Search / henry russell

Francis Holl after Henry William Pickersgill

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

The Right Honourable Henry Goulburn MP, c. 1850

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Henry Bathurst, Earl Bathurst, 1810

Henry Meyer after Thomas Phillips

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Regarding Henrys

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

John 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

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

Peter Russell-Clarke

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

Recorded 2022

Russell Goward, Westmex,

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Tim Fairfax AC, 2018

Russell Shakespeare

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

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.

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

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.

Lord John Russell, 1844

Samuel Bellin after Thomas Heathfield Carrick

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Australian Princess

The full-length portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark by artist Jiawei Shen, has become a destination piece for visitors.

Woburn Sheepshearing, 1811

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

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

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Henry G. Dan AM

Henry Gibson Dan AM (1929–2020), universally known as Seaman Dan, was a Torres Strait Islander singer/songwriter who grew up on Thursday Island.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Weigall Jnr

Henry Weigall Junior (1829-1925) was the son of sculptor, cameo engraver and medallist Henry Weigall (1800-1883).

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot (1920-1999), photographer, was born Henry Tichauer. The son of a middle-class Jewish family, he changed his name after fleeing Germany and being 'volunteered' out of England on the Dunera.

2 portraits in the collection

Henry Bosch, National Security Commission

Henry Bosch AO

Henry Bosch AO is the former Chairman of the National Companies and Securities Commission and was Chairman of the Working Group on Corporate Practices and Conduct.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Bathurst KG PC

Henry Bathurst, Third Earl Bathurst KG PC (1762-1834) was a lord of the Admiralty from 1783 to 1789; a lord of the Treasury from 1789 to 1791; and commissioner of the Board of Control from 1793 to 1802.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry H. Glover

English lithographer and watercolourist Henry Heath Glover (c. 1810-1858) emigrated to South Australia in 1848 with his two sons - one of whom, Henry Heath Glover Junior (1828-1904) was also an illustrator and printmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Kendall

Henry (Thomas Henry) Kendall (1839-1882) was once regarded as the finest poet Australia had produced.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Room

Henry Room, painter, grew up in Birmingham, connected with a prominent evangelical family.

2 portraits in the collection

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated

Sir Henry Norman

Sir Henry Norman was Governor Queensland at the Constitutional Convention, Sydney, 1891.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson (1867-1922), one of Australia's defining authors, is best known for his short stories and ballads depicting the hardship of bush life.

6 portraits in the collection

Henry Meyer

Henry Hoppner Meyer, thought to be the son of an engraver, was a nephew of the painter John Hoppner.

2 portraits in the collection

Henry Reynolds

Henry Reynolds (b. 1938), historian, studied at the University of Tasmania before taking up a lectureship at Townsville University College (later James Cook University) in 1965.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry (Harry) Donnan (member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)

Henry Donnan

Henry (Harry) Donnan (1864-1956) notched up a total of 94 first class cricket matches between 1887 and 1901.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Hopkins

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

Henry Mundy

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

Henry Mayer

Henry Mayer (1919-1991) was Professor of Government at Sydney University from the 1960s to 1980s.

2 portraits in the collection

Henry Crock AO

Henry 'Harry' Crock AO (1929-2018), surgeon and educator, attended school and university in Perth and studied further in Melbourne, where he won the Rector's Medal for Debating at Newman College as well as academic honours including the Gold Medal for Anatomy and the Ryan Scholarship and Medal in Medicine and Surgery.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Searle

Henry Searle (1886–1889), a sculler known as the ‘Clarence River Comet’, took up rowing as a boy as a means of getting himself and his siblings to and from school.

1 portrait in the collection

A. Henry Fullwood

Albert Henry Fullwood (1863-1930), artist, trained in art in his native Birmingham before moving to Sydney in 1883, aged 20.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Edwards

Henry (Harry) Edwards (1827–1891), actor and entomologist, arrived in Melbourne in 1853 after a short-lived attempt at studying for a career in law.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Wade

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

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Sean Henry

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cabinet card

Portrait of Henry Kendall, c. 1890-1894

S. Milbourn Jnr

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

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

Sir Henry Brougham Loch

Henry Brougham Loch (1827-1900), governor, served in the British military and was involved in campaigns in India and the Crimea and missions to China.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Stafford Northcote

Henry Stafford Northcote, Baron Northcote of Exeter (1846-1911), governor general, was educated at Eton and Oxford and joined the Foreign Office in his early twenties.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Samuel Sadd

Henry Sadd was born in London and exhibited engravings there before emigrating to the USA some time around 1840.

8 portraits in the collection

Hon. Sir Henry Parkes GCMG

The Hon Sir Henry Parkes GCMG (1815-1896) was five times premier of New South Wales between 1872 and 1891, and a consistent advocate for union of the colonies (Federation).

4 portraits in the collection

Richard Henry Horne

Poet Richard Henry Horne (1802–1884) arrived in Melbourne in 1852 hoping to make money on the goldfields but ended up instead in a variety of less remunerative prospects.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Henry Wylie Norman

Sir Henry Wylie Norman (1826–1904), governor and army officer, was born in London, the son of a merchant who conducted his business chiefly in India and the Caribbean.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry "Seaman" Dan, 2009

Nathan Kelly

Purchased 2010

The Cape of Good Hope ( Sir Henry Barkly)

Sir Henry Barkly GCMG KCB

Sir Henry Barkly GCMG KCB (1815-1898) started his career in business and politics before serving terms as governor of British Guiana and then Jamaica.

4 portraits in the collection

Henry John Rous

Henry John Rous (1795–1877), naval officer, racing enthusiast and politician, arrived in Sydney in February 1827 as the commander of the frigate HMS Rainbow.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Henry Huxley

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) travelled to Australia as a member of the expedition conducted by Owen Stanley on the Rattlesnake between 1846 and 1850.

2 portraits in the collection

William Henry Harvey

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

William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), botanist, formed a boyhood passion for natural history which was encouraged at Ballitore School, County Kildare.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Lawson,

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Henry Bosch, National Security Commission,

Joe Greenberg

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil and gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Aubrey Beardsley

Frederick Henry Evans

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

William Johnson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

William Johnson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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

Henry Baynton Somer Gullett AM MC

Portrait, pencil, charcoal, pen and ink on paper

Henry Baynton Somer ‘Jo’ Gullett AM MC (1914-1999), soldier, politician, ambassador, farmer and author, was the son of Sir Henry Gullett, who was one of the Australian official historians of the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Lawson, c. 1919

Lionel Lindsay

Purchased 2010

Henry Lawson, 1915

William Johnson

Purchased 2009

Henry Reynolds, 2012

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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

George Henry Stevens Trott

George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott (1866–1917) was the captain of the Australian cricket team which toured England and then to the USA and New Zealand from June to November 1896.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Wade, c. 1841

Portrait, oil on paperboard

Gift of the Wade and Hannah families 2013

Henry (Harry) Donnan (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

Henry Fullwood (Uncle Remus), 1919

George Lambert

Portrait, pencil on paper

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

Henry Edwards, c. 1874

Bradley and Rulofson

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Henry Mayer, 1965

Hugo Wolfsohn

Portrait, sepia toned carbon print on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Elaine Mayer and Ms Vicky Mayer 2011

Henry Lingham, early 1900s

Mendelssohn of Melbourne

Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Henry Mayer, 1965

Hugo Wolfsohn

Portrait, pen and ink on music sheet paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Elaine Mayer and Ms Vicky Mayer 2011

Henry Krips, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

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

Henry Lawson, 1919

Lionel Lindsay

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2011

Henry Baynton Somer ‘Jo’ Gullett

Recorded 1990

Henry Figueira, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney

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

Portrait, oil on galvanised iron

Young Mo (Roy Rene), 1977

Martin Sharp

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

Susan Lord, c. 1840

Purchased 2015

Martha Kermode, c. 1840

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

Robert Kermode, c. 1840

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

Major Thomas Lord, c. 1840

Portrait, enamel on copper plate

Purchased 2015

Portrait of William Manning, c. 1821

Henry Bone

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2017

Political Cartooning

Portrait story

An interview with cartoonist Ron Tandberg about the tradition of caricature.

Carol Jerrems, 1973

Henry Talbot

Portrait, painted terracotta

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2015

Sir Henry Barkly

Portrait story

An interview with former National Portrait Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers, who describes the portrait of Sir Henry Barkly by Thomas Clark.

'The crimson thread of kinship' Henry Parkes

'The crimson thread of kinship' Henry Parkes, c. 1898

Nelson Illingworth

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

Henry Bolte, 1969

Les Tanner, Gus McLaren

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Henry Parkes, 1892

H. Walter Barnett

Portrait, platinum photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Sir Henry Barkly, c. 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Portrait of Henry Hopkins, c. 1845

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2013

Portrait of His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria

Portrait of His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria, c. 1864

Thomas Clark

Portrait, pencil and pastel over brown ink wash on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2007

Henry Parkes, 1900

Percy Spence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Sir Henry Parkes, c. 1889

Portrait, glass plate positive

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Adrian McGlusky 2013

Thomas Henry Huxley, c. 1870

Maull & Co Photographers

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Gaol

William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Gaol, c. 1849

Henry H. Glover

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Matthew Burnett, c. 1865

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

The Hon. Sir James Dowling, c. 1860

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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.

JH Roy Rousel, 1915

Teslar Studios

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on brown cardboard presentation mount

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

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

Edward Hargraves, c. 1884

Henry King

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

The Honorable Sir Frederick Darley, c. 1887

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

The Hon. Sir Francis Forbes, c. 1860

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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.

J.H. Roy Rousel, 1915

Appleby Studio

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on brown cardboard presentation mount

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

Stephen, Russell and David Page, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Russell Hopkinson Rusty Hopkinson

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

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

Henry Squires, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

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

William Henry Harvey, c. 1850

Thomas Herbert Maguire

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

A Low Comedian. "Keep your eye on your Father" [Henry Richard Harwood], 1874

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

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.

H. B. Gullett, c. 1939

Nora Heysen AM

Portrait, pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family in memory of Penne Hackforth-Jones 2014

Reverend Robert Ross MD, Sydney, New South Wales

Reverend Robert Ross MD, Sydney, New South Wales, n.d.

John Cochran after Henry Room

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

H. Searle Professional Champion Sculler of the World (Henry Searle), 1889

Antoine Fauchery, Richard Daintree

Purchased 2014

Sir Henry Barkly KCB, Governor of the Colony of Victoria (Plate 1)

Sir Henry Barkly KCB, Governor of the Colony of Victoria (Plate 1), 1858

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper laid on cardboard

Purchased 2014

Sir James Martin, c. 1880s

Henry Samuel Sadd after Freeman Brothers

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

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

Men of the Day No.19 "A great Med'cine-Man among the Inqui-ring Redskins" (Thomas Henry Huxley), 1871

Batchelder & Company Photo

Purchased 2015

Richard Henry Horne, mid 1860s

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

Chelsea Hospital (Sir Henry Wylie Norman), 1903

Alfred Thompson, Vanity Fair Magazine

Purchased 2015

Men of the Day No. 5 "As straight as a reed" (Henry John Rous), 1870

Purchased 2015

The Australian Commonwealth (Henry Stafford Northcote), 1904

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

The Cape of Good Hope ( Sir Henry Barkly), 1887

Purchased 2015

The Cape High Commissioner (Sir Henry Brougham Loch), 1894

John Cochran after Henry Room

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

Captain R.C. Morgan, Missionary ship 'John Williams'

Captain R.C. Morgan, Missionary ship 'John Williams', n.d.

Henry Seppings-Wright, Vanity Fair Magazine

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010

Sammy (Samuel Wood), 1892

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper

Purchased 2010

Aborigines, the last of the race, Tasmania

Aborigines, the last of the race, Tasmania, c. 1866

Henry Frith

Purchased 2006

The Right Reverend Lord Bishop of Melbourne (Dr. Charles Perry)

The Right Reverend Lord Bishop of Melbourne (Dr. Charles Perry), 1876

Thomas Atkinson, Samuel Mullen after Henry Weigall Jnr

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

The Sands Brothers, c. 1940s

Portrait, coloured chalk with black ink highlight on artist board

Purchased 2011

His Royal Highness Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester (Governor General of Australia)

His Royal Highness Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester (Governor General of Australia), 1943-1944

Charles Wheeler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

The considered life

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2010

Andrew Sayers asks whether a portrait can truly be the examination of a life.

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill

Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

The golden girls: Jodie Henry, Lisbeth 'Libby' Trickett (née Lenton), Giaan Rooney, Alice Mills, Brooke Hanson, Leisel Jones

The golden girls: Jodie Henry, Lisbeth 'Libby' Trickett (née Lenton), Giaan Rooney, Alice Mills, Brooke Hanson, Leisel Jones, 2004

Robin Sellick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac, 1857

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2014

Society of Artists Selection Committee, 1907

Henry King

Unknown artist Publisher Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News

Purchased 2008

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, page 2

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

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Fits of delicacy and despair

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

The Catholic Hierarchy of Australia, 1869

Archibald McDonald, Henry Samuel Sadd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, 1882

Portrait, engravings on paper

Purchased 2009

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot), 1999

Lewis Morley

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

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated, 1891

Portrait, engraving on paper (4 sheets)

Purchased 2009

King Henry VIII

Unknown artist

Henry James

John Singer Sargent

an unknown artist after George Richmond

Francis Russell Nixon, c. 1845-1855

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

Purchased 2009

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro)

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Sir Henry Lee

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

Adela Russell Walker, 1864

William P. Dowling

Purchased 2022

Dickinson Monteath Studio

The Dickinson Monteath Studio operated at 296 Collins Street Melbourne during the 1930s and into the 1940s.

1 portrait in the collection

H B. Hall

Henry Bryan Hall grew up in England and began his trade as an apprentice to the engravers Benjamin Smith and Henry Meyer.

1 portrait in the collection

An international troupe of two

It's Complicated

Office romance

Blue Wolf, 2014

by Imogen Henry

Finalist, MDPA 2014

Our only concern is the void, 2013

by Nik Lee

Winner, MDPA 2013

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

Maisie, 1938-1939

Peter Purves Smith

Portrait, gouache on paper

Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001

Mashman Bros Ltd

Mashman Bros Ltd was established by William and Henry Mashman in Sydney in 1885.

1 portrait in the collection

Adela R. Walker

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

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

Sir George Reid, c. 1895

Nelson Illingworth

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Ann Mary Windeyer, 1847

G Ziegler

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

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

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

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

Portrait 27

March - May 2008

Magazine

This issue of Portrait Magazine feature Lucian Frued, John Witzig, colonial death portraits, William Kinghorne, Henry Crock, and more.

G. H. Dancey

George Henry Dancey began his career as a stained glass designer in the UK and Australia, but ended it as the chief cartoonist for Melbourne Punch over 23 years to 1919..

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Elliott AM

The ‘Mad Dentist of Wynyard Square’ in court, 18 December 1865

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

Henry Louis Bertrand, ca. 1865 photographed by the Milligan Brothers. Collection of the State Library of NSW

A passion eating into your vitals

The salacious and sordid details of Henry Kinder’s death transfixed Sydneysiders with a case combining murder with seduction, mesmerism, blackmail and poisoning.

David Potts

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

3 portraits in the collection

G Ziegler

Very little is known as yet about the artist G Ziegler, who may have been related to the painter Henry Bryan Ziegler.

1 portrait 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

Hon. Edward Cohen

Goupil & Cie after Carl Kahler

Edward Aaron Cohen (1822–1877), merchant, politician and community leader, came to Australia with his mother and nine siblings in 1833, his father, Henry, having been transported to New South Wales that year.

1 portrait in the collection

The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day

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

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Purchased 2009

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

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Alfred George Stephens

Alfred George Stephens (1865–1933), editor, journalist and publisher, was born and educated in Toowoomba.

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

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

Gwendolene Pratt

Gwen Pratt FRAS (b.1917) is a traditional painter and portraitist in oil, watercolour and pastel.

1 portrait in the collection

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

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (1872-1938), governor, was appointed to the position of Governor of NSW in 1899.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, Cyprus, 1953

David Potts

Purchased 2001

The Last Paul Mumme Work, 2015

by Paul Mumme

Finalist, DPA 2016

William Fernyhough

William Henry Fernyhough (1809-1849) was a sketcher, silhouette artist, lithographer and draughtsman who immigrated to Sydney in 1836.

13 portraits in the collection

Richard Howe

Richard Howe (1st Earl Howe, 1726–1799), naval commander, served in the Royal Navy for over fifty years, seeing action in the Seven Years War, the American Wars of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.

1 portrait in the collection

Minnie Walton, c. 1874

Fradelle & Marshall

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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

A G Stephens, c. 1910 (printed later)

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Lucy Escott, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

William B. Latimer

William Latimer (1851-1934) was a portrait photographer who worked in Melbourne in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Favourite portraits

National Portrait Gallery staff introduce their favourite portraits from the exhibition.

London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company

Batchelder & Company Photo

The London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company was founded in 1854 by George Swan Nottage.

2 portraits in the collection

Charles Summers, late 1860s

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

The Lawson

Moustaches

It’s curious that one of the writers most associated with the toughness of Australian bush life was himself not an exponent of the matted, rugged bushman sort of beard.

Reginald Jerrold-Nathan

Reginald Henry Jerrold-Nathan (1889-1979) arrived in Australia from London in 1924, having studied under John Singer Sargent and William Orpen at the Royal Academy, where he was awarded a medal for portrait painting.

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

Peter Purves Smith

Magazine article by Jessica Smith, 2009

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

2 portraits in the collection

Sketches and sermons

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

Peter Sculthorpe, c. 1969

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Elliott and Fry

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

Paul Beadle, c. 1950

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

Carl Kahler

Carl Kahler was born in Austria and trained in Munich, Paris and Italy, where he won several important prizes.

2 portraits in the collection

Rudy Komon, c. 1970

Lewis Morley

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

Paul Fitzgerald AM

Paul Fitzgerald AM, a Melbourne-based artist, made his career as a professional portraitist.

4 portraits in the collection

HRH Prince Alfred

Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844–1900) was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria.

4 portraits in the collection

David Potts reflected in a magazine page

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

Livingston Hopkins

Livingston Hopkins, cartoonist, was born in Ohio and fought in the American Civil War before beginning his cartooning career in New York.

3 portraits in the collection

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

The Parkes

Beards

It wasn’t uncommon for the pro-beard fraternity of the mid nineteenth century to cite beards as a sign of wisdom on the grounds that Socrates and other ancient philosophers had worn them.

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Small Holdings (The Earl Carrington Baron Charles Robert Carrington)

Small Holdings (The Earl Carrington Baron Charles Robert Carrington), 1907

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite on card

Gift of Ronald Walker 2002

Lady Barkly, 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

Purchased 2014

Of Kings and men

Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection

Previous exhibition, 2011

This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.

Ola Cohn OBE

Ola Cohn OBE (1892-1964), sculptor, was born in Bendigo and studied in Melbourne and London, where Henry Moore, her lecturer in sculpture, predicted that she would progress to make 'works of a very high order'.

2 portraits in the collection

Eric Thake

Recorded 1961

Marianne Egan

Mary Anne Egan (also Marianne or Marian, née Cheers, 1818–1857), was born in Sydney, the daughter of ex-convicts.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co was founded in Melbourne in 1864 by Henry James Johnstone and a photographer known as ‘Miss O’Shaughnessy’, who had previously been in partnership with her mother in their own photographic business in Carlton.

12 portraits 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

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

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

Livingston Hopkins, n.d.

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Self portrait, 1894

Livingston Hopkins

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

Reveries

Photography and mortality

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.

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

D. H. Souter

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

2 portraits 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

Sydney (Sir Daniel Cooper), 1882

Percy Leason's Aboriginal Portraits

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

William Johnson (1873—1948) by Percy Leason

Recognition

Previous exhibition, 1999

Originally conceived as an anthropological record, Percy Leason’s powerful 1934 portraits of Victorian Aboriginal people are today considered to be a highlight of 20th century Australian portraiture

Major General Alan Stretton, 1987

Gwendolene Pratt

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Stretton family 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Megan Gale

Francois Verheyden, Vanity Fair Magazine

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

1 portrait in the collection

Fetteresso (Sir Robert Duff), 1883

Purchased 2015

Ola Cohn, 1961

Jean Goldberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Guy Pearce, 2000 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Purchased 2005

George and Jemima Billet with family, c. 1852

C.H.T. Costantini

Purchased 2016

The Capel Family

Cornelius Johnson

John Gaden AM

Portrait, oil on cardboard

John Gaden AM (b. 1941), actor, studied arts and law at the University of Sydney, but when he joined the Sydney University Players, he abandoned his other pursuits for the stage.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Alan Marshall, 1955

Lina Bryans

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Queen Elizabeth I

associated with Nicholas Hilliard

Portrait, oil on masonite

Peter Elliott, 1964

Jon Molvig

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

Governor Sir Robert Duff with Lady Duff, Lord Hopetoun and Vice-Regal Party

Sir Robert William Duff

Sir Robert William Duff (1835–1895) was governor of New South Wales from May 1893 until March 1895.

2 portraits 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

Thomas Phillips

Thomas Phillips was born in Dudley, Warwickshire and initially trained as a glass painter before moving to London, aged 20, with a letter of introduction to the painter Benjamin West.

6 portraits in the collection

Gustavus Brooke

Gustavus Vaughan Brooke (1818-1866), actor, was a seasoned theatre performer by his early teens; at fourteen, he played Richard III.

1 portrait in the collection

Margaret Olley, 1998

Lewis Morley

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

John Schaeffer AO - art collector and philanthropist

John Schaeffer AO - art collector and philanthropist, 2014

Evert Ploeg

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

Purchased with funds provided by Harold Mitchell AC

Rt. Honourable Lord Hawkesbury, 1808

Carl Kahler, Goupil & Cie

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

The 1890s to the 1940s

Mo and beard timeline

Although the tough, weathered, hard-drinking bushmen of the kind mythologised by writers like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson are popularly associated with the character of late nineteenth century Australia, it was also a time when alternative ideas about identity began to come into play.

The Derby Day at Flemington, c. 1890

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Steve Kilbey, 1981 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Sir William Charles Windeyer, 1892

Tom Roberts

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

John Le Gay Brereton

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

John Le Gay Brereton junior (1871–1933), writer and academic, was born in Sydney, the son of a doctor, also John, who had emigrated to Australia in the late 1850s.

1 portrait in the collection

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton), c. 1872

Maull & Co Photographers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Centenary of ANZAC

Just now we pause to mark the centenary of ANZAC, the day when, together with British, other imperial and allied forces, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli at the start of the ill-starred Dardanelles campaign.

Elaine Haxton

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

1 portrait in the collection

Rev. Edward Puckle

The Reverend Edward Puckle (c. 1800-1898), Anglican clergyman, took holy orders in Exeter and officiated in Cornwall before sailing on the Randolph to Canterbury, NZ in 1850.

1 portrait in the collection

Jack Charles

Recorded 2022

Maritime disaster leaves poignant picture

Devotion

Absence rends the heart asunder

Will Dyson

Will (William Henry) Dyson, cartoonist, caricaturist, writer and draughtsman, was born in Alfredtown, near Ballarat, and studied for a short time in Melbourne, where he worked closely with his older brother Ambrose.

11 portraits in the collection

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

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

Richard Tognetti AO

Portrait, charcoal heightened with white chalk on paper

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

Sir Sidney Kidman, 1932

Samuel Woolf

Purchased 2009

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

Governor Sir Robert Duff with Lady Duff, Lord Hopetoun and Vice-Regal Party, 1893

Kerry & Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

The Honourable J.J. Carlton with Cravat, 2000

Esther Erlich

Gift of an anonymous donor 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

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

Andy Kent (You Am I), 1995

Montalbetti + Campbell

Gift of the artists 2003

Tim Rogers (You Am I), 1995

Montalbetti + Campbell

Portrait, ink, charcoal and conté on paper

Gift of the artists 2003

Study for John Bell as King Lear, 1998-2001

Nicholas Harding

Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

In the most correct style

Nearest & Dearest

Desirable outcomes, undesirable origins

The great South Sea caterpillar transformed into a Bath Butterfly (Sir Joseph Banks)

The great South Sea caterpillar transformed into a Bath Butterfly (Sir Joseph Banks), 1795 (printed 1851)

James Gillray

Portrait, etching, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Douglas Stewart Fine Books 2013

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

Eric Westbrook

Eric Westbrook was the Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1956 to 1973.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Archbold, Durham, 1826 by John Dempsey

Street fare

The late Georgian and early Victorian working classes often bought their food in ale-houses, chop-houses and ‘penny pie shops’, or purchased their meals day after day in the streets.

New South Wales (Earl Beauchamp), 1899

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

Sir Richard Owens

Portrait, oil on canvas on board

Sir Richard Owen (1804–1892), naturalist, anatomist and palaeontologist, was born in Lancaster and apprenticed to surgeon-apothecaries there before completing his studies in medicine in Edinburgh and London.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Ware, c. 1854

Robert Dowling

Purchased with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy and Rosalind Blair Murphy 2014

Janice McIllree

Janice McIllree (nee Wakely) (1935-2022), fashion model and photographer, began her modelling career in Melbourne in 1954, having graduated from Sydney's Mannequin Academy in 1952.

4 portraits in the collection

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

The sculptor (George Lambert and Arthur Murch)

The sculptor (George Lambert and Arthur Murch), c. 1929

Harold Cazneaux

Purchased 2015

Portrait of Charles Blackman, 1979

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on studio mount

Gift of Warwick Evans 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Mary Windeyer, c. 1891

Freeman Brothers

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

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

Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke

Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke (1811-1892), politician, studied and tutored in law at Oxford before coming to Australia in 1842.

4 portraits in the collection

George Nicholas CBE

George Nicholas CBE (1884-1960), pharmacist and philanthropist, grew up in South Australia and Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Windeyer on the verandah at Tomago, NSW

Mary Windeyer on the verandah at Tomago, NSW, c. 1880s

Portrait, glass plate negative

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012

Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC

Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC (1895-1974) was one of Australia's great aviation administrators.

3 portraits in the collection

Dame Mary Gilmore, c. 1938

Lyall Trindall

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

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

George Lambert

George Lambert (1873–1930), artist, was born in St Petersburg and lived in Germany and England before coming to Australia with his family at the age of fourteen.

7 portraits 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 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

Nelson Illingworth

Nelson Illingworth trained in sculpture in England and worked as a modeller at the Royal Doulton potteries for nine years before moving to Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Bradley and Rulofson

Previous exhibition, 1999

Bradley & Rulofson was a partnership between photographers Henry W Bradley (1813–1891), a native of North Carolina, and Canadian-born William H Rulofson (1826–1878).

1 portrait 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.

Peter Skrzynecki OAM

Of Polish/Ukrainian descent, Peter Skrzynecki was born in 1945 in Germany and came to Australia with his parents in 1949.

1 portrait in the collection

Hon. Saul Samuel

Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006

The Hon Sir Saul Samuel Bart KCMG CB (1820-1900), merchant, politician, company director and landowner, was the first Jewish legislator in New South Wales and the first Jew to become a minister of the Crown.

1 portrait in the collection

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

A new perspective

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.

Mary Windeyer, 1850s

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

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

Australians in Hollywood

Previous exhibition, 2003

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

A blackguard rehearsing - Max Cullen, 2001

David Naseby

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

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

Barton and Watson, 1902

G. H. Dancey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

John Dease

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

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

Charles Joseph La Trobe, 1853

Thomas Woolner

Purchased 2006

Les Tanner

Les Tanner was one of Australia’s best-known caricaturists. Born in Glebe, New South Wales, he is said to have taken up drawing portraits as early as age five, and as a teenager contributed cartoons to the school newspaper.

4 portraits in the collection

Mary Windeyer

Mary Windeyer (née Bolton, 1837-1912), women's rights campaigner, was one of the nine children of Robert Thorley Bolton, a clergyman who emigrated to New South Wales in 1839.

3 portraits in the collection

George Lambert, c. 1929

Annie May Moore

Previous exhibition, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

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

Sir Rupert Hamer AC KCMG ED

Sir Rupert ‘Dick’ Hamer AC KCMG (1916-2004) was premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981.

1 portrait in the collection

Christopher Brennan

Christopher Brennan (1870–1932), poet, was born to Irish parents in Sydney.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Portraits for Posterity

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.

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.

J.C. Williamson, c. 1913

John Longstaff

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

Frank Hinder

Previous exhibition, 2023

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

18 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.

Masters of Fare

Chefs, winemakers, providores

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)

William Barak

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

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.

Jessie Street, 1929

Reginald Jerrold-Nathan

Gift of the Street family and the Jessie Street National Women's Library 2010

Ivy Shore

Portrait, digital print on watercolour paper

Ivy Shore (1915–1999), painter, was born in Melbourne, daughter of a South Australian suffragette, Elka, and engineer John Williams.

2 portraits in the collection

Barry Jones, 1998

Tristan Humphries

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000

Shigeo Sawada, c. 1915

Kan Studios

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Gift of Ron Wylie 2007

Xavier Herbert, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Jacqueline Mitelman

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE (1865–1962), poet, journalist and social reformer, was born near Goulburn and had an itinerant childhood as her father moved the family around New South Wales for work.

3 portraits in the collection

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Jeremiah Ware

Jeremiah Ware (1792–1878) arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1822 with his wife, Mary (née Brooks, c.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Ware

Jeremiah Ware (1792–1878) arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1822 with his wife, Mary (née Brooks, c.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir John Young

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

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

Mrs Cameron and the V&A

In March 2003 Magda Keaney travelled to London to join the photography section of the Victoria & Albert Museum for three months.

Ron Robertson-Swann OAM

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Ron Robertson-Swann (b. 1941), sculptor, teacher and painter, studied at the National Art School (NAS) under Lyndon Dadswell in the late 1950s.

1 portrait in the collection

Sideshow Alley

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.

Frank Gardiner

Portraits in the Landscape

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

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.

Billy Hughes bottle stopper, 1911-1921

Mashman Bros Ltd

Portrait, ceramic and cork

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Elegance in exile

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

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.

George Perry

George William Perry (1824–1900) was born in London and arrived in Victoria via South Africa around 1852.

2 portraits in the collection

George Johnston OBE

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

1 portrait in the collection

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.

The Australian Cricket Team 1882

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Supporters

$5,000 - $9,999

Honour board

Sir John Gorton GCMG AC CH

The Rt Hon Sir John Gorton GCMG AC CH (1911–2002) was the nineteenth prime minister of Australia and the only senator yet to have served in the office.

5 portraits in the collection

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

Self Portraits in Australia

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

To Look Within

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Sir Hudson Fysh, 1950

Sir William Dobell OBE

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Australian War Memorial in association with the Fysh family 2008

Tom Roberts

Previous exhibition, 2017

Tom Roberts (1856–1931), artist, came to Australia from England at the age of 13, but returned eight years later to study art in London.

9 portraits in the collection

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.

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.

The Burke and Wills Monument, 1869

Thomas Foster Chuck

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Noni Hazlehurst AM

Actor, presenter and broadcaster Noni Hazlehurst AM (b. 1953) studied drama at Flinders University in South Australia, and after graduating gained roles in the television cop shows Division 4, Homicide and Matlock Police.

2 portraits in the collection

First Australian first-class cricket team

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

Uncommon Australians

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.

Egbert S. Wills

Emily Spencer Wills (1842–1925), Cedric Spencer Wills (1844–1914), Horace Spencer Wills (1847–1928), and Egbert Spencer Wills (1849–1931) the second, third, fourth, and fifth children of Horatio Wills and his wife Elizabeth, were all born at Lexington, spending their childhoods there and at Bellevue, the property acquired by Horatio Wills near Geelong in 1852.

1 portrait in the collection

Emily S. Wills

1 portrait in the collection

Horace Spencer Wills and Cedric Spencer Wills

Cedric S. Wills

1 portrait in the collection

Horace S. Wills

1 portrait in the collection

Arthur Murch

Arthur Murch, artist, is best-known as a painter in a colourful cubistic style, but he was occupied with sculpture throughout his career.

8 portraits in the collection

Margel Hinder AM

Margel Hinder AM (née Harris) (1906-1995), sculptor, trained in Buffalo and Boston in the 1920s.

1 portrait in the collection

Claude Spurgeon Charlick

Archived media releases 2018

Claude Spurgeon Charlick (1893-1974), businessman, was managing director of the Adelaide firm Charlick Ltd for nearly forty years.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Sir Edward Wheewall Holden

Sir Edward Wheewall Holden (1885-1947), industrialist and politician, was the son of Henry Holden, industrialist and civic leader, and the grandson of James Alexander Holden, Adelaide leather and saddlery business owner.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Stephen Murray-Smith

Stephen Murray-Smith (1922-1988), writer and editor, was educated at Geelong Grammar and the University of Melbourne before serving in New Guinea during World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

Stephen Murray-Smith, 1980

Fred Williams

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

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) is one of the most intriguing and talented figures in colonial Australian art.

4 portraits in the collection

Sir Oswald Brierly

Sir Oswald Brierly (1817–1894), marine painter and adventurer, studied art, naval architecture and navigation in England before his fascination with seafaring caused him to sign up as staff artist on the Wanderer – a schooner owned by entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd, who was about to embark on a round-the-world trip.

1 portrait in the collection

Betsy (Bessie) Lee

Previous exhibition, 2019

Betsy (Bessie) Lee Cowie (1860–1950), 'Australia's Temperance Queen', spent the early part of her life in Daylesford, Victoria, one of the five children of Henry Vickery, a butcher and miner, and his wife Emma.

1 portrait 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.

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.

Icons and imagery

Magazine article by Alison Weir, 2011

Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.

William Charles Wentworth, 1854

Thomas Woolner

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

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

Lady Anne Maria Barkly

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

Anne Maria Barkly (1838-1932) was the second wife of Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria from December 1856 to September 1863.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of William Manning, c.1821 by Henry Bone

Of beef in burgundy

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

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2014

22 August 2014

Archived media releases 2014

Press releases for media.

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Horatio S. Wills

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Horatio Spencer Howe Wills (1811–1861), pastoralist, politician and newspaper proprietor, was born in Sydney, several months after the death of his father, Edward Spencer Wills, a merchant and shipowner who'd arrived in New South Wales under a life sentence for highway robbery in 1799.

2 portraits in the collection

The fat of the land

Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.

Georg von Neumayer, c. 1860

Johnstone & Co

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

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

Heartfelt

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

Someone to watch over you

Magazine article by Carrie Kibbler, 2013

Carrie Kibbler looks at how portraiture fits into the Australian Artbank Collection.

Thomas Woolner

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

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

String of Pearls

Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide, c. 1862

Stephen Edward Nixon

Previous exhibition, 2010

Purchased 2018

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

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

Arthur T. Woodward

Arthur Thomas 'A T' Woodward (1865–1943), painter and art scholar, was born in Birmingham, England.

1 portrait in the collection

C.H.T. Costantini

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

Hattie Shepparde, 1872

Bardwell's Royal Studio

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

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

Martha Mary Robertson, 1866

Magazine article by Robert McFarlane, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Insightful

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

William St. Leonards Robertson, c. 1869

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Magazine article by John McDonald, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Artists' space

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.

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

The personal and the historical

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.

Cocky McGrath

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

The long life and few words of a vice-regal cockatoo

Small worlds

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

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.

Bloodlines

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).

Nicholas Chevalier, c. 1867

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

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

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

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

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.

Very fine and very like

Archived media releases 2020

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?

2021 Annual Appeal

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.

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.

The Bath Butterfly

Magazine article by John Witzig, 2008

The caricaturist and engraver James Gillray's biting satires about Sir Joseph Banks.

Off the wall

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

Anna F. Walker

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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

2023 Annual Appeal

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.

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.

Talma Studios, Sydney

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Talma Studios opened in Sydney in March 1899 in a George Street premises next door to the GPO.

1 portrait in the collection

Hop, skip, shoot

Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.

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.

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.

Costantini's convictions

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

Jo Gilmour uncovers endearing authenticity in the art of a twice-transported Tasmanian.

Queen Victoria

Last Sunday I had the privilege of appearing at the Canberra Writers’ Festival in conversation with Julia Baird. The subject of our session was Julia’s recent biography, Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman who Ruled an Empire.

A real Pratt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.

A guy from Paris

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

Promise Fulfilled

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

The life and achievements of Sir Edward Holden, who is represented in the portrait collection by a bust created by Leslie Bowles.

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

City boys

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

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

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 Kylie Scroope, 2011

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

Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by H.R.H. The Duke of Cornwall and York, May 9, 1901, 1903 by Tom Roberts

Empire records

Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.

Pre-Raphaelite Profile

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

In 2006 the National Portrait Gallery acquired a splendid portrait of Victoria's first governor, Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe by Thomas Woolner.

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

High & Bligh

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

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

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

Announcing Shakespeare to Winehouse

24 November 2021

Archived media releases 2021

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.

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.

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.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

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.

Sir Thomas Gore-Browne, 1864

J Walch & Sons

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Sydney Cove medallion, 1789 by Josiah Wedgwood

The medallion

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

In recent years I have become fascinated by the so-called Sydney Cove Medallion (1789), a work of art that bridges the 10,000-mile gap between the newly established penal settlement at Port Jackson and the beating heart of Enlightenment England.

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 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.

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.

In a good paddock

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

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.

Portrait of Truganini, daughter of the Chief of Bruny Island, Van Diemens Land, c. 1835

Black and white history

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

Talking heads

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2019

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

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Sibly irresistible

Alexandra Roginski reveals a forceful feminist figure in the colonial period’s slippery science, phrenology.

The play’s the thing

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

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

Oz and beyond

Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.

Pushpamala N

by Ajay Sinha

Artist essays

Pushpamala N. was born in 1956 in Bangalore. Her early training was in sculpture, but as her practice progressed she brought an early enthusiasm for narrative figuration into her photographic work.

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.

Themes and variations (Annelies) A13, 1946

Listening to form

Magazine article by Jane Kinsman, 2007

National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman discusses the portraiture of Henri Matisse.

Good, bad and the ugly

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

Meeting by Murder

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.

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.

Poison pen

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

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

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.

Portrait of a Pioneer , 1917
Violet Teague

Off her own bat

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.

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.

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.

Abstraction and figuration

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

James Angus discusses his major sculpture commission Geo Face Distributor with Christopher Chapman.

Tiny Trace of a Colonial Giant

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

At just 7.8 x 6.2 cm, the daguerreotype of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa is one of the smallest works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

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.

Beyond the bow tie

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Nathan Faiman delves into the rich life story and legacy of Alan Goldberg.

The Cutmear sisters, Jane and Lucy, c. 1842

A man of superior attainments

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

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

Private virtues public lives

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

Portrait of Elizabeth Gould with a raptor, possibly a red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), painted in her lifetime Artist unknown

Birds of a feather

Magazine article by Annette Twyman, 2021

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

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.

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.

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.

Reflections on portraiture

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

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.

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.

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.’

What price self?

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

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

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.

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

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.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

Flash mob

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

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

Embrace your inner nerd

Explore The Popular Pet Show

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

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.

A potpourri of portraits

Magazine article by Natalie Wilson, 2023

Archie 100 curator (and detective) Natalie Wilson’s nationwide search for Archibald portraits unearthed the fascinating stories behind some long-lost treasures.

Home truths

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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.

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.

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.

Home and away

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

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.

Getting a head

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2015

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

Waterfall in Australia, c. 1830 by Augustus Earle

Augustus serendipitous

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

The London-born son of an American painter, Augustus Earle ended up in Australia by accident in January 1825.

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

Portraiture in a Bleak House

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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.

Generous Janice

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

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.

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

Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.

Christmas Island