Search / francis russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell KG GCMG PC (1792 –1878) was Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1839 to 1841 and served twice as Prime Minister of Great Britain, in 1846-1852 and 1865-1866.

1 portrait 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

Russell Drysdale

Sir Russell Drysdale AC (1912-1981), painter, developed eye trouble in 1929, and had to leave boarding school for the first of many eye treatments which left him fearful of total blindness.

6 portraits in the collection

Russell Shakespeare

Russell Shakespeare (b. 1963) has photographed well-known Australians from a wide range of fields, including writers Tim Winton and Colleen McCullough, sports people Steve Waugh and Stephanie Gilmore, and former politicians Gough Whitlam and Bob Brown.

2 portraits in the collection

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe (b. 1964), actor, was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He moved at the age of four to Australia, where his parents worked as caterers on TV and movie sets.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Russell Drysdale

In their own words

Recorded 1960

The artist Marc Clark, 2019

Russell Shakespeare

Peter Russell-Clarke

'Use whatever colour you like'

Peter Russell-Clarke, cook, started his career as a freelance cartoonist, working for advertising agencies in Australia and overseas.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Russell-Clarke

Portrait story

Peter Russell-Clarke on colour in painting and cooking.

Russell Drysdale, c. 1945

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

Russell Drysdale, 1960

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Self portrait, 2004

Peter Russell-Clarke

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Russell Goward, Westmex,

Joe Greenberg

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Peter Russell-Clarke

In their own words

Recorded 2022

Tim Fairfax AC, 2018

Russell Shakespeare

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Russell Sands, n.d.

Purchased 2011

Russell Crowe, 1995 (printed 2016)

Stuart Spence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Russell Crowe, 2001 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Russell Drysdale, Woollahra, Sydney, 1964 (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.

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

Portrait, triptych of type C photographs on paper

Russell Page in Venice, 1997

Brenda L Croft

Purchased 2002

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Crocker 2003

Some lads #1, 1986

Tracey Moffatt

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

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

Inspiration + Realisation: John Singer Sargent

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

Steve Waugh, 2001

Russell Shakespeare

Portrait, direct positive colour photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Inspiration + Realisation: Peter Wegner

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

Peter Wegner's approach to portraiture could be considered a visual record of the rapport, the dynamic space between artist and subject.

Henry Chamberlain Russell and family at Sydney Observatory

Henry Chamberlain Russell and family at Sydney Observatory, c. 1895

Charles Bayliss

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Gift of Joanna Russell Maher (née Windeyer) 2018

Rada Penfold Russell, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, pencil on paper

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

Hon. James G. Francis

James Goodall Francis (1819–1884), a London-born merchant and politician, arrived in Hobart as a steerage passenger in February 1835.

1 portrait in the collection

Francis Nixon

Francis Russell Nixon (1803-1879) photographer, artist and Anglican clergyman, arrived in Hobart in 1843 to take up the role of Bishop of Tasmania.

2 portraits in the collection

Francis Tuckfield

Francis Tuckfield (1808-1865), Wesleyan missionary, was eighteen years old when, having worked as a miner and a fisherman, he decided to become a preacher.

1 portrait in the collection

Francis (Pat) Quinn

Francis (Pat) Quinn (1914–2010), showman and hypnotist, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand.

2 portraits in the collection

Francis Lymburner

Francis Lymburner (1916-1972) was a Queensland-born artist who was educated at Brisbane Grammar and took art classes at Brisbane Technical College.

2 portraits in the collection

Francis Reiss

Francis Reiss (1917-2017), portrait photographer and photojournalist, was born in Hamburg and educated in Germany, England and the USA before joining London's Picture Post as a staff photographer.

11 portraits in the collection

Sir Francis Forbes KNt

Sir Francis Forbes (1784–1841) was the first chief justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Francis Beaurepaire

Sir Francis Beaurepaire (1891-1956), Olympic swimmer, businessman and civic leader, won his first Victorian swimming titles in 1906, following up with three national titles in 1908.

2 portraits in the collection

Amanda

Francis Cloake

Shirley

Francis Cloake

Surfer Rusty Miller

Francis Cloake

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

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

Lady Flo, 2011

by Russell Shakespeare

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007

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.

Francis Houssemayne du Boulay

Francis Houssemayne du Boulay (1837-1914) was a scientist and natural history artist, best known for sending beetles from Western Australia to England.

1 portrait in the collection

Francis Lymburner, c. 1946

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

Patrick Francis Moran

Patrick Francis Moran (1830-1911), orphaned at 11, was sent from his native Ireland to Rome, where a relative was rector of the Irish College.

2 portraits in the collection

Francis (Pat) Quinn, c. 1954

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

Francis (Pat) Quinn, c. 1954

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

Francis Lymburner, 1941

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

Ron Tandberg, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Ron Castan, 1996

Samuel Bellin after Thomas Heathfield Carrick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Lord John Russell, 1844

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Captain Francis Edward de Groot

Francis Edward de Groot (1888-1969) was born in Dublin and came to Australia in 1910.

1 portrait in the collection

Francis Tuckfield, c. 1854

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

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

Francis Houssemayne de Boulay, n.d.

J Fisher

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

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

Vane Lindesay, 1993

Purchased 2004

Morris Lurie, 1994

Purchased 2004

Leigh Hobbs, 1993

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Alan Sumner, 1993

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Ursula Hoff, 1994

Portrait, cast printer's metal

Purchased 2004

Frank Beaurepaire, n.d.

John Frith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013

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.

A Chief Secretary "Blunt, but Honest" [The Hon. James Goodall Francis], 1874

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

The Hon. Sir Francis Forbes, c. 1860

Henry Samuel Sadd

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Shorty Robertson, 2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Mike Brown and Liz Land in Kitchen, 1993

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Paddy's lunch: Paddy Stewart at Yuendumu

Paddy's lunch: Paddy Stewart at Yuendumu, 2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2007

Portrait of Paddy Japaljarrii Stewart, 2004

W Sherwin after Francis Wheatley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Arthur Phillip Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief in & over the territory of New South Wales

Arthur Phillip Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief in & over the territory of New South Wales, 1789

Portrait, engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Frank Beaurepaire, c. 1924

Bain News Service

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Cardinal Moran, 1886-1888

Portrait, photograph on on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Francis Russell Nixon, c. 1845-1855

an unknown artist after George Richmond

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

Purchased 2009

Captain Francis de Groot, 1932

Harold Cazneaux

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

All there in black and white

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

The Rt Rev Barbara Darling, 2008

Francis Reiss and June Orford

Samuel Bellin after Francis Grant

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Charles Joseph La Trobe, c. 1857

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased 2010

Arthur Phillip Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief in & over the territory of New South Wales, 1789

W Sherwin, John Stockdale after Francis Wheatley

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

View of Owhyhee in the Sandwich Islands in the south Seas (The Death of Cook)

View of Owhyhee in the Sandwich Islands in the south Seas (The Death of Cook), 1787-1788

Francis Jukes after John Cleveley

Portrait, aquatint, hand coloured on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

Patrick Moran, Bishop of Sydney, c. 1886

H B Hall's Sons, Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co after William Macleod

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Aborigines at Oyster Cove, Tasmania, 1858 (printed 1890s)

Francis Nixon

Portrait, glass plate negative

Purchased 2011

Stephen and Russell Page, 1993 (printed 2011)

Robert Rosen

Gift of Robert Rosen 2012

Russell Hopkinson (You Am I), 1995

Montalbetti + Campbell

Gift of the artists 2003

Stephen Ridgeway and Stephen Russell, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Francis Reiss and June Orford

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Gordon and Marilyn Darling, 1994

Francis Reiss and June Orford

Gift of Francis Reiss 2009

Tony and Maureen Wheeler, 2005

Francis Holl after Henry William Pickersgill

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

The Right Honourable Henry Goulburn MP, c. 1850

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Stephen, Russell and David Page, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Russell Hopkinson Rusty Hopkinson

You am I (Tim Rogers, Andy Kent, Russell Hopkinson) Sydney rock band, was formed in 1989 and released their first album in 1993 to great critical acclaim.

1 portrait in the collection

The Sands Brothers, c. 1940s

Francis Reiss and June Orford, Tim Ainsworth

Purchased 2011

The Godfrey family of Melways guides, 2009

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Mark Bethwaite, North Broken Hill, Olympic Yachtsman

Mark Bethwaite, North Broken Hill, Olympic Yachtsman,

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Governor of South Australia

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

Solomon Studios

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman'

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

John Davis

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

Frank Iredale (Francis Adams Iredale, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)

Frank Iredale (Francis Adams Iredale, 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

Sarah Tuckfield

Sarah Tuckfield neé Gilbart (c. 1808–1854), was the daughter of a Cornish farmer.

1 portrait in the collection

Adela R. Walker

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Adela Russell Walker (1847–1932), the youngest of her parents' thirteen children, was born in Longford and was 22 when she married George Coleridge Nixon, who was the son of Francis Russell Nixon – an amateur artist and Anglican Bishop of Tasmania from 1843 to 1862.

1 portrait in the collection

A Commissioner of Customs "Faithful to Francis" [The Hon. Edward Cohen M.L.A.], 1874

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Adela Russell Walker, 1864

William P. Dowling

Portrait, albumen print photograph, carte de visite format on paper on card

Purchased 2022

Bangarra brothers: songman, storyteller, dancer

Passion

Creative kin

Maria Windeyer, c. 1860s

Portrait, albumen photograph, hand coloured

Gift of Joanna Russell Maher (née Windeyer) 2018

Pictorial profiles of hearth and home

Nearest & Dearest

Keep it in the family

Maisie, 1938-1939

Peter Purves Smith

Portrait, gouache on paper

Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001

June Orford

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

June Orford has collaborated with Francis Reiss on a number of projects.

1 portrait in the collection

Death mask of George Melville courtesy of National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Old Melbourne Gaol Collection

A colourful story from Sideshow Alley

September - November 2010

From infamous bushranger to oyster shop display, curator Jo Gilmour explores the life of George Melville.

Portrait 37

Magazine

This issue features Jenny Sages, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, Brook Andrew's portrait of Marcia Langton, Nicholas Harding, Lola Montez, Mick Molloy and more.

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

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

Clem Sands

Portrait, pastel on paper

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

2 portraits in the collection

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

Jean Shepeard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Frank Gardiner

Francis Gardiner (Christie) (1830-c. 1903), bushranger, came to New South Wales with his family as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

The night watcher, 2015

by Annette Ruzicka

David Potts

Previous exhibition, 2006

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

3 portraits in the collection

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.

Alfie Sands, c. 1940s

Purchased 2011

George Sands, c. 1940s

Purchased 2011

Clem Sands, c. 1940s

Purchased 2011

Frank Edward Wootton

Francis Edward (Frank) Wootton (1893-1940), jockey, was born into the family of a Sydney horse trainer who is said to have been so determined that his sons would become jockeys that he denied them adequate meals.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Rogers

You am I (Tim Rogers, Andy Kent, Russell Hopkinson) Sydney rock band, was formed in 1989 and released their first album in 1993 to great critical acclaim.

1 portrait in the collection

Andy Kent

Previous exhibition, 2005

You am I (Tim Rogers, Andy Kent, Russell Hopkinson) Sydney rock band, was formed in 1989 and released their first album in 1993 to great critical acclaim.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Janet Keats

Janet le Brun Brown (Keats) (1900-1985), soprano, was born on her family's property, Riggsdale, near Goulburn, but on account of frailty she was sent to live with her grandparents in Inverell, Moree and Dungog before going to boarding school in the Blue Mountains and Gosford.

1 portrait in the collection

Elliott and Fry

Previous exhibition, 2002

Elliott & Fry, a photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, was founded in 1863 at 55-56 Baker Street, London by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry.

2 portraits in the collection

Bill Brandt

A Retrospective

From Brandt's early work that documents fixed social contrasts of pre-World War II life in Britain to his later experimentation with a surreal style, this exhibition spans 50 years of Brandt's far reaching career in an extensive assemblage of 155 vintage gelatin silver prints from the Bill Brandt Archive in London.

An Intimate Portrait of an Australian Artist in 1930

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

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

Angus Trumble with Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks by Thomas Phillips

Banksia and grevillea

Portraits can render honour to remarkable men and women, but there are other ways.

Self portrait, Cyprus, 1953

David Potts

Purchased 2001

The Last Paul Mumme Work, 2015

by Paul Mumme

Finalist, DPA 2016

Remembering Ursula

I first knew Dr. Hoff when in 1986, long after retiring from the National Gallery of Victoria, she taught a graduate seminar on Rembrandt.

Charina Oeser

Charina Forge (now Oeser) studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in the early 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Aboriginal couple, Finniss Springs Mission, South Australia

Finniss Springs Community

Finniss Springs is located south of the Oodnadatta Track, 50km west of Marree on Arabana Country, South Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Beadle

Paul Beadle (1917-1992), sculptor, was born in England and studied at the Cambridge Art School and the Central School of Arts and Crafts during the 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Milestones

This month I turn fifty, soI am just now looking rather more closely than usual at Fiona Foley, Steven Heathcote, Brenda Croft, Russell Crowe, Jeff Fenech, Akira Isogawa, Lee Kernaghan, My Le Thi, Shona Wilson and Mark Taylor AO, mindful that they too were 1964 arrivals.

Rudy Komon

Rudy Komon (1908-1982) was an art dealer and gallery director. After working as a journalist in Czechoslovakia, where he served with the Czech resistance during the war, he emigrated to Sydney and opened an antique store.

3 portraits in the collection

Reginald Gray

Reginald Gray (1930–2013) was a professional portraitist. Born in Dublin, he studied at the National College of Art and Design, and became a designer for the Pike and Gate Theatres in Dublin and the Lyric Theatre in London.

1 portrait in the collection

Madame Praeger

Laura Praeger (née Blundell) was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and was about twelve years old when her father brought his family to Australia, settling in Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

James Heath

James Heath commenced an apprenticeship with an engraver named Joseph Collyer at the age of fourteen.

2 portraits in the collection

Paul Haefliger, 1974

Judy Cassab AO CBE

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

Brett Whiteley

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

11 portraits in the collection

Peter Purves Smith

Peter Purves Smith (1912–1949), artist, went to Geelong Grammar with his lifelong friend Russell Drysdale.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Sculthorpe, c. 1969

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Roy de Maistre CBE

Portrait, pencil on paper

Roy de Maistre (Roi (Leroy) de Mestre) CBE (1894-1968), painter, studied music at the Sydney Conservatorium, but was also a student at the RAS School with Dattilo Rubbo and later the Sydney Art School with Julian Ashton.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, Paris, 1989

Brett Whiteley

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Frank Wootton, c. 1908

Sir Leslie Ward, Hentschel-Colourtype, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Charles Darwin

John Collier

Jean Shepeard

Jean Shepeard was an actress and artist who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Beadle, c. 1950

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

Rudy Komon, c. 1970

Lewis Morley

associated with John Taylor

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

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

Brett Whiteley, 1974

Lewis Morley

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

David Potts reflected in a magazine page

David Potts reflected in a magazine page, c. 1949 (printed 2000)

Raelene Sharp

Raelene Sharp (b. 1957), artist, was born in Melbourne and began her career as a graphic artist in advertising.

2 portraits in the collection

Eric Thake

In their own words

Recorded 1961

Sarah Tuckfield, c. 1854

Goupil & Cie after Carl Kahler

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

The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day

The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day, c. 1889

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Purchased 2009

Mr and Mrs Horace Keats in the "Christopher Brennan Cycle", 1945

Dora Toovey

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Anne and Brennan Keats 2009

Ivy Shore, 1961

Graeme Inson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Harvey and Russell Shore 2014

John Longstaff

Portrait, pastel and gouache on paper laid down on backing sheet

Sir John Longstaff, born in Clunes, Victoria, studied at the NGV school from 1883 to 1887 and thenceforth at Corman's in Paris.

1 portrait in the collection

Ann Mary Windeyer, 1847

G Ziegler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Joanna Russell Maher (née Windeyer) 2018

Brett Whiteley - portrait 2, 1975

Greg Weight

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. 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

Dave Sands, c. 1940s

Purchased 2011

Margaret Olley, 1995

Adam Knott

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

Frank Adams Iredale

Francis Adams Iredale (1867–1926), cricketer and journalist, was born in the inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, the son of an ironmonger and his Irish-born wife.

1 portrait in the collection

Edward Henty, late 19th century

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Tim Clark 2018

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

Walter Preston

Walter Preston, engraver and convict, came to New South Wales aboard the Guildford in 1812.

1 portrait in the collection

Walter Langhammer

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

1 portrait in the collection

Shirley Hazzard

Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016) writer, spent her childhood in Sydney but left with her parents at the age of sixteen for South East Asia and New Zealand.

1 portrait in the collection

Guy Pearce, 2000 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Purchased 2005

Paul Capsis

Paul Capsis (b. 1964), performer, was raised by his mother and grandmother in the inner-Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.

1 portrait in the collection

Lan Wang, Xini, Jiawei Shen and Billy, 2010

Greg Weight

Portrait, oil on cardboard

Purchased 2012

Portrait of Alan Marshall, 1955

Lina Bryans

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

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

Presence and Absence

Portrait Sculpture in Australia

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

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

Inside outside

Michael Desmond explores the portraiture of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.

Peter Elliott, 1964

Jon Molvig

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Richard Elliott 2016. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Elaine Haxton, c. 1940s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Elizabeth Walford

Francis William Barnard Walford (1821–1896), businessman and landowner, was born in Hobart, the son of Barnard Walford (1801–1846), a publican and victualler; and the grandson of Barnard Walford senior (c.

1 portrait in the collection

The Movie Star (David Gulpilil), 1985

Tracey Moffatt

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

Megan Gale, 2002

Ellen Dahl

Gift of the artist 2006

Margaret Olley, 1998

Lewis Morley

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

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.

Steve Kilbey, 1981 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Elaine Haxton

Elaine Haxton (1909-1999), painter, graphic artist and theatre designer, grew up in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Frank Hinder

Previous exhibition, 2002

Francis Henry Critchley Hinder (1906-1992) was a pioneer of abstract art in Australia.

18 portraits in the collection

Headspace 3

Being Me

The self-portrait enables students to explore emerging and changing aspects of their own identity, their sense of self, their place in the world, their experience of being human

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

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

Richard Tognetti AO

Richard Tognetti AO (b. 1965), violinist, conductor and composer, trained with William Primrose in Wollongong and Alice Waten in Sydney before undertaking further studies with Igor Ozim in Switzerland.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Elliott AM

Peter Elliott AM (1927–2014) was an obstetrician, gynaecologist and gynaecological oncologist as well as a significant art collector and patron.

6 portraits in the collection

Jack Thompson AM

Jack Thompson AM (b. 1940) is an actor and the face of the 1970s Australian film renaissance.

3 portraits in the collection

William King

William Francis King (1807-1873), aka 'The Flying Pieman', accomplished a series of bizarre athletic feats during the 1840s.

1 portrait in the collection

Lady Maisie Drysdale

Lady Maisie Drysdale (1915–2001), children's librarian and artists' muse, developed an interest in art as a child, and attended both the University of Melbourne and George Bell's art school.

