in the collection

Carlotta, Kings Cross (Les Girls), 1970-1971

Purchased 2006

Nikki Toole

Scottish-born photographer Nikki Toole (b. 1965) studied film and photography in London and Edinburgh before moving to Melbourne.

3 portraits in the collection

June Dally-Watkins OAM

June Dally-Watkins OAM (1927–2020), model, deportment icon and entrepreneur, grew up on a property at Watsons Creek in the New England district of New South Wales.

3 portraits in the collection

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones OBE

Hannah Benyon Lloyd Jones OBE (1901–1982) was the third wife of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, the chairman of David Jones from 1920 until his death in 1958.

3 portraits in the collection

Richard Larter

Richard Larter (1929-2014) was born in London, where he encountered and was influenced by the new generation of young British Pop artists of the 1950s and early 1960s.

6 portraits in the collection

Gladys Moncrieff OBE

Giovanni Vendramini, T Cadell & W Davies after William Evans, Sir William Beechey

Gladys Moncrieff (1892-1976), soprano, grew up in Queensland, where she first toured as 'Little Gladys - The Australian Wonder Child' with a small musical road show.

4 portraits in the collection

George Rose, 1811

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Patrick White

Portrait, inkjet print on canvas

Patrick White (1912–1990), acknowledged as Australia’s pre-eminent novelist of the 20th century, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973 for The Eye of the Storm, ‘for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature’.

7 portraits in the collection

Paddy Bedford, 2003

Jim Anderson

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dame Helen Blaxland, 1986

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rayner Hoff, 1924

Harold Cazneaux

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ada Bird Petyarre

Ada Bird Petyarre (c. 1930–2009), painter and printmaker, was an Anmatyerre woman from the Northern Territory, and one of seven sisters who all became notable artists.

1 portrait in the collection

Play on (A portrait of Neale Daniher), 2021

Michael Peck

Portrait, oil on linen

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation, The Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation and Dr David Thurin AM and Lisa Thurin 2021

All that fall artist interviews

Lawrence English, Ellis Hutch and Lee Grant talk about the works they created for All that fall.

Megan Gale, 2002

Ellen Dahl

an unknown artist after George Richmond

Gift of the artist 2006

Francis Russell Nixon, c. 1845-1855

Portrait, copperplate engraving, heightened with China white on buff paper

Purchased 2009

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.

Monochromatic Self-Portrait, 2000 by Genevieve Preston

Headspace 1

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

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

Malcolm Fraser, Randwick Racecourse, 1975 (printed 2002)

Roger Scott

Purchased 2012

Dr John Yu, 2004

Ah Xian

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2004

Robin Sellick

Previous exhibition, 2019

Robin Sellick (b. 1967), photographer, is well known for his distinctive portraits of Australian actors, musicians, politicians and athletes.

17 portraits in the collection

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

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

Lee Lin Chin, 2005

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, cast bronze medallion on wood plaque

Gift of the artist 2006

Sir Bernard Heinze AC, 1985

Michael Meszaros

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Ray Marginson AM 2001

Announcing.... In their own words

24 November 2020

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

Cathryn Fitzpatrick

Toni Wilkinson

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Marilyn Rowe, 1981

Graham Thorley

Portrait, transparency between mirror substrates in LED lightbox

Gift of the family of Graham Thorley in his memory and in tribute to Marilyn Rowe 2010

Tan Le, 2018

John Tsiavis

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

Douglas Mawson, 1933

Henry James Haley

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gareth Mawson Thomas and Pamela Karran-Thomas of the Mawson family 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Christos Tsiolkas

Recorded 2017

Murray Bail, c. 1980 (printed 2018)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Noel Fraser Hickey, 1957

Nancy Menetrey

Gift of the artist 2021

Susan Lord, c. 1840

Henry Mundy

Purchased 2015

The Hon. Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

Quentin Bryce AD CVO (b. 1942), academic, lawyer and community and human rights advocate, was the first woman to be appointed governor-general of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Portrait, spray paint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Portrait, spray paint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Cathryn Fitzpatrick, 2006

Toni Wilkinson

Portrait, inkjet print

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

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

Selected images

Take a peek at a selection of the portraits you can see in the exhibition.

Gail Kelly, 2018

by Paul Newton

Commissioned with funds provided by Westpac Group and Optus 2018

Colleen McCullough, 1992-1993 (printed 2005)

Anthony Browell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Theresa Byrnes, 1999

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

Mervyn Bishop

Mervyn Bishop (b. 1945), a Murri photographer, began a cadetship with the Sydney Morning Herald in 1963.

6 portraits in the collection

Janet Holmes a Court AC

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

1 portrait in the collection

James T. Donovan, 1892

Tom Roberts

Purchased 2015

Brett Whiteley - portrait 2, 1975

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

Peter Drewett

Peter G. Drewett is a Grafton craftsman. Drewett grew up in difficult economic circumstances in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Wayne Lynch

Wayne Lynch (b. 1951), surfer and surfboard shaper, grew up in Lorne, Victoria, not far from Bells Beach.

2 portraits in the collection

Douglas Annand

Douglas Annand (1903–1976), graphic designer and artist, moved to Sydney from Brisbane in 1930.

2 portraits in the collection

Telphia, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Dave Sands, c. 1940s

Purchased 2011

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

This 1910 portrait of Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts by Tom Roberts was brought into the Gallery's collection with the assistance of the Acquisition Fund in 2013.

Christos Tsiolkas, 1998 (printed 2009)

John Tsiavis

Purchased 2009

Christos Tsiolkas, 1998 (printed 2009)

John Tsiavis

Portrait, oil on composition board

Purchased 2009

Fiona Stanley, 2011

Mary Moore

Commissioned 2011

Jacques Arago, c. 1830s

Nicolas Maurin, Alexandre Sixdeniers

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Charles Dickens

Daniel Maclise

Gladys Moncrieff, 1920s

Ruskin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sally Douglas 2009

Self portrait, 1965

Jean Appleton

Gift of the Estate of Nicolaas van der Waarden 2013

Ellie Cole

Recorded 2021

George Hoyningen-Huene and Jessie the Barmaid, 1937

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Beach

Photography and mortality

Bill Beach (1850-1935), sculler, came to New South Wales as a young boy with his English parents, who settled at Albion Park, NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot)

Reveries

Previous exhibition, 2007

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 Ella, 2006

Sahlan Hayes

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on resin-coated paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

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

Dillon Kombumerri, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Do you know more?

The National Portrait Gallery is calling on family history enthusiasts and amateur historians to help reveal more about the people in Dempsey’s People: A folio of British street portraits from 1824-1844.

Rose Byrne, 2001 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Purchased 2005

Johann Zoffany

Johann Zoffany, painter of portraits and conversation pieces, grew up in the court of the Prince von Thurn und Taxis in Germany, where his father was employed.

1 portrait in the collection

Dancer

Touring exhibition, 2024

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition celebrates dance and dancers.

James Houston

Scoring first prize in New South Wales for Art in the 1983 HSC was a signal that a talented creative career lay ahead and this has indeed proven the case.

2 portraits in the collection

Lee Lin Chin, 2004 (printed 2021)

George Fetting

Gift of the artist 2021

A photographer’s glamorous friends

Nearest & Dearest

Community, arts, activism

The Hon. John Howard OM AC

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

The Hon. John Howard OM AC (b. 1939) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

Director John Duigan and actor Judy Davis on the set of ‘Winter of our Dreams’, Sydney, 1981 by Robert McFarlane

Natural born stiller

Penelope Grist speaks to Robert McFarlane about shooting for the stars.

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

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

Elegance in exile

Previous exhibition, 2012

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.

Portrait of Bennilong, a Native of New Holland

Portrait of Bennilong, a Native of New Holland, c. 1810

Purchased 2014

Christine Rivett

Amy Christine Rivett (1891–1962), doctor, contributed greatly to medicine and women's health.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Townshend, Lord Viscount Sydney

Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney PC (1733-1800) was British Home Secretary in the Pitt Government, given responsibility for devising a plan to settle convicts at Botany Bay.

1 portrait in the collection

Pat Mackie, 2004

Nancy Borlase AM

Purchased 2004

Hélène Kirsova

Hélène Kirsova (1910–1962), dancer and founder of Kirsova Ballet, the first professional ballet company in Australia.

4 portraits in the collection

Hilary McPhee, 2015

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

The National Portrait Prizes

29 January 2020

The National Portrait Gallery today announced finalists for the inaugural Darling Portrait Prize, a national new $75,000 prize for Australian portrait painting, and released selected images from the final prize pool for the popular National Photography Portrait Prize.

Some lads #1, 1986

Tracey Moffatt

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

Evonne Goolagong, 1973

Ern McQuillan OAM

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Charles Chauvel

Charles Chauvel (1897-1959), actor and film-maker, worked on the sets of Snowy Baker films as a young man, and followed the great action hero to Hollywood in 1921.

1 portrait in the collection

Ben McNamara

This is Marissa Gallagher from Kintore, which if you're in Alice Springs, just go west until the WA border, just before that, a traditional area of Pintupi mob.

Kyle Vander-Kuyp, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Amrita Hepi

Artists and Collectives

Bundjulung/Ngapuhi woman Amrita Hepi’s work considers the body’s relationship to personal histories and archive, and investigates dance as social function.

The 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize

16 June 2023

Media

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

George Judah Cohen, 1925

George Lambert

Gift of the National Australia Bank 2002

Kenneth Rowell AM

Kenneth Rowell AM (1920–1999), artist and theatre designer, grew up in Melbourne and became intent on a career in the theatre at a young age.

2 portraits in the collection

Shahleena Musk

Portrait, pastel on paper laid on canvas

Shahleena Musk is Larrakia lawyer from Darwin. She was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from the Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University) and to be admitted to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles John Fairfax, c. 1860

Edwin Dalton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe, 2018

Shirley Purdie

Portrait, natural ochre and pigments on canvas (36 parts)

Purchased 2019

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, c. 1870

Batchelder & Company Photo

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Collection: Icons

Volume Two

Portrait, triptych of type C photographs on paper

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.

Angelica Mesiti

Artists and Collectives

Internationally renowned, Paris-based artist Angelica Mesiti creates video installations that are absorbing and profound experiences for audiences.

Russell Page in Venice, 1997

Brenda L Croft

Purchased 2002

Dave Graney, 1996

Bleddyn Butcher

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Lewis Morley

Myself and Eye

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

Portrait of Deborah Vernon Hackett, c. 1905

Florence Ada Fuller

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2005

Rodney Hall OAM

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2003

Rodney Hall OAM (b. 1935), writer, came to Australia in 1947 and settled in Brisbane.

2 portraits in the collection

Vintage Max

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

Charles Abraham

Charles Abraham, son of a London architect, trained at the Royal Academy schools under the sculptor Sierier, and for a further three years in Paris and Rome.

1 portrait in the collection

The painter transmogrified and Mrs Smith

Eric Smith

Portrait, photograph on paper

Eric Smith (1919-2017), painter, was born in Brunswick, Melbourne, and trained in commercial art at the Brunswick Technical College before serving in the army during World War 2.

6 portraits in the collection

Harry and Penelope Seidler, 15 December 1958

John Hearder

Gift of Penelope Seidler AM 2021

Koko & Kiko (42nd Street Series), 1980 by Larry Clark

Best buds

It’s important to have a best bud when you’re growing up. For many boys the transition from boyhood through adolescence is defined by wanting to fit in.

Kondelea (Della) Elliott, 1979

Ivy Shore

Gift of Jeannie Highet and Kim Buchan 2012

Self portrait

Sir Anthony van Dyck

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on board

Johnny O'Keefe "A little bit louder now...", 1999

Ivan Durrant

Commissioned with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999

A Singular Line

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2003

A newly acquired work by Stella Bowen adds to the National Portrait Gallery's growing collection of important Australian self-portraits.

Franchesca Cubillo, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Philippe Mora

Philippe Mora (b. 1949), filmmaker, artist and writer, is the eldest son of artist Mirka Mora and restauranteur and gallery owner Georges Mora.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Bennilong, Native of New Holland

Portrait of Bennilong, Native of New Holland, c. 1798

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Ian Thorpe, 2002

James Houston

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Jeff Carter with his dog Annie Rose at Foxground NSW

Jeff Carter with his dog Annie Rose at Foxground NSW, 2000 (printed 2017)

Robert McFarlane

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Glossy too

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

Geoffrey Dyer

Geoff Dyer (1947-2020) was renowned landscape and portrait painter whose practice depicted Tasmania and its people.

1 portrait in the collection

The story of us

Magazine article by David Ward, 2010

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

Hide/Seek

David Ward writes about the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.

Walter Langhammer

Walter Langhammer went to India before World War 2, fleeing the Nazis in Austria.

1 portrait in the collection

Little John of Colchester, a poor lunatic, c.1823 by John Dempsey

Dempsey's people

Those of you who are active in social media circles may be aware that through the past week I have unleashed a blitz on Facebook and Instagram in connection with our new winter exhibition Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits, 1824−1844.

Toni Collette

Toni Collette (b. 1972), actor, producer, singer and songwriter, spent much of her childhood in the western Sydney suburb of Blacktown and left school at 16 to join the Australian Theatre for Young People.

1 portrait in the collection

Stephen Page AO

Stephen Page AO (b. 1965), Nunukul dancer and choreographer, has been artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre since 1991.

2 portraits in the collection

Tim Fairfax AC, 2018

Russell Shakespeare

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

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

Janet Holmes á Court, 2001 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Mitch Cairns

Mitch Cairns (b. 1984), painter and cartoonist, won the 2017 Archibald Prize with a portrait of his partner, artist Agatha Gothe-Snape.

1 portrait in the collection

Ngarranggarni

Portrait, encaustic on canvas

The third row of paintings come from Ngarranggarni (Dreaming).

(Margaret Whitlam) by the strength of her skin

(Margaret Whitlam) by the strength of her skin, 1998

Kim Spooner

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

My Favourite Australian

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2009

The Australian public was invited in 2008 to vote for their favourite Australian. After the votes were tallied an exhibition of the top-ten Popular Australians and the top-twenty unsung heroes was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

Mrs Woods and ‘Ere, 2013

Karla Dickens

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Purchased 2019

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.

Quentin Bryce, 2002 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Purchased 2011

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

John Bertrand

John Bertrand AO (b. 1946) is a successful yachtsman, Olympian, sports administrator, businessman and philanthropist.

1 portrait in the collection

Jessica Mauboy

Jessica Mauboy (b. 1989), Darwin-born singer, songwriter and actor, is a descendant of the KuKu Yalanji nation of Far North Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Barbara McCarthy, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Ruby Hunter, 1996 (printed 2012)

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Purchased 2012

Therese Desmond, 1919-1920

James Burnside

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Madeleine Howell 2013

Gary Ella, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

LeGarde Twins, c. 1966

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2015

Russell Page

Russell Page (1968–2002), choreographer, dancer and actor, was from the Nunukul (Noonuccal) people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh people of south-east Queensland.

4 portraits in the collection

Allan Lowe, c. 1955

Reshid Bey

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Alan Lowe and Marian Lowe 2000

Cour-rou-bari-gal, 1807

Portrait, engraving, hand coloured on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Bart Willoughby, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

The Hon. Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO QC

The Hon. Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO QC (1913–2000) was the first Australian woman to be a Queen's Counsel, Supreme Court judge, Acting Chief Justice, Deputy University Chancellor, Chancellor and State Governor.

2 portraits in the collection

Albert Falzon

Albert Falzon (b. 1945), film maker and photographer, was in the Australian army and worked for Australian Surfing World magazine before co-founding the Australian surf magazine Tracks in 1970.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 68

Summer 2022/23

Rebecca Ray on Robert Fielding’s Mayatjara series, Jennifer Higgie on Alice Neel, Elspeth Pitt chats with Yvette Coppersmith, Vincent Fantauzzo on virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman and more.

Thea Proctor

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

Thomas and John Clarke, bushrangers, photographed in Braidwood Gaol

Thomas and John Clarke, bushrangers, photographed in Braidwood Gaol, 1867

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on laid down on a section cut from a nineteenth century album page

Purchased 2019

Nicolas-Martin Petit

Nicholas-Martin Petit was born in Paris, the son of a fan maker, and learned graphic art in the studio of Jacques Louis David.

9 portraits in the collection

Hardtmuth Lahm

Hardtmuth Lahm (1912-1981), commercial artist and cartoonist, came to Australia from Estonia as a sixteen-year-old.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Nicoll

Richard Nicoll (1977‒2016), fashion designer, was born in London but spent much of his childhood in Perth.

1 portrait in the collection

Thilin-Thilin Gooragall Nyajaringil Garnkiny-nu (white gum tree, mother for the moon), 2018 by Shirley Purdie

Storytelling

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

Steve Kilbey, 1981 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Kondelea Elliott

Kondelea Elliott (1917–2011), union official and women's rights lobbyist, was the daughter of a Greek migrant father, Nicholas Xenodohos, who had come from the Queensland canefields via Sydney, and an Australian mother who had left school at the age of eight and performed in a circus.

1 portrait in the collection

Tom LeGarde

Tom LeGarde (1931–2021) and Ted LeGarde (1931–2018), 'The LeGarde Twins', were early pioneers of country music.

1 portrait in the collection

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

Rhoda Roberts

Rhoda Roberts AO (b. 1960) is a Bundjalung woman from northern New South Wales, and a producer, director, writer, broadcaster, performer and arts executive.

1 portrait in the collection

Lewis Morley

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

Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party)

Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party), 1983

Bleddyn Butcher

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Pat Mackie

Pat Mackie (1914–2009), union leader, led the Mount Isa strike of 1964–65 that polarised the town and almost bankrupted Mount Isa Mining.

1 portrait in the collection

Ted LeGarde

Magazine article by Emma Batchelor, 2022

Ted LeGarde (1931–2018) and Tom LeGarde (1931–2021), ‘The LeGarde Twins’, were early pioneers of country music.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian Dance Party and Catapult Dance performing Connecting Stories: Innovations at the National Portrait Gallery, 2022 Lorna Sim

Let’s dance

Emma Batchelor uncovers the compelling contemporary dance made in response to the works in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Bruce Petty

Bruce Petty (1929-2023), political cartoonist, grew up in Melbourne and as a young man took night classes in art at RMIT.

1 portrait in the collection

Murray Bail

Murray Bail (b. 1941), writer, was born in Adelaide and spent several years in India and England in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

3 portraits in the collection

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick

The Rt. Hon Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC

The Rt Hon Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC (1903–1997) was Chief Justice of Australia from 27 April 1964 to 11 February 1981 – the longest serving Chief Justice of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Mary Windeyer, 1850s

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Simon Tedeschi

Portrait, colour photolithograph

Simon Tedeschi (b. 1981), award-winning classical pianist, grew up in Sydney, and essentially abandoned his school lessons as an adolescent to concentrate on his piano studies with Neta Maughan.

1 portrait in the collection

Tommy Tycho, 1986

Calvin Winetroube

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Vicky Tycho 2013

Sketches and sermons

Magazine article by Jessica Smith, 2009

Jessica Smith looks at the 'fetching' portrait of Tasmania's first Anglican Bishop, Francis Russell Nixon by George Richmond

Portrait of a Modernist

Magazine article by Dimity Goldie, 2003

The National Portrait Gallery acquired the self-portrait by Grace Cossington Smith in 2003.

Portrait of Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke (Sass & Bide)

Portrait of Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke (Sass & Bide), 2008

Deborah Paauwe

Portrait, glass plate negative

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2008

Trukanini, 1866 (printed 1890s)

Charles Woolley

Purchased 2011

John Dease

Conly John Paget Dease (1906-1979), actor and broadcaster, spent thirty years as one of the signature voices of the ‘Golden Age’ of Australian radio.

1 portrait in the collection

Ron Grainer, printed 2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lewis Morley 2004

Mrs Woods, 2013

Karla Dickens

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

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

Charles Joseph La Trobe, 1853

Thomas Woolner

Purchased 2006

Martin Sharp

Martin Sharp (1942-2013), printmaker, painter, cartoonist, designer, songwriter and film-maker, is one of Australia's foremost pop artists.

7 portraits in the collection

Layne Beachley AO

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

Layne Beachley AO (b. 1972), former surfer and businesswoman, is the world's most successful female professional surfer.

2 portraits in the collection

An Intimate Portrait of an Australian Artist in 1930

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

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

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.

Evonne Goolagong (Cawley) AC MBE

Evonne Goolagong Cawley AC MBE (b. 1951), Wiradjuri tennis champion, was the number one women's tennis player in the world in 1971 and 1976.

3 portraits in the collection

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr AC (b. 1948) is chair of the Paspaley Group of Companies, with interests in pearling, aviation, retail, pastoral holdings and commercial properties in Australia and internationally.

2 portraits in the collection

Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford

Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford (1920/1924–2007), also known as Goowoomji or Guwumji, artist and Gija elder, was born on Bedford Downs Station, near Warmun in Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Cate Blanchett AC

Cate Blanchett AC (b. 1969), actor and humanitarian, graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992, joined the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) and soon received the Sydney Theatre Critics' Circle award for Best Newcomer for Kafka Dances (1993).

4 portraits in the collection

Dorothy Porter

Dorothy Porter (1954–2008), poet and writer, grew up in Sydney and the Blue Mountains, graduated from the University of Sydney in 1975 and taught creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

The boy, the bed and the gun

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2015

Christopher Chapman contemplates the provocative performance art of Chris Burden.

Village people

Christopher Chapman discusses Rod McNicol's photographic portrait series Newcomers to my village.

First Ladies

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Previous exhibition, 2013

First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.

Lloyd Rees at the Rock in 1975, 1984

Roderick Shaw

Portrait, oil and oil pastel on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Portrait 69

In conversation with Aretha Brown, Pieter Roelofs on Vermeer, humanoid robots, the nationwide search for Archibald portraits, and 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

Joseph Dalton Hooker, c. 1880s

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

Deborah Mailman AM

Portrait, ceramic and cork

Deborah Mailman AM (b. 1972), Bidjara and Māori (Ngāti Porou and Te Arawa) actor and singer, is the daughter of Maori and Aboriginal parents who met when her father was touring on the rodeo circuit.

1 portrait in the collection

Billy Hughes bottle stopper, 1911-1921

Mashman Bros Ltd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Ron Grainer, 1965 (printed 2002)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Samantha Cook, c. 2000

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Gift of the artist 2004

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

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

Rhodri G. Davies

Rhodri Glyn Davies worked as a television cameraman and director of documentaries while pursuing his interest in photography, exhibiting with a group of artists called Quincunx in Wales and Scotland.

1 portrait in the collection

Ali Cobby Eckermann

Ali Cobby Eckermann (b. 1963), Yankunytjatjara/Kothaka author and poet, was born in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Tracey Holmes

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007

Tracey Holmes (b. 1966), sports broadcaster and journalist, has covered twelve Olympic Games and was the first woman to host an Australian national sports program, Grandstand.

1 portrait in the collection

Be bold

The name of Florence Broadhurst, one of Australia’s most significant wallpaper and textile designers, is now firmly cemented in the canon of Australian art and design.

Fiona Stanley AC

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

Fiona Stanley AC (b. 1946), paediatric epidemiologist, is a passionate advocate for children and young people.

2 portraits in the collection

Dr Who?

It is not well known that the person who composed the famous theme music for the BBC's Doctor Who series was Australian Ron Grainer.

Cathy Freeman OAM

Cathy Freeman OAM (b. 1973) won the 400m Olympic Gold medal in front of her home crowd in Sydney in 2000 in one of the all-time great Australian sporting moments.

5 portraits in the collection

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Andrew Bonneau

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2020

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

The long game

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

Irina Baronova (handing on the baton), 2007

Portrait, encaustic, oil and pigment on composition board

Gift of the J Sages Family Trust 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tan Le, 2018

by John Tsiavis

Australian Athletes in Focus

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

Flash

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cabinet card

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

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Governor of South Australia, 1881

Solomon Studios

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Cultural kaleidoscope

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2013

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC (1897-1985) was a politician, statesman, diplomat and judge.

3 portraits in the collection

Pop poet

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

Yang Na

Born 1983, Chongqing, Sichuan Province. Lives and works in Beijing.

Tim Jarvis AM

Tim Jarvis AM (b. 1966), environmental scientist, author and adventurer, was the Australian Geographic Society’s Adventurer of the Year in 2013 and its Conservationist of the Year in 2016 – the only person ever to have received both awards.

1 portrait in the collection

Ruby Hunter

Ruby Hunter (1955-2010), singer/songwriter, was a Ngarrindjeri/ Kukatha/ Pitjantjatjara woman from South Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Hughes, 1996

Rex Dupain

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Trukanini

Trukanini (c. 1812–1876) is arguably nineteenth century Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous leader.

6 portraits in the collection

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.

Jason Yat-sen Li

Jason Yat-Sen Li (b. 1972) was born to parents who came to Australia from China in 1959.

1 portrait in the collection

Goollabal (Rainbow Serpent), 2018 by Shirley Purdie

Memories

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

Friends

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

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

Myself and Eye

Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.

The art of Inner Worlds

Lecture, 7 May 2011

Self Portraits in Australia

Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.

To Look Within

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

John Sumner AO CBE

John Sumner AO CBE (1924–2013), described as the 'father of Australian drama', was born in England and trained and worked in repertory theatre there before World War 2.

2 portraits in the collection

Carl Cooper

Carl Cooper (1912-1966), ceramic decorator, contracted poliomyelitis in his twenties.

1 portrait in the collection

Dame Annie Florence Cardell-Oliver DBE

Dame Annie Florence Cardell-Oliver DBE (1876–1965), politician, grew up in Melbourne before marrying David Sykes Boyd, a wool buyer, and returning with him to England.

1 portrait in the collection

Out of the blocks

Early sporting fame

Dawn Fraser, Lionel Rose, Shane Gould and Cathy Freeman

Omai

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

2 portraits in the collection

William Yang

William Yang (b. 1943) is a pre-eminent Australian photographer known for an intensely sustained body of work that examines issues of cultural and sexual identity, and which unflinchingly documents the lives of his friends and community and his own lived experience with curiosity, sensitivity and humour.

15 portraits in the collection

Rachel Roxburgh

Portrait, oil on canvas board

Rachel Roxburgh (1915–1991), artist, conservationist and architectural historian, grew up in Sydney's eastern suburbs and studied art at East Sydney Technical College and the Adelaide Perry Art School in the 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoffrey Tozer, 1966

Rollo Thomson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Geoffrey Tozer 2012

Tim Fairfax AC

Tim Fairfax AC (b.1946), company director, grazier and philanthropist, is a founding benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery and a former chair of its board of directors.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue AC CBE DSG

Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG (1932–2024), a Yankunytjatjara woman, dedicated her life’s work to advancing the rights and wellbeing of Australia’s First Peoples.

2 portraits in the collection

Johnny Day

‘The Australian Wonder’, Johnny Day (1856–1885), was an undefeated world-champion juvenile walker.

1 portrait in the collection

Grow the Portrait Gallery of Australia

9 June 2016

The Portrait Gallery is calling for contributions to support in the acquisition of superb portraits for the national collection.

Jack Brabham, 1967 (printed 2012)

Brian McInerney

Archived media releases 2015

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

National arts and history? Yes, please

27 May 2015

Recent research shows that two thirds of all Australians have a sterling interest in the arts and Australian history. This is just one of the promising findings to arise from the National Portrait Gallery’s commissioned snapshot of its national brand awareness, via a nationally representative survey.

Lady Deborah Vernon Hackett

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Lady Deborah Vernon Hackett (1887–1965) was a mining company director and philanthropist.

1 portrait in the collection

A guy from Paris

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

John Landy AC CVO MBE

Magazine article by Sarah Hill, 2001

Melbourne-born track and field athlete John Landy AC CVO MBE (1930–2022) came to the nation’s attention as a young man in the mid-1950s, as he followed his first Olympic competition at Helsinki in 1952 with a series of extraordinary races over the course of the next four years.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm

The Wonder Years

Sarah Hill introduces the portrait busts of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm by Enid Fleming.

First Australian first-class cricket team

The ‘first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America’ was in fact the second Australian cricket side to contest matches internationally (a team of Indigenous players having done so in 1868), but it is considered the first official national representative team to tour overseas.

1 portrait in the collection

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones, c. 1930

E.O. Hoppé

Purchased 2013

A Path of Focus: Portrait of Cate and Bronte Campbell

Cate Campbell OAM

Sisters Bronte Campbell (b. 1994) and Cate Campbell (b. 1992), champion swimmers, were born in Malawi to South African parents, and took up competitive swimming after the family settled in Brisbane in 2001.

1 portrait in the collection

Bronte Campbell OAM

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2019

1 portrait in the collection

Eating the seasons

Anne Sanders imbibes Tony Bilson’s gastronomic revolution.

Coming into being

NPPP 2018 exhibition essay

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2018 Prize.

Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian, c. 1866

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite

Purchased 2014

Dame Margaret Scott AC DBE

Portrait, inkjet print from a scanned colour transparency on paper

Dame Margaret Scott AC DBE (1922-2019) ballerina and teacher, was scarred by her education in a Johannesburg convent boarding school and left her home on a Swaziland farm in 1939.

1 portrait in the collection

Albert Namatjira, c. 1954-1958 (printed 2017)

Charles Chauvel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Matthew Burnett

Matthew Burnett (1839–1896), the ‘Yorkshire Evangelist’, spent more than twenty years denouncing alcohol in the Australian colonies.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Stevie Wright, 1975 (printed 2011)

Gary Ede

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Gallery unveils Portrait of Mark Ella

12 May 2016

Last night in Sydney, the National Portrait Gallery unveiled a newly commissioned portrait of Australian sporting legend Mark Ella AM.

All the world's a stage

Magazine article by Tara James, 2022

Joan Sutherland, Robert Helpmann and Raigh Roe

Introversion from High Jinks in the Hydrangeas, 2020 Tamara Dean

In our nature

Tara James chats with award-winning artist Tamara Dean about portraiture prizes, the environment and the strength of women.

George Johnston OBE

J.W. Beattie after Charles Woolley

George Henry Johnston OBE (1912-1970), journalist and novelist, grew up in Elsternwick, a working-class suburb of Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Trukanini, n.d.

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

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

Reg Livermore, Pitt Street, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2020)

Robert McFarlane

Purchased 2020

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

A gift from the heart

Lauren Dalla examines the life of Basil Bressler, the art patron responsible for one of the NPG's most important bequests.

Last week to vote for your favourite portrait

1 June 2015

Archived media releases 2015

The National Portrait Gallery’s National Photographic Portrait Prize 2015 will close Monday 8 June 2015, this is the last week to visit the exhibition in Canberra and vote for your favourite portrait in the People’s Choice.

Dr Gene Sherman AM

John Cochran after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Dr Gene Sherman AM (b. 1947) is Chairman and Executive Director of Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, a family philanthropic enterprise dedicated to the public exhibition of significant contemporary art from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

3 portraits in the collection

Lt. Genrl. the Rt Honble. Sir George Murray G.C.B., G.C.H. &c.

Lt. Genrl. the Rt Honble. Sir George Murray G.C.B., G.C.H. &c., 1838

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Patrick White #1, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 1998

Nusra Latif Qureshi

Contributing artists

Born: 1973, Lahore, Pakistan
Works: Melbourne

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

June Mendoza

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

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

Petal to the mettle

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

Olegas Truchanas

Olegas Truchanas (1923-1972) was born in 1923 in Siauliai, Lithuania.

1 portrait in the collection

Ellyse Perry

Ellyse Perry (b.1990) has represented Australia in both cricket and soccer, making her the only current dual international in Australian women’s sport.

2 portraits in the collection

The play’s the thing

Penelope Grist charts an immersive path through Stuart Spence’s photography.

Keith Miller, early 1950s (printed 2008)

Purchased 2008

Hilary McPhee AO

Magazine article by Eileen Adams, 2006

Hilary McPhee AO (b. 1941), writer and editor, began her career at Meanjin before starting a small magazine, Theatre.

1 portrait in the collection

Drawing power

The National Portrait Gallery joins the Big Draw, a program dedicated to promoting drawing as a tool for thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement.

Australian Tapestry Workshop

Magazine article by Roger Neill, 2006

The Australian Tapestry Workshop (formerly the Victorian Tapestry Workshop) was established in 1976, following two years of planning and research on the part of its founding patrons, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Lady Joyce Delacombe.

2 portraits in the collection

Bewitching

Roger Neill delves into the life of a lesser-known Australian diva, Frances Alda.

The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2012

Imagination

Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.

Frank Lowy AC

Magazine article by Julia Gillard AC, 2015

Sir Frank Lowy AC (b. 1930) businessman, property developer and philanthropist, founded the Westfield group of shopping centres.

2 portraits in the collection

Joan Alone

Julia Gillard pays poignant tribute to her friend and mentor, the late Joan Kirner, Victoria’s first and only female premier.

Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM

Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM (b. c 1947) is a senior Tjanpi Desert Weaver with work spanning across printmaking, ceramics and fibre-based work.

1 portrait in the collection

Spring exhibition program

18 August 2020

The following on-line and physical exhibitions are planned to open at the National Portrait Gallery in coming months. For those who can’t travel at present, selected works from all exhibitions will be included online

Ron Mueck

Ashtead Potters Limited, Surrey, UK, Percy Metcalfe

Ron Mueck (b. 1958), sculptor, first attracted widespread attention in 1997, when his poignant work Dead Dad was featured in the landmark exhibition Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Royal Academy, London and subsequently shown in Berlin and New York.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait jug of Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1925-1928

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Purchased 2006

Arianne McNaught

Magazine article by Peter Jeffrey, 2016

An interview with the photographer.

Leah King-Smith

Contributing artists

Born: 1957, Gympie, QLD
Works: Brisbane

Hottie's Snifter to port

Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.

Sherbet, 1974 (printed 2002)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Dorothy Porter, 2001-2002

Archived media releases 2013

Gift of Andrea Goldsmith 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Elvis at 21 media information

25 October 2013

Press releases and images downloads for media.

Progressive pictures

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2017

Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.

Self portrait, 1921

Thea Proctor

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Ross family in memory of Noel and Enid Eliot 2013

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

The more things change...

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

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

Matthew Abbott

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

An interview with the photographer.

Albert Jonas and John Xiniwe of The African Choir, 1891 London Stereoscopic Co.

Back in black

Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

Untitled from The Other Shore 2014-15, by Wei Leng Tay

Insight and identity

Magazine article by Olivier Krischer, 2016

Olivier Krischer in conversation with photographer Wei Leng Tay.

James Donovan

James T Donovan (1861–1922), journalist, Catholic historian and amateur singer, was born into an Irish Catholic family in Sydney and grew up in Womerah Avenue, Darlinghurst.

1 portrait in the collection

Caroline Chisholm

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

Caroline Chisholm (1808–1877), philanthropist and political agitator, spent almost two decades working to improve conditions for immigrants to Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Bree Pickering in front of Mikala Dwyer, Chromakinda, 2022, installation view, Murray Art Museum Albury

Bree Pickering appointed Director of the National Portrait Gallery

7 February 2023

Media

The Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia announced the appointment of Bree Pickering to the role of Director.

Michael Wardell – Country of birth: Ireland 2014 by Jacques van der Merwe

Look who's coming to dinner

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

Ahmad Sabra

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.

Tough & Tender Media Release

14 July 2016

Photographs from internationally acclaimed artists Robert Mapplethorpe, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Collier Schorr and Chris Burden along with contemporary Australian artists, Rozalind Drummond and Warwick Baker will call the National Portrait Gallery home during our extraordinary winter exhibition Tough and Tender.

Lowitja O'Donoghue, 2006

Robert Hannaford AM

Commissioned with funds donated by BHP Billiton Limited, Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund, Newmont Australia Limited, Reconciliation Australia, Hon Paul Keating and Hon Fred Chaney 2006

Russell Crowe, 1995 (printed 2016)

Stuart Spence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Photograph from Eye to I series, 2022 David Lindesay

A portrait of the artist by the artist

Rowan McGinness asks: when is a self portrait not a self portrait?

Brett Whiteley - portrait 1, 1975

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

The selfie stick

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2019

Last week ABC Television came to interview me about selfie sticks. The story was prompted by the announcement that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has lately prohibited the use of these inside their galleries. So far as I am aware we have not yet encountered the phenomenon, but no doubt we will before too long.

Satoshi Tokuhiro at Horai Gorge, Takaruzuka, Hyogo from Young Samurai – Bodybuilders of Japan Photography by Tamotsu Yato

Way of the body

Christopher Chapman reveals the intersection of iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato.

Automatic for the people: Casey Stoner, 2008

Scott Redford

Portrait, Laser-cut vinyl and computer print on aluminium composite sheet, painted custom-wood frame

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2008

Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda Courtesy Picnic Productions

Rock star

Magazine article by Jennifer Coombes, 2018

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

Portrait of Caroline Chisholm, c. 1851

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

Purchased 2001

Splendid, many-splendoured

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

Marcia Hines, c. 1981

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Adrian Brown

An interview with the photographer.

Stevie Wright, 2003 (printed 2005)

Gregory McBean

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham)

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.

Two painters

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2007

Chris Chapman explains how Matthys Gerber bridges the gap between abstraction and portraiture.

Foundation members announced

18 May 2015

Archived media releases 2015

The newly-established National Portrait Gallery Foundation met for its inaugural meeting last Friday 15 May in Canberra.

Louise Whelan

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2002

I met Kaloti Parmjit the day I took the photo. I first visited the Sikh temple in the suburb of Glenwood to take photos as part of a social documentary project I'm undertaking for the State Library of NSW.

On commission

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

Rhonda Sharpe

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2020

Luritja woman Rhonda Sharpe was born in 1977 in Alice Springs and is an artist working out of Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, in the Larapinta Valley Town Camp.

2 portraits in the collection

Self-portrait in black jumper, 2017 Graeme Drendel

Be frank

Close encounters are the genesis for Graeme Drendel’s enticing portraiture.

Home is where the art is

Tedi Bills on how social media in the age of COVID-19 has fanned the flames of our portrait fascination.

Jenny Kee AO

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Jenny Kee AO (b. 1947) is a fashion designer and an Australian style icon.

1 portrait in the collection

Flash mob

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

Sir William Dargie CBE

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

Sir William Dargie, painter and eight times winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture, died in Melbourne on July 26, 2003, aged 91.

René Primevère Lesson

Portrait, pencil, chalk and gouache on paper

René Primevère Lesson (1794–1849), French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist, entered the Naval Medical School in Rochefort at the age of sixteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Jessie Robertson, c. 1849

Thomas Bock

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013

New app gets kids excited about portraits at the National Portrait Gallery

29 May 2018

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2021

The National Portrait Gallery has officially launched a new digital interactive Gallery experience called Headhunt!, the first app of its kind being used in museums and galleries. Headhunt! is a tablet-based app for visitors aged 7-15 that encourages children to take the lead and independently explore the Gallery.

Self-portrait in white jacket , 1901-02 Hugh Ramsay

Wunderkind lost

Inga Walton on the brief but brilliant life of Hugh Ramsay.

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton), c. 1872

Maull & Co Photographers

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

More about the National Photographic Portrait Prize

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Comments from our judges and information about entering the 2017 Prize.

Oz and beyond

Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.

Situated self-portraits

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

The theme of the seventh annual survey of secondary school student portraiture, Headspace, was Me and My Place.

Pets of all types take over the National Portrait Gallery

3 November 2016

It is not every day that a national gallery turns its walls over to the animal companions that bring unconditional love and joy to their owners but this summer we have opened the doors to 15 contemporary artists with very different ways of depicting our furry, feathered and scaled pets.

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 Kewell, 2011

Julian Kingma

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023–25

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Definitions

Access is about creating the necessary conditions for all individuals and organisations to use services, facilities, programs and employment opportunities.

Don Walker

Don Walker (b. 1951) is considered one of Australia's best songwriters.

1 portrait in the collection

Adrian Rawlins

Adrian Rawlins (1939-2001), poet, performer and promoter, grew up in a Jewish household in Caulfield and St Kilda.

1 portrait in the collection

Interiors

Ben Hall and his gang outdone, 6 February 1865

Christopher Chapman previews the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009.

Percy, Reginald, Monty and George Faithfull, undated by Henry Dorner. Image courtesy the National Museum of Australia.

An affray which deserves particular mention

Magazine article by Catherine McDonough, 2006

Bushranger Ben Hall and his cronies held around 40 people hostage in a pub north-west of Goulburn, telling their captives ‘don’t be alarmed; we only came here for a bit of fun’.

Start Your Engines...

The bronze sculpture by Julie Edgar reflects through both the material and representation the determined and straight-forward nature of Brabham.

Ada E. Evans

Ada Emily Evans (1872–1947) was the first Australian woman to attain a law degree and the first woman admitted to the Bar in New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Burstall

Tim Burstall (1927-2004) set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.

2 portraits in the collection

Liu Wei

NPPP 2007 exhibition essay

Born 1965 in Beijing. Lives and works in Beijing.

Seduce, Amuse, Entertain

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

Graeme Drendel

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

I like talking about Drendel’s pictures as if they expressed dreams of my own.

The Story So Far...

A reflection on the National Portrait Gallery's first four years.

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

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

Percy Leason

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Percy Leason, artist, illustrator and cartoonist, grew up in Victoria's Wimmera region and trained in the rudiments of art in Nhill.

1 portrait in the collection

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Australian Love Stories

4 January 2021

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

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.

The more things change

Magazine article by Stella Ramage, 2016

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

Some women you may not know

Alison Alder

‘Everybody’s lives are built by so many influences, and for me, it is writers, artists and activists who have influenced how I think about the world.’

Missionary positions

Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.

Catherine Livingstone, 2018

by Mathew Lynn

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2023

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2018

Aretha Brown

In conversation

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

Thomas Woolner

Thomas Woolner, sculptor, studied first with the brothers Henry and William Behnes, painter and sculptor respectively, and later at the Royal Academy, at which he was to become professor of sculpture in his fifties.

5 portraits in the collection

Martin Sharp, 1986

Garry Shead

Portrait, pokerwork on spotted gum

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Joan Kerr, 2004

Peter Drewett

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Semple Kerr 2004

Katherine Bennett

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

The lady in the centre of this photograph is my partner's Granny. So we are almost directly related, and here, as with all photographic work. I am in a state of exchange though I think only directly, with one of the women!

Everybody's heard about the bird

Two professionals; Australian surfer Layne Beachley and photographer Petrina Hicks, combine their strengths to achieve a remarkable portrait.

Patrick Corrigan AM

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

Patrick Corrigan AM (b. 1932), businessman, art collector and arts patron, was born in Hanghow (Hankou) in China.

3 portraits in the collection

Thomas Pearce, c. 1878

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on card

Purchased 2010

Star signs

Magazine article by Barry York, 2018

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

Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist

Of plague and portraits

Corinna Cullen on the symbolic power of pandemic-related imagery over the ages.

Margaret Seares, 2018

by Cherry Hood

Archived media releases 2013

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

Paul Kelly and The Portraits media information

18 June 2013

Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.

Me Myself I

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

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

The spirit of the gift

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

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

C.H.T. Costantini

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Charles Henry Theodore Costantini (also Constantine, Constantini and Costantine) was a Paris-born surgeon of Italian descent who was twice transported to the Australian colonies in the 1820s.

1 portrait in the collection

Stigma stigmata

Angus Trumble provides poignant context for Aña Wojak’s portrait of Tony Carden.

As long as you're here, 2013 by Tony Curran

Touchy touchy

Magazine article by Tony Curran, 2015

Tony Curran ponders whether our phones can change the course of painting.

Untitled, Conductors, Tramways series, 1990 © Matt Nettheim

Back track

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2016

Penelope Grist finds photographer Matt Nettheim re-visiting a formative and fulfilling career tram stop.

Anatomist's eye

Robert Hannaford has completed around 400 portraits over the span of his career.

Sir Charles Nicholson

Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903), statesman, landowner, businessman, connoisseur, scholar and physician, was born illegitimately into unpropitious circumstances in Yorkshire.

2 portraits in the collection

Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, 1983

Harold Thornton

Gift of the Estate of Harold Thornton 2009

A papal pet encounter

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

In honour of the launch of the Popular Pet Show, Angus recalls a diplomatic incident with an over-excited golden retriever.

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.

Neilma B. Gantner

Neilma Baillieu Gantner (1922–2015), writer and philanthropist, was the second child of Melbourne retailer Sidney Myer and his wife Merlyn (née Baillieu).

1 portrait in the collection

Andrew Gaze, 2018

by George Fetting

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

Richard Divall OBE in the church mantle of the Order of Malta

Richard Divall AO OBE

Frà Professor Richard Divall AO OBE (1945–2017), conductor, composer and scholar, grew up in Manly and was educated at Manly Boys’ High School.

1 portrait in the collection

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

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

Is the truth of portraiture vested exclusively in likeness?

Curator Michael Desmond introduces the exhibition Truth and Likeness, an investigation of the importance of likeness to portraiture.

John Flaus

John Flaus (b. 1934) is an Australian broadcaster, actor, script editor and lecturer, known for Mary and Max (2009), Trust Frank (2020) and Tracks (2013).

1 portrait in the collection

Cocky McGrath

The long life and few words of a vice-regal cockatoo

Anna F. Walker

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Anna Frances Walker (1830–1913), botanical artist and collector, was one of the thirteen children of Thomas Walker, a high-ranking colonial public servant, and his wife Anna Elizabeth, the daughter of merchant and landowner John Blaxland.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

"Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?", 1956

Pop goes the preconception

Magazine article by Paul Moorhouse, 2007

A National Portrait Gallery, London exhibition redefines portraiture, shifting the focus towards a new perspective on Pop Art.

Intense identity

Magazine article by Amanda Rowell, 2015

Dr Chistopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian author Christos Tsiolkas taken by John Tsiavis.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

Nusra Latif Qureshi

by Hammad Nasar

Magazine article by Shaun Gladwell, 2011

Nusra Latif Qureshi was born in Pakistan in 1973 and originally trained in the traditional art of Mughal miniature (musaviri) paintings.

Observation point

Australian artist Shaun Gladwell discusses his portraits of champion athletes.

Aussies all

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

The exhibition Aussies all features the ecclectic portrait photography of Rennie Ellis which captures Australian life during the 70s and 80s.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

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

Glamour vs grunge

Christopher Chapman examines the battle of glamour vs. grunge which played out in the fashion and advertising of the 1990s.

Home and away

Sir William Dobell painted the portraits of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Sir Hudson Fysh, who did much to promote the image of Australia in this country and abroad.

The Saint and the merchant

Emanuel Solomon gave shelter to the Sisters of St Joseph upon the excommunication of St Mary MacKillop.

Storied portrait

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

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

Moving pictures

The exhibition California Video at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles demonstrated how video artists expand the boundaries of portraiture.

Trumble's way

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

Fang Lijun

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

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

I'm not there

Christopher Chapman looks at some contemporary portraits that explore the construction of identity.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

101 photographic portraits

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

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

Reflections

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

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.

How to be a boy

Christopher Chapman profiles Chris Lilley, actor and creator of Angry Boys.

Kristin Headlam

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

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.

Trucaninny [Trukanini], wife of Woureddy [Wurati]

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

Benjamin Law

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Very fine and very like

When did notions of very fine and very like become separate qualities of a portrait? And what happens to 'very like' in the age of photographic portraiture?

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

by Andrew Bonneau

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Before Too Long

The story behind the creation of the portrait of singer-songwriter Paul Kelly by the artist Jon Campbell.

Melanie Faith Dove

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2020

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.

Venetia, Lady Digby, circa 1633-1634 by Sir Anthony van Dyck

Love in the extreme

Joanna Gilmour reveals love’s more intense manifestations in the tale of Lord Kenelm and Venetia Digby.

Mia Wasikowska as Robyn Davidson at Hamelin Pool, 2013 by Matt Nettheim

Hump days

Magazine article by Jessica Bolton, 2017

Jessica Bolton navigates the parallel tracks documenting Robyn Davidson’s astonishing journey.

Krystal Seigerman

Magazine article by Emeritus Professor Jaynie Anderson AM, 2015

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.

Sitter still

Jaynie Anderson reflects on her experience as sitter for Reshid Bey’s 1962 portrait.

Nadiah Bamadhaj

by Beverly Yong

Magazine article by Dr Deborah Hill, 2017

Born in Malaysia in 1968, to a Malaysian Muslim father and a New Zealander mother of Scottish descent Nadiah Bamadhaj studied Fine Arts in New Zealand, and is currently working on a PhD from Curtin University, Western Australia.

On the road again

Deborah Hill talks figures with character, as the National Portrait Gallery touring exhibitions program welcomes its millionth visitor.

No Laughing Matter

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

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

Pat and Richard Larter, Luddenham, 1970s

Pin-ups

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Christopher Chapman describes the art and life of Australian artist Richard Larter.

Velasquez Touch

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

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

Sibly irresistible

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2019

Alexandra Roginski reveals a forceful feminist figure in the colonial period’s slippery science, phrenology.

Stevie

Magazine article by Gregory McBean, 2005

Gregory McBean writes about photographing recent ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, singer Stevie Wright.

Crikey!

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.

Richard Flanagan

Richard Flanagan (b. 1961) was born in Longford in northern Tasmania, the second youngest of the six children of Archie Flanagan, a primary school principal, and his wife Helen.

1 portrait in the collection

Feel the music

Archived media releases 2019

Dr Christopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian composer Paul Grabowsky by photographer Martin Philbey.

Greta In Her Kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018 by Alana Holmberg

Winner announced for National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019

22 February 2019

From an outstanding field of more than 3,000 entries, culminating in a shortlist of 39 exceptional finalists, the Winner and Highly Commended entries for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize have been named.

The Art Lovers - Megan, 2013 by Gary Grealy

Everybody, look serious

NPPP 2014 exhibition essay

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

Self-nature is subtle and mysterious - Tree Woman / Woman Tree

Nell

Magazine article by Kate Fullagar, 2019

Born in Maitland, New South Wales in 1975, Nell is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, sculpture, video and performance.

3 portraits in the collection

Rethinking foundational histories

A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.

Now Listen...

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2005

Artist Tessa Jones recalls creating her portrait of Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock singer and music producer, Ross Wilson.

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

History

About us

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

The life of Bryant

Magazine article by Tenille Hands, 2018

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 winner announced

23 March 2018

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

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.

Painting writing

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

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.

Anthony Anderton

Magazine article by Tedi Bills, 2016

An interview with the photographer.

Love City; George Gittoes on hilltop 2013

Man of war

Tedi Bills talks to George Gittoes about canvassing conflict.

National Portrait Gallery and Access2Arts staff presenting on audio description at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association National Conference

Our achievements to date

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023–25

During the period 2018–20, the Gallery implemented our first Access Action Plan.

A sketch for some portraits

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

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

Their brilliant careers

Magazine article by Jenny Gall, 2017

Jenny Gall delves into Starstruck to celebrate some of Australian cinema’s iconic women.

Of ice and men

Frank Hurley's celebrated images document the heroism and minutiae of Australian exploration in Antarctica.

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

Lovingly observed

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

Simon Harsent

Magazine article by Stephen Valambras Graham, 2021

I like to think I'm an artist who uses photography as my medium, but I work commercially as a photographer and it's my full time occupation so I guess that defines me as a photographer or maybe a commercial artist?

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

The catechist and the cricketer

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

Head, hand, heart

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

An extensive selection of portraits by John Brack were on display at the National Portrait Gallery in late 2007.

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick, c. 1977

Jozef Vissel

Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015

Alison Rehfisch

Alison Baily Rehfisch (1900–1975) was born Alison Green in Woollahra, New South Wales, to parents who 'were very interested in painting – in all the arts: music, literature, everything'.

2 portraits in the collection

Happy New Year

This year (in March) we will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the formal establishment of the National Portrait Gallery. In the life of institutions, twenty years is not a long time.

Blue Collar Icon

Dr Sarah Engledow delves into the life of union leader Pat Mackie who is depicted in a portrait by Nancy Borlase AM.

Rupert Bunny

Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (1864–1947) was one of the most celebrated Australian expatriate artists of his generation, achieving a degree of success in Paris in the 1890s and early 1900s that was unmatched by his peers.

3 portraits in the collection

Wylie

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Wylie (c. 1824–unknown) is thought to have been born near King George’s Sound in south-west Western Australia, which would make him a Noongar man.

1 portrait in the collection

Study for Aunty Mary King, 2010 by Mathew Lynn

The animating signature

Joanna Gilmore delights in the affecting drawings of Mathew Lynn.

Ready , set... shoot

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

The exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus offers various interpretations of sporting men and women by five Australian photographers.

The Good Doctor

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2015

Dr Sarah Engledow describes the achievements of internationally renowned burns and trauma surgeon Professor Fiona Wood.

Getting a head

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

The mind's eye

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

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

Portrait of Kym Bonython/Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap

Somewhere to hang your cap

Magazine article by Beatrice Thompson, 2007

A pair of portraits by John Brack; Portrait of Kym Bonython and Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap combine to create a quirky depiction of their subject.

Off the wall

Magazine article by John Witzig, 2008

Photographer and surf mag editor John Witzig tells the stories behind his iconic surf images.

Of human clay

Magazine article by Stuart Purves, 2016

The first collaborative commission has arrived. It's a self portrait, it's ceramic and it's from Hermannsburg.

Bonfire of the vanities

Australian Galleries Director Stuart Purves tells the story of two portraits by John Brack.

Why do painted portraits still matter?

Magazine article by Sandy Nairne, 2006

Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.

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

Moving still

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2022

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

Listomania

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

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.

The painter and the princess

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

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon)

Chance encounter

Portrait, steel engraving with later hand-colouring on paper

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

Wylie, 1840-1841

Robert Neill

Purchased 2018

Emblems of beauty

Magazine article by Keith Christiansen, 2012

Keith Christiansen introduces the exhibition The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Magazine article by Glynis Jones, 2022

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

Lyndall Hobbs and Marilyn at the Come as your favourite blonde party, Blitz Club, London, 1979 Robert Rosen

Shiny, happy people

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

Inner Worlds and psychoanalysis

Lecture, 4 June 2011

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

Inner Worlds evokes a broad view of psychology as a discipline. However, the specific interests of the practitioners whose portraits are included in the exhibition incorporate specialist areas including psychoanalysis.

Murray frees himself from straightjacket in public, 1928 by Sam Hood

Risky business

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

Untitled (girl on chair with red shoes) by Violet Frisby

Finding Mrs Frisby

Magazine article by Robyn Sweaney, 2016

Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.

Friends and Acquaintances

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

Fine and dandy

Whether the result of misadventure or misdemeanour, many accomplished artists were transported to Australia where they ultimately left a positive mark on the history of art in this country.

Doodles of the Diva

Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize turns ten

It is now a little more than 178 years since the French Academy of Sciences was made aware of the invention of the daguerreotype process.

I walk the line

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Bruce Petty's animated self portrait captures a life's journey compressed into a few minutes.

Take thy face hence

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

Past, present, future, 2002 by Wang Qingsong
M+ Sigg Collection

Chinese Art

Magazine article by Tom Fryer, 2021

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

Face House – Kyoto, Japan Architect: Kazumasa Yamashita

Alter ego

Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.

The considered life

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2010

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

Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia, 1852, 1887 by William Strutt

Strutt your stuff

Magazine article by Matthew Jones, 2016

Matthew Jones on the upshot of a St Kilda Road outrage.

First-Class Marksman, 1946 by Sidney Nolan

Money for Myth

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Capturing Cook

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2003

In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.

Diamond Doll

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2016

Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.

Beguiling impressions

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2012

Sarah Engledow is seduced by the portraits and the connections between the artists and their subjects in the exhibition Impressions: Painting light and life.

20 20

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

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

Some prime ministers

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

Inditchenous beestes of New Olland

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

A remarkable undated drawing by Edward Lear (1812–88) blends natural history and whimsy.

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.

The intellectual larrikin

Magazine article by Barrie Cassidy, 2019

Barrie Cassidy pays textured tribute to the inimitable Bob Hawke.

Facing Facts

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

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

James Baldwin, writer, Harlem, New York 1945 by Richard Avedon

The Avedon effect

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2013

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

Australian Princess

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2005

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

Out of the shadows

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour profiles the life and times of the shutter sisters May and Mina Moore.

Jim Cobb at Chroma factory Mt Kuring-gai, NSW, 2017 by Mark Mohell

The alchemist’s profile

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2017

John Zubrzycki meets Australian paint pioneer Jim Cobb.

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

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.

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits

Magazine article by Karen Quinlan AM, 2021

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

Give me five

National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan AM nominates her quintet of favourites from the collection, with early twentieth-century ‘selfies’ filling the roster.

Layla 2020 Veronica Watson, pencil on paper. Layla 2020 Sarah McEwan, fabric, acrylic on MDF. Self portrait 2020 Layla Bacayo, drypoint on paper. Image: Sarah McEwan

Mash-up

Penelope Grist delves into an insightful portraiture exhibition that asks: How do three artists see the same sitter?

Grateful admiration and brotherly love

In the earliest stages of the Great War, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton was turned into a military hospital, and arrangements made there to accommodate the different dietary and other requirements of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim patients.

Worth her salt

Jerrold Nathan's portrait of Jessie Street shows the elegant side of a many-faceted lady.

Poets' Portraits

Magazine article by Annette Twyman, 2021

The Portrait Gallery's paintings of two poets, Les Murray and Peter Porter, demonstrate two very different artists' responses to the challenge of representing more than usually sensitive and imaginative men.

Portrait of Elizabeth Gould with a raptor, possibly a red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), painted in her lifetime Artist unknown

Birds of a feather

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

Starry knight

Magazine article by Sven Knudsen, 2018

Aircraft designer, pilot and entrepreneur, Sir Lawrence Wackett rejoins friends and colleagues on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

Royal Solomon Islands Police Force recruits, Maranatha Hall, Honiara by Sean Davey

The art of peace

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

Shadows of light

Magazine article by Mark Haworth-Booth, 2002

Mark Haworth-Booth explains why Bill Brandt is one of the most important British photographers of the Twentieth Century.

Fiona McMonagle

Magazine article by Roger Benjamin, 2015

Fiona aims to create a dangerous situation with a flood of water on the paper, forcing each work to the point where it can fail, and then rescuing it.

Yellow portrait (portrait of Alex Jelinek)

Fugue in Yellow

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

Support Crew

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

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

Asiel Timor Dei, ca. 1728 by a master of Calamarca

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2017

European painters always enjoyed a good deal of latitude in the representation of angels, those asexual, bodiless, celestial regiments of God, so long as they were young and beautiful.

In and out of focus

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

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

The family scene

Magazine article, 2016

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

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

The inner voice

Dr Christopher Chapman, curator of Inner Worlds: Portraits & Psychology looks at Albert Tucker's Heidelberg military hospital portraits.

‘Untitled’ - Yellow Kangaroo Paw, 2008 by Christian Thompson

The 'I' in Indigenous art

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan examines unique styles of Indigenous portraiture that challenge traditional Western concepts of the artform.

Cormac + Callum Kenne, My Children, Sydney, Australia, 2009

Citizen Kenne

Magazine article by April Thompson, 2013

April Thompson explores an exhibition of Ingvar Kenne’s global portrait project.

Announcing... Jonathan Jones Bogong Cluster: Physically distant, socially connected

5 January 2021

A new light installation by Jonathan Jones reflects on the importance of community through the lens of his Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi heritage, whilst also acting as a prompt for gallery visitors to maintain social distancing.

200 Years of Portraiture

Magazine article by Barbara Blackman AO, 2003

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

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.

Virginia Woolf, 1902 George Charles Beresford

Love my way

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2022

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

dumb & dumber from The Imponderable Archive, 2013 Samuel Hodge

Everything, everyqueer, all at once

Magazine article by Bradley Vincent, 2022

Bradley Vincent considers Samuel Hodge’s use of the archive to create a queer vernacular of portraiture.

The silent partner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

Herra Pahlasari

by Aminudin TH Siregar

Magazine article by Beatrice Gralton, 2013

At the time of Herra Pahlasari’s birth in 1978, her academic parents were living in Canberra.

Family collective

Beatrice Gralton looks at a larger than life portrait by Chinese artist Song Dong.

Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and David R. L. Litchfield at Villa Favorita, Lugano, Switzerland, 1989 © Nicola Graydo

The Thyssen Art Macabre

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

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.

The transparent mask

Cate Blanchett and the art of acting in Rosetzky’s digital portrait.

Heartfelt

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

International issue

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2005

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

M H Wednesday 11.15am from the series Self-harm, 2004

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.

Nicholas Harding

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

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

Louis XVI giving final instructions to the Comte de La Perouse, c. 1785

Sea legged frogs

Joanna Gilmour describes some of the stories of the individuals and incidents that define French exploration of Australia and the Pacific.

Kylie

Magazine article by Margot Anderson, 2005

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.

Reveries

Magazine article by Helen Ennis, 2007

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

Self-portrait with bowler hat, 1885–6 by Paul Cézanne

Hail Cézanne

Magazine article by John Elderfield, 2017

John Elderfield lauds the portraiture of Paul Cézanne, the artist described by both Matisse and Picasso as ‘the father of us all’.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885-86 by
John Singer Sargent

A feast of friends

Magazine article by Richard Ormond, 2015

John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.

Naked nostalgia

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

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

Personal Politics

Magazine article by Dr Frances Borzello, 2001

Dr Frances Borzello, British art historian and author discusses the uniqueness of women's self-portraits.

The news from Washington

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2006

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

Clay, water, fire

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2005

Ah Xian's porcelain portrait of paediatrician Dr. John Yu reflects Yu's heritage and interests.

Exhibition opening speech

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Leo Schofield introduces the exhibition, Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores.

Through thick and thin

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

The highest honour

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

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

The Philosophy of Teapots and Ducks

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2005

Cartoonist Michael Leunig's insights into the human condition and current affairs have become famous Australia-wide.

Big bouquet of Blackmans

Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.

Portrait of Truganini, daughter of the Chief of Bruny Island, Van Diemens Land, c. 1835

Black and white history

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

Wicked but Virtuous

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

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

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

Activating the space

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

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2010

At first glance, this small watercolour group portrait of her two sons and four daughters by Maria Caroline Brownrigg (d. 1880) may seem prosaic, even hesitant

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

School portraits

Magazine article by Raimond Gaita, 2015

Inga Walton sheds light on a portraiture collection usually only seen by students and teachers at Melbourne University.

Have you forgotten yet? 2014 by Lee Grant

All that fall

Raimond Gaita comments on war and truth in the context of the First World War.

Portraits and other stories

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

As the National Portrait Gallery opens its exhibition of portrait and figurative work by veteran photographer Sam Haskins, the artist reflects on the highlights of his fifty-year career so far.

Living landscape

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2016

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

Portrait of Kang Sehwang, 1783 by Yi Myeonggi

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Magazine article by Kwon Hyeeun, 2019

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

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

Essential portraiture

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

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

S Teddy D

by Elly Kent

S Teddy D was born in Padang, Sumatra in 1970, and studied painting at the Institut Seni Indonesia (Indonesian Institute of Art) in Yogyakarta.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.

A spectral sentience

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2015

Where do we draw a line between the personal and the historical? Although she died in Melbourne in 1975, when I was not quite eleven years old, I have the vividest memories of my maternal grandmother Helen Borthwick.

A.I.

Christopher Chapman ponders our digital identity and selfhood.

Faces of war

Lecture, 14 May 2011

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

Noel McKenna

It’s a matter beyond dispute that in the entire history of Australian art, it’s Noel McKenna who’s painted the liveliest rendition of the head of a Chihuahua.

Beautiful bones

Sarah Engledow reflects on the shared life and writing of Dorothy Porter and Andrea Goldsmith.

Donated duo

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the gift of two striking paintings by the Australian artist Ken Done AM.

The world of Thea Proctor

Magazine article by Jane Kinsman, 2007

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.

Themes and variations (Annelies) A13, 1946

Listening to form

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

Recollections of a sinologist sitter

Magazine article by Professor Stephen FitzGerald AO, 2016

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

The National Portrait Gallery's 20th birthday party

The National Portrait Gallery's 20th Anniversary

Magazine article by Phil Manning, 2017

Last month we marked the twentieth anniversary of the formal establishment of the National Portrait Gallery, the tenth of the opening of our signature building, and the fifth of our having become a statutory authority under Commonwealth legislation.

Thomas Mathewson (inset) and his studio on Queen Street, c. 1908 by Thomas Mathewson & Co

Northern exposure

Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.

Seeing stars

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour explores photographic depictions of Aboriginal sportsmen including Lionel Rose, Dave Sands, Jerry Jerome and Douglas Nicholls.

Nikhil Chopra

by Rattanamol Johal

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2017

Nikhil Chopra was born in 1974, in Calcutta. His first degree was in commerce, but in 1997 he took up fine art studies, eventually gaining a Masters in Fine Art from Ohio State University, United States.

Sarah Bernhardt, 1876 by Georges Clairin

Demimonde liaisons

Jane Raffan feasts on modernity’s entrée in the Belle Époque theatre of the demimonde.

Small worlds

Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.

In the galleries

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

Poison pen

Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Lady Jane Grey, c.1590-1600 (also known as The ‘Streatham’ portrait) Artist unknown

The Royal she

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2019

Traversing paint and pixels, Inga Walton examines portraits of select women in Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.

Charlie's angles

Magazine article by Stephen Phillips, 2017

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

Picture this...

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

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.

General Birdwood, the Idol of Anzac, taking a dip in the sea after a hard days work 1915

In the thick of it

Projecting the splendour of the empire, and the resolve of its subjects, the bust of William Birdwood keeps a stiff upper lip in the National Portrait Gallery.

Suave

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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

Portfolio of 54 portraits compiled by Queen Victoria, 1859–1861 by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Camille Silvy, Frances Day and William Bambridge

Queen of cartes

Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.

Each morning when I wake up I put on my mothers face, 2000

Paths to portraiture

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2003

The life and art of Australian artist Jenny Sages is on display in the exhibition Paths to Portraiture.

Australians in Hollywood

The exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.

Something old, something new

Magazine article by Andrew Mayo, 2017

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.

Studio of the American & Australasian Photographic Co., Hill End, 1872

A rogue's calling card

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Joanna Gilmour explores the stories behind the ninteenth-century carte de visites of bushrangers Frank Gardiner and Fred Lowry.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

Magazine article by Esther Agostino, 2015

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

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

Air wear

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

Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil, ca.1753-55

Canadian identities

Magazine article by Lilly Koltun, 2004

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

Ken Done

Magazine article by Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby, 2018

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.

HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, 2006 Ralph Heimans AM

Dane reign

Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby bring eloquent context to Ralph Heimans’ portraits of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

Thrown together

Shipmates for years, James Cook and Joseph Banks each kept a journal but neither man shed light on their relationship.

Penny Fowler AM, John Barrington AM, Heidi Victoria, Elizabeth Dibbs, Tom Mosby, Hayley Baillie, Hugo Michell, Elizabeth Pakchung, Valerie Tam

The Board

Governance & Board

The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.

The stately lotus

Magazine article by Graeme Dix, 2016

I spent much of my summer holiday at D’Omah, on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. Lotus and waterlilies sprout in extraordinary profusion in artful ponds amid palms and deep scarlet ginger flowers.

Portrait of the Gallery

A design diary retrospective.

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

Rock Island Bend. Franklin River, South West Tasmania, 1979 by Peter Dombrovskis

Written in Water

Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.

Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

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.

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

The right note

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

Sandor Ferenczis 50th birthday dinner, Budapest, 1923

Less than six degrees of separation

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2011

Anne Sanders finds connections in Inner Worlds between Hungarian expatriates and the development of psychoanalysis in Australia.

Money and swat

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2007

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

Adam’s Prize Apples

Magazine article by Pamela Gerrish Nunn, 2016

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

An Australian story

Magazine article by The Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd, 2009

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.

Sunset in the drawing room at Chesney Wold by Hablot Knight Brown

Portraiture in a Bleak House

Magazine article by Peter Wilmoth, 2016

It may seem an odd thing to do at one’s leisure on a beautiful tropical island, but I spent much of my midwinter break a few weeks ago re-reading Bleak House.

Peter Wilmoth, age 12, with copies of Our World 1974 Courtesy of the author

Paper, boy

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

One hundred days at 7pm 2015 by Fiona McMonagle

Self-effacing

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

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

Self Portrait with Stetson, 2011 by Darren McDonald

Painting them gently

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.

Giving a dam

True south #1

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Ensconced and meditative in crisp Tasmania, Joanna Gilmour pays tribute to passionate green advocate and photographer Olegas Truchanas.

Lovers of light

Dr Sarah Engledow traces the significant links between Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo and Evelyn Chapman through their portraits.

All dressed up

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

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

A nose by any other name

Magazine article by Jane Kinsman, 2013

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

Studio portrait of servicewoman Lance Corporal Kathleen Jean Mary (Kath) Walker, c.1942

Past present

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2016

Krysia Kitch celebrates Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

Nan and Brian in bed, New York City 1983 © Nan Goldin

Love scars

Magazine article by Katrina Osborne, 2016

Katrina Osborne immerses herself in one of photography’s most fearless chronicles.

Private virtues public lives

Magazine article by Robert Cook, 2018

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

Snap decisions

NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.

The Window Seat, 1907 by Frances Hodgkins

Kiwi magpie

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2018

Penelope Grist finds inspiration in pioneering New Zealand artist, Frances Hodgkins.

Darren McDonald

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

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.

Off grid

Aimee Board ventures within and beyond to consider two remarkable new Gallery acquisitions.

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Magazine article by Sharon Peoples, 2017

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959 by William Dobell

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

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

Forest Creek, Mount Alexander Diggings, 1852 by S. T. Gill

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

Magazine article by Stephen Phillips, 2016

Some years ago my colleague Andrea Wolk Rager and I spent several days in the darkened basement of a Rothschild Bank, inspecting every one of the nearly 700 autochromes created immediately before World War I by the youthful Lionel de Rothschild.

Shop Talk

Angus and the arbiters talk (photo) shop for the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Cover, first minute book of the Tasmanian Society of Natural History

Embrace your inner nerd

The southern winter has arrived. For people in the northern hemisphere (the majority of humanity) the idea of snow and ice, freezing mist and fog in June, potentially continuing through to August and beyond, encapsulates the topsy-turvidom of our southern continent.

Robyn Sweaney

Magazine article by Gareth Knapman, 2017

Robyn's parents had two terriers, Wuff and Snuff. In spite of Snuff’s ominous name and a couple of close shaves – once, he jumped out of a moving car, and another time, on a long road trip, he was accidentally left behind at a petrol station – he outlived Wuff.

The Conciliation, 1840 by Benjamin Duterrau

The art of conciliation

Gareth Knapman explores the politics and opportunism behind the portraits of Tasmania’s Black War.

The portrait writ large

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Yanyuwa young men, The Song Peoples Sessions CD Launch Rehearsals, Yanyuwa Country, 2012 Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis

Us being ourselves

Penelope Grist talks to photographer Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis about capturing moments, telling stories and keeping Culture strong.

Fits of delicacy and despair

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.

Australia’s great internationalists

Penelope Grist explores the United Nations stories in the Gallery’s collection.

Sydney city (Patrick White and Tom Uren, Hiroshima Day demonstration), 1984

The activist A-list

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

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.

Drawing inspiration

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

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

See through me

Magazine article by Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray, 2022

Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray talk to the artists in Portrait23: Identity about transcending modes of portraiture.

Women make history

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Jennifer Higgie uncovers the intriguing stories behind portraits of women by women in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

What price self?

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

The Bare story

Curator, Penny Grist, reveals how this exhibition came to be

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster

To the end of the earth

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

The portrait of Dr. Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster from 1780, is one of the oldest in the NPG's collection.

In good company

Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.

Staying home

True south #2

Joanna Gilmour brings a mindful Douglas Mawson’s perspective to bear on the concept of isolation.

Naked ambition

Joanna Gilmour dives into the life of Australian swimming legend Annette Kellerman.

In a good paddock

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2018

Celebrating a new painted portrait of Joseph Banks, Sarah Engledow spins a yarn of the naturalist, the first kangaroo in France and Don, a Spanish ram.

Flesh, figure and rock

Aimee Board traces Judy Cassab’s path to the Australian outback, arriving at the junction of inspiration and abstraction.

More cash than dash

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Joanna Gilmour describes how colonial portraitists found the perfect market among social status seeking Sydneysiders.

Anna Culliton

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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.

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

Little women

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Study in scarlet

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2018

Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.

Regarding Henrys

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

Poise and Carats

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

Christmas Island