Davida Allen is a Queensland artist. As a student at Brisbane's Sturt Holme Convent in the 1960s she had Betty Churcher as an art teacher.
2 portraits in the collection
Going around a gallery with a child, we point to a painting of a dog and brightly ask ‘What’s that?’ If they don’t say ‘A dog’, we tell them that’s what it is. We don’t say it’s a shape inscribed by an artist that’s popularly understood to signify a dog. That’d only serve to foster a smarty-pants.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Peter Allen (1944-1992) was born Peter Allen Woolnough in Tenterfield, NSW.
1 portrait in the collection
John Allen Manton (1807–1864), Wesleyan minister, arrived in Australia in 1831.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Feeling sexy
Reconnect and reflect with our new major exhibition, Australian Love Stories (in real life!) as we explore love, affection and connection in all its guises.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
This exhibition expresses the joy and warmth that many of us derive from our animal companions, and celebrates their trusting, unpretentious ways, with portraits of Australians and their furry, feathered and fluffy friends.
Joseph Jauffret was master of appeals to the French council of state from 1814 to 1836 and was created a count in 1823.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014
Alfred Simpson (1805–1891), manufacturer, started his professional life as a tinsmith in his native London and also worked as a hatter before financial difficulties caused him to emigrate to Australia in 1849.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014
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.
Idle hours is an exhibition of luxurious beauty. Paintings, prints and drawings represent subjects in quiet moods and situations arranged according to the time of day they depict - reading, drawing, snoozing, bathing, sewing, gardening, sitting, looking, making love and spending tranquil time with companions. Works in the exhibition range from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present.
Henry Hopkins (1787–1870), merchant and philanthropist, opened his first shop on Elizabeth Street in Hobart soon after arriving in the colony in September 1822.
1 portrait in the collection
Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R
Nick Enright (1950-2003), playwright and screenwriter, attended Sydney University and the New York University School of the Arts before establishing himself as a dramatist with plays such as Summer Rain and Mongrels.
2 portraits in the collection
Samuel Johnson Woolf, American painter, lithographer and illustrator, was born in New York City and named after the English essayist Samuel Johnson.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998
The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
The series David Moore: From Face to Face was acquired by gift of the artist and financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001
Stuart Spence (b. 1960) born in Geelong, Victoria, established his career in Sydney during the 1980s and 1990s, as a magazine photographer specialising in celebrity portraiture.
2 portraits in the collection
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Tom Uren's family 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009.
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Cate Blanchett AC (b. 1969), actor, graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992, joined the Sydney Theatre Company and soon received the Sydney Theatre Critics’ Circle award for Best Newcomer.
4 portraits in the collection
Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Henry Wade (1810–1854), surveyor, was trained in surveying at Dublin College before being employed as a civilian assistant by the Royal Engineers Corps.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2016
Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.
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.
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.
Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.
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.
Artist David M Thomas lists some of the ideas and influences behind his video portraits.
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.
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.
Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.
A National Portrait Gallery, London exhibition redefines portraiture, shifting the focus towards a new perspective on Pop Art.
Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.
Stephen Zagala discusses Richard Avedon’s work from an Australian perspective.
Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.
Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.
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.
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