1 portrait in the collection

Headspace 4

Facing Memory

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

Andy Kent (You Am I), 1995

Montalbetti + Campbell

Gift of the artists 2003

Tim Rogers (You Am I), 1995

Montalbetti + Campbell

Gift of the artists 2003

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.

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

Gamaliel Butler

Gamaliel Butler (1783–1852), lawyer and free settler, emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1824 with his wife, Sarah (née Paine, 1787–1870).

2 portraits in the collection

Richard Fitzgerald

Richard Fitzgerald (1772-1840), convict, public servant and settler, spent four years of his seven-year sentence imprisoned (probably on a floating 'hulk') at Portsmouth before arriving in Sydney in 1791, along with his private assets.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Tognetti, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

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

Janet Dawson

Janet Dawson (b. 1935), painter, printer, teacher and stage designer, is known for her contribution to abstract art in Australia.

10 portraits in the collection

David Collins

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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

Small worlds

Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.

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

John Bradfield

John Bradfield (1867-1943), engineer, was a key figure in the development of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and inner city transport network.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche

Previous exhibition, 1999

Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche (1871–1936), actor, director and producer, was one of Australia’s most successful theatre exports.

2 portraits in the collection

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.

Australians in Hollywood

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

Rachel Roxburgh

Previous exhibition, 2005

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

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

Portrait of David Dridan, 1992

Brian Dunlop

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Dridan OAM 2017

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

John Sumner AO CBE

Previous exhibition, 2006

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

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.

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

J.C. Williamson, c. 1913

John Longstaff

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Gift of the family of Aimée Viola Horsley, daughter of J.C. Williamson 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Masters of Fare

Previous exhibition, 2004

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.

Ed Murrow, New York, 1956 (printed 2000)

Archived media releases 2013

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Angus Trumble National Portrait Gallery Director

National Portrait Gallery Director announced

20 December 2013

The National Portrait Gallery welcomes Angus Trumble

9 lives of Karin Catt

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

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

Brett Whiteley - portrait 1, 1975

Greg Weight

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

Xavier Herbert, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Jacqueline Mitelman

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

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

Lewis Morley

Myself and Eye

Portraits in the Landscape

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

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

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.

Ada Jemima Crossley

Ada Jemima Crossley (1874–1929), singer, was one of several Australian-born divas to achieve an international reputation in the late nineteenth century.

2 portraits in the collection

William Walford

Magazine article by Pamela Gray, 2002

1 portrait in the collection

Michael Kimmelman

Michael Kimmelman, Chief Art Critic of The New York Times and author of Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere, presented the National Portrait Gallery Third Anniversary Lecture on 2 March 2002. He was generously brought to Australia by the Gordon Darling Foundation and Qantas.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

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.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

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.

Diana Pockley

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Diana Pockley (née Longridge, 1913–2011), gardener, fundraiser and amateur historian, was born in Exeter, Devon, England and completed her secondary education in Brighton.

1 portrait in the collection

The Burke and Wills Monument, 1869

Thomas Foster Chuck

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Thomas Woolner

Portrait, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas

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

Paul Capsis, 2004

Esther Erlich

Gift of the artist 2017

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

18 October 2018

Archived media releases 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.

Chandler P. Coventry AM

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary

The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

Previous exhibition, 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.

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

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.

What price self?

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

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.

Charles Summers, late 1860s

Batchelder & Company Photo

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

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

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.

Australians in Hollywood

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2003

The exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

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

A & G Taylor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

2021 Annual Appeal

Previous exhibition, 2005

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Previous exhibition, 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.

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2017

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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Previous exhibition, 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.

To Look Within

Self Portraits in Australia

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide, c. 1862

Stephen Edward Nixon

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2018

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Insightful

Magazine article by Robert McFarlane, 2004

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

John McRae

NPPP 2012 learning resource

An interview with the photographer.

Artists' space

Magazine article by John McDonald, 2007

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd presents 61 of some of Australia’s most respected and significant painters working in the studio environment.

The personal and the historical

Archived media releases 2020

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.

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.

Off the wall

Magazine article by John Witzig, 2008

Photographer and surf mag editor John Witzig tells the stories behind his iconic surf images.

2022 Annual Appeal

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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.

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

No shirt, no service

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

Video still from Dream Job, 2011 by David M Thomas

My dream job

Magazine article by David Thomas AM, 2012

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

Fine and dandy

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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.

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.

Fits of delicacy and despair

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

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

Petal to the mettle

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

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.

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.

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

The Mutineers turning Lieut Bligh and part of the Officers and Crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship the Bounty

High & Bligh

Joanna Gilmour explores the 1790 portrait of William Bligh by Robert Dodd.

Portrait of an English Woman c. 1532-5 (detail)

A new perspective

Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006

An exhibition devoted to Hans Holbein's English commissions shows the portraitist bringing across the Channel new technical developments in art - with a dazzling facility.

Facing Australia, Composite portrait: Facing St Lucia, 2003

Conflicting images

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

Michael Desmond reveals the origins of composite portraits and their evolution in the pursuit of the ideal.

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.

Vintage Max

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2003

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

International issue

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

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

The story of us

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

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

Sunset in the drawing room at Chesney Wold by Hablot Knight Brown

Portraiture in a Bleak House

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.

Installation of ‘Face to Face: The New Normal’ at Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery, 2021 Vic McEwan

Facing the feeling

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Penelope Grist explores the interplay between medicine and portraiture in Vic McEwan’s Face to Face: The New Normal.

Poison pen

Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Star signs

Magazine article by Barry York, 2018

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

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.

Rehearsing Godot (Mullins as Lucky) 4.11.2013 by Nicholas Harding

Waiting for Godot

'Artist and actors, advancing spasmodically, find their rhythm together' writes Sarah Engledow.

The play’s the thing

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

Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

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.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

In the galleries

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

Ms Anna Burke MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives 2015 by Jude Rae

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Magazine article by Jude Rae, 2016

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

Good, bad and the ugly

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

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.

Rethinking foundational histories

Magazine article by Kate Fullagar, 2019

A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.

Dupain detective

Magazine article by Johanna McMahon, 2019

Johanna McMahon revels in history and mystery in pursuit of a suite of unknown portrait subjects.

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.

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.

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.

Of ice and men

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Frank Hurley's celebrated images document the heroism and minutiae of Australian exploration in Antarctica.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

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

Heartfelt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.

The importance of being bearded

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2012

Joanna Gilmour discovers that the beards of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills were as epic as their expedition to traverse Australia from south to north.

Face House – Kyoto, Japan Architect: Kazumasa Yamashita

Alter ego

Magazine article by Tom Fryer, 2021

Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.

First-Class Marksman, 1946 by Sidney Nolan

Money for Myth

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Big bouquet of Blackmans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

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).

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.

Lucy Culliton

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Most well-regarded pictures of chickens show them dead. A reliable way to tell if a chicken in a painting is dead is to check if it’s hanging upside down, because unlike, say, cockatoos, chickens don’t practise inversion for enjoyment in life.

Flash mob

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Sarah Engledow trains her exacting lens on the nine photographs from 20/20.

The artist and her family, c. 1854 by Martha Berkeley

Presence and absence

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

Listomania

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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.

Nicholas Harding

Explore The Popular Pet Show

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.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Mugshots

A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.

A sketch for some portraits

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

Nannultera, a young cricketer of the Natives' Training Institution, Poonindie , 1854 John Michael Crossland

The catechist and the cricketer

Magazine article by Stephen Valambras Graham, 2021

Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.

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

Sarah Engledow ponders the divergent legacies of Messrs Kendall and Lawson.

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

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

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.

You are who?

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

The silent partner

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

Inner Worlds and psychoanalysis

Lecture, 4 June 2011

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.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay