Search / geoffroy saint-hilaire

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844), naturalist, established the principle of ‘unity of composition’.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoffroy St Hilaire, c. 1845

Formentin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

The Saint and the merchant

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Emanuel Solomon gave shelter to the Sisters of St Joseph upon the excommunication of St Mary MacKillop.

Saint Catherine (Catherine Hamlin), 2006

Nigel Brennan

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Purchased 2008

Howard Tangye

Figurative abstract artist and designer Howard Tangye was born in Queensland in 1948 and lived and worked in London from the 1970s until recently.

1 portrait in the collection

Susie Bick (b. 1966) was born in Cheshire, England. Discovered at age fourteen, Bick had modelled for album covers for bands including Roxy Music and The Damned, appeared in advertising campaigns for Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and other fashion houses, and walked the catwalk for Vivienne Westwood and others.

1 portrait in the collection

François Bonneville

François Bonneville was one of the leading French engravers of the period of the Revolution, selling his works at the Imprimérie du Cercle Social on the Rue du Théâtre-Francais until 1797, and then, until 1814, at successive premises on the Rue Saint Jacques.

2 portraits in the collection

Portrait 54

Spring 2016

Magazine

Explore an Indian treasure trove, photography by Robert McFarlane and Nan Goldin, Michael Taylor's expressionist paintings, the Great War portraits, and more!

Adut Akech with siblings Kim, Yar, Bior and Alakiir

Adut Akech Bior

Adut Akech Bior (b. 1999), supermodel, was born in South Sudan and spent the first several years of her life in the UN's Kakuma refugee camp in north-west Kenya, after her family fled from civil war.

4 portraits in the collection

David Beckham

Lorenzo Agius

Image

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

George Hoyningen-Huene

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

1 portrait in the collection

Leonora Carrington, St. Martin d'Ardèche, France

Lee Miller

Image

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

Anneliese Seubert

Anneliese Seubert (b. 1973), fashion model, grew up in Cooma, New South Wales, her family having migrated from Germany when she was nine.

1 portrait in the collection

The Long Awaited, 2008 by Patricia Piccinini

Empathy

More about In the flesh

Patricia Piccinini places empathy at the heart of her practice. The tenderness of the moment dominates.

Adut Akech, 2018 (printed 2020)

Gift of the artist 2020

Adut Akech with brother Bior, 2018 (printed 2020)

Gift of the artist 2020

Portrait of Susan Wakil AO, 2019

Jiawei Shen

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of Isaac Wakil AO 2019

Adut Akech with baby sister Akoul, 2018 (printed 2020)

Gift of the artist 2020

Adut Akech with siblings Kim, Yar, Bior and Alakiir, 2018 (printed 2020)

Gift of the artist 2020

Richard Nicoll

Portrait, oil and gold leaf on cedar panel

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

1 portrait in the collection

Acacius (Stigmata) - Tony Carden, 1991

AñA Wojak

Gift of Lesley Saddington 2015

Anneliese Seubert, 1997 (printed 2014)

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

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

Lady Primrose Potter AC

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2020

Lady Primrose Potter AC was born in Sydney in 1931 and lives in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Valerie Kirk

Contributing artists

Born: 1957, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Works: Canberra

About grace

Penelope Grist finds philanthropy and fashion underpin the story of Susan Wakil AO.

The God-shaped hole

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Exploring the photographs of Martin Schoeller, Michael Desmond delves into the uneasy pact that exists between celebrity and the camera.

Cachasunghia, Osage Warrior 1804–06 by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin

Political profiles

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

Joanna Gilmour examines the prolific output of Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, and discovers the risk of taking a portrait at face value.

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

The cost of living luxuriously

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

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.

All dressed up

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

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.

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.

Stigma stigmata

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Angus Trumble provides poignant context for Aña Wojak’s portrait of Tony Carden.

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.

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

Selected images

General content

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

Ingres in Paris

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2006

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was one of the greatest portrait painters in history.

Portrait of William Manning, c.1821 by Henry Bone

Of beef in burgundy

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

Angus Trumble reveals the complex technical mastery behind a striking recent acquisition, Henry Bone’s enamel portrait of William Manning.

Where the wild things are

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.

Louis XVI giving final instructions to the Comte de La Perouse, c. 1785

Sea legged frogs

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Joanna Gilmour describes some of the stories of the individuals and incidents that define French exploration of Australia and the Pacific.

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.

The eye and the heart

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

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

Christian Waller with Baldur, Undine and Siren at Fairy Hills, 1932 by Napier Waller

Enigma

Grace Carroll contemplates the curious case of Christian Waller.

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

Back in black

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

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

Cover, first minute book of the Tasmanian Society of Natural History

Embrace your inner nerd

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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.

In the flesh

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

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.

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.

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.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

The tragic tale of Tom Wills, the ‘inventor’ of Australian Rules Football.

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.

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

Portraiture in a Bleak House