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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

The First Legislative Assembly of New South Wales
The First Legislative Assembly of New South Wales
The First Legislative Assembly of New South Wales

The First Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, 1859

Edwin Dalton
Portrait, composite albumen paper photograph consisting of 79 personages and a letterpress key

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Portrait of Mrs Sarah Fairfax
Portrait of Mrs Sarah Fairfax
Portrait of Mrs Sarah Fairfax

Portrait of Mrs Sarah Fairfax, c. 1864

Edwin Dalton
Portrait, pastel on paper laid on canvas

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Charles John Fairfax
Charles John Fairfax
Charles John Fairfax

Charles John Fairfax, c. 1860

Edwin Dalton
Portrait, pastel on paper laid on canvas

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

John Fairfax
John Fairfax
John Fairfax

John Fairfax, c. 1860

Edwin Dalton
Portrait, pastel on paper laid on canvas

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Maria Windeyer
Maria Windeyer
Maria Windeyer

Maria Windeyer, c. 1865-1868

Freeman Brothers after Edwin Dalton
Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on brown paper studio folder

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Michael Klim

The Athlete

An exhibition of sporting photographs by Anderson & Low
Previous exhibition, 2000
The Athlete explores the sporting life well beyond the superficial image of the human physique
Lady Barkly

Carte-o-mania!

Previous exhibition, 2018

Drawn from the NPG’s burgeoning collection of cartes de visite, Carte-o-mania! celebrates the wit, style and substance of the pocket-sized portraits that were taken and collected like crazy in post-goldrush Australia.

image not online

Kyle Vander-Kuyp, 1998

Anderson & Low
Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Purchased 2001

Her Majesty
Her Majesty
Her Majesty

Her Majesty, 1860

John J. Mayall
Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite photograph on card

Purchased 2020

George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)
George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)
George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)

George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, 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

Battye Blue, 2005 by Phoenix Battye

Headspace 6

Who Am I?
Previous exhibition, 2005

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

David Campese II

Sporting Archibald

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

Lucy Escott, c. 1861

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery
Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

James Oswald Fairfax

The Fairfax Gift

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

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

Henry Squires
Henry Squires
Henry Squires

Henry Squires, c. 1861

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery
Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Ned Kelly death mask

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait
Previous exhibition, 2015

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.

Andy Thomas

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling
Previous exhibition, 2015

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.

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.

Queen Alexandra and Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia, Hvidore, circa 1908 by Mary Steen

The cost of living luxuriously

About Face article

In 1904, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia purchased as a gift for her sister, Queen Alexandra, a fan composed of two-color gold, guilloché enamel, mother-of-pearl, blond tortoiseshell, gold sequins, silk, cabochon rubies, and rose diamonds from the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg.

A surface against which we can move, 2014 by Sam Leach

No small wonder

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

Joanna Gilmour describes how artist Sam Leach works on a small scale to grand effect.

Chang the Chinese giant and party

The portrait writ large

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Mexico from the Palace painted by ‘Maximilian Emperor'

Empirical art

About Face article

Several years ago I came across this curious painting on the racks in a distant, dusty corner of the store room in the basement of the Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa. Since then the mystery surrounding it has never been far from my mind. 

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

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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.

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency