Search / howard arkley

Howard Arkley 1, 1980 (printed 2012)

Purchased 2012

Howard Arkley, 1998 (printed 2010)

Purchased 2010

Nick Cave, 1999

Commissioned with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999

John Howard and Janette Howard, 2000

Commissioned with funds provided by the Founding Patron, L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2000

Len Howard, Surrey, 1957 (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.

Howard Taylor, 1988 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Howard Taylor, 1988 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Jenny Howard, c. 1930s

Purchased 2017

Florence Austral, c. 1930

Gift of the University of Newcastle (Australia) 2007

Richard N (sitting on green chair backwards, 2 faces), 2000-2010

Gift of the artist 2023

Peter O'Shaughnessy, 1947

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Former prime ministers of Australia, 2014

Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party), 1983

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Sir Howard Florey OM KBE FRS FAA, 1985

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Ray Marginson AM 2001

Lord Florey, c. 1966

Purchased 1998

Howard Florey

Recorded 1967

Nick Cave by Howard Arkley

An interview with graffiti artist Marc de Jong about the art of Howard Arkley.

Ronnie Howard still dancing, 2014

Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel

WHO ARE YOU

Featuring 130 works across painting, film, photography, screen printing, sculpture, and then some – it explores our inner worlds, outer selves, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and more.

On commission

Former NPG Director Andrew Sayers discusses the art of commissioning portraits.

Costa Georgiadis wins the National Portrait Gallery’s People’s Portrait

In 2024, the National Portrait Gallery took the extraordinary step of inviting the Australian public to choose the subject of its next commission. Twenty-five years after the Gallery’s first commission – the iconic Nick Cave by Howard Arkley – and nearly 90 commissions later, the people of Australia were invited to make their voice heard. Who did the public most want to see represented in their National Portrait Gallery?

Reko Rennie, 2014

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gallery Two

Tresco Rowe, 1965

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Virginia Howard 2016
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Story So Far...

A reflection on the National Portrait Gallery's first four years.

Sophie at 17

'This is our land', 2006

Equation of a life - a portrait of Professor Derek Denton, 2016

Commissioned with the assistance of funds provided by Janet Whiting AM, Philip Lukies and Antonia Syme 2016

The story of us

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

Winning in technicolor

Alistair McGhie writes about the portraits of three of Australia's top professional cyclists: Cadel Evans, Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen painted by Matthys Gerber.

Professor Derek Denton, 2009

Gift of Professor Derek Denton AC and Dame Margaret Scott AC 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lord George Stuart, 9th Seigneur of Aubigny

The Boys Next Door, 1978

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

My Favourite Australian

My Favourite Australian is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.

Face the music

Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.

Portrait of a patron

A new painting by Jiawei Shen captures the vision and resolve of the Gallery's founder, L. Gordon Darling AC CMG.

Chandler Coventry, 1999

Purchased 2021

Honour board

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.

Imelda Roche, 2003

Commissioned 2003

Lan Wang, Xini, Jiawei Shen and Billy, 2010

Purchased 2012

Pub Rock

Celebrate the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on our nation’s identity.

Speed demon

Scott Redford discusses his dynamic portrait commission of motorcycling champion and 2008 Young Australian of the Year Casey Stoner.

Basil Hetzel, 2007-2008

Commissioned with funds provided by Mrs Diana Ramsay AO 2008

Sir William Deane 2008, 2008

Purchased 2011

Geoff Cousins, 2017

Gift of Geoff Cousins AM 2007

New Chief Patron for the National Portrait Gallery

Mrs Lucy Hughes Turnbull AO has accepted an invitation to become the new Chief Patron of the National Portrait Gallery. 

Oz Punk

In 1976, without having been blooded on the Sydney or Melbourne pub circuit, The Saints recorded a single – ‘(I’m) Stranded’ – earning them the distinction of releasing a punk single before The Sex Pistols did.

Mal Meninga, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Making Portraits

The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery

Washington preview

Ron Ramsey, former Director of Cultural Relations at the Embassy of Australia interviewed NPG Washington Director, Marc Pachter, about their building renovations.

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.

Australia and the Nobel Prize

This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia

History

How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be

In profile

Polly Borland talks to Oliver Giles about the celebrity portraits that made her name and why she’s now making more abstract art.

In the National Interest

In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.

Primed

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

In the galleries

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

The Quiet Australian

Robert Oatley talks about the repatriation of the John Webber portrait of Captain James Cook.

Uncommon Australians

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.

Capturing the Mouse

Nancy Wake AC (b. 1912), one of the most­ decorated women of World War 2, earned the name the 'White Mouse' for her maddening ability to evade the Gestapo.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Crikey!

Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.

Uncommon Australians

Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.

The 1950s to the present day

Certain European leaders (needless to name) had the effect of making certain styles of facial hair decidedly undesirable in the years immediately after World War 2.

Equation of a life – a portrait of Derek Denton

The National Portrait Gallery, has welcomed the newest portrait commission of Emeritus Professor Derek Denton AC by Evert Ploeg.

True fella

Michael Desmond profiles the Australian songwriter and performer Neil Murray and his contribution to Australian music.

Illuminating history

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

First Ladies

First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.

Announcing.... In their own words

Inspiring Australians tell their own stories in a unique new gallery audio tour, developed in collaboration with the National Library of Australia.

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.

Time and light

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.

You are who?

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

Why do painted portraits still matter?

Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.

The intellectual larrikin

Barrie Cassidy pays textured tribute to the inimitable Bob Hawke.

My Favourite Australian

The Australian public was invited in 2008 to vote for their favourite Australian.  After the votes were tallied an exhibition of the top-ten Popular Australians and the top-twenty unsung heroes was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

Pretty in peach

Technical terminology

Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.

The right note

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

Portrait Donors

Confessional conversations

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

A potpourri of portraits

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

Love my way

Inga Walton delves into the bohemian group of artists and writers who used each other as muses and transformed British culture.

Listomania

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Getting bare

How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.

Some prime ministers

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

The more things change...

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.

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.