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William Hodges (1744-1797) trained from an early age at William Shipley's drawing school at Castle Court in the Strand, and was afterward apprenticed to a landscape painter.

3 portraits in the collection

Walter Langhammer

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

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

Sir George Young

Sir George Young (1732–1810), naval officer, first went to sea at the age of fourteen and saw action in Europe and India before joining the East India Company’s marine in 1753.

1 portrait in the collection

Alexander Dalrymple

Portrait, lithograph on India laid paper

Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808), hydrographer and writer, began work with the East India Company in Madras in 1752.

1 portrait in the collection

Joseph Dalton Hooker, c. 1860

Rui Hoffmann

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Christine Manfield, 1997

Selina Snow

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999

G.W. Lawrie

G.W. Lawrie (life dates unknown) was a Scottish-born photographer who ran a number of studios in India from the 1880s..

2 portraits in the collection

Cathryn Fitzpatrick

Cathryn Fitzpatrick (b. 1968) is considered the fastest bowler in women's cricket.

2 portraits in the collection

Ethel Anderson and her daughter, Bethia, c. 1912

G.W. Lawrie

More about In the flesh artists

Gift of Mrs SM Asplin 2011

Sam Jinks

Born in Bendigo, Victoria, Sam Jinks’ work can be found in various public collections that include the Kiran Nader Museum of Art, Dehli, India and the Museo Escultura Figurativa Internacional Contemporaenea (MEFIC), Portugal.

Andree Johnston-Bell, c. 1945

Walter Langhammer

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jocelyne MacLeod 2008

Ethel Anderson

Ethel Anderson (née Mason, 1883-1958), writer and artist, was an important figure in the Sydney modern art scene of the 1920s and 30s.

2 portraits in the collection

Cordy in the Clouds 2021

Adam Haddrick

Contemporary Portraiture from Asia

Beyond the Self

Previous exhibition, 2011

This exhibition examines the representation of the self in current South and Southeast Asian art practice through the work of artists from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand

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 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

Ian Fairweather (1891-1974), painter, grew up in Scotland, where he trained as an army officer.

1 portrait in the collection

The Right Honourable William Pitt

William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) was Tory prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 to 1801, and of United Kingdom from 1804 to 1806.

1 portrait in the collection

William Birdwood KCMG KCSI KCB DSO

William Birdwood KCMG KCSI KCB DSO, 1st Baron Birdwood of Anzac and Totnes (1865-1951) commanded the Australian Corps for much of the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Krishna and Shreya, 2008

by Damian Bennett

Lieutenant John Watts

Lieutenant John Watts (1755-1801) joined the Navy in 1770 and embarked with James Cook in 1776 on the fatal voyage of the Resolution.

1 portrait in the collection

Caroline Chisholm

Caroline Chisholm (1808–1877), philanthropist and political agitator, spent almost two decades working to improve conditions for immigrants to Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Steve Waugh

Portrait, engraving on paper

Steve Waugh (b. 1965) became captain of the Australian cricket team when Mark Taylor retired in early 1999.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Caroline Chisholm, c. 1851

an unknown artist

Purchased 2001

Frederick Burnaby

James Jacques Tissot

Philip Gidley King

Philip Gidley King (1758-1808), naval officer and governor, joined the navy in late 1770 and served in the East Indies and American waters.

1 portrait in the collection

Antoine Fauchery

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

Antoine Fauchery (1823–1861) was a Parisian artist and writer, an occasional collaborator with Henri Murger, author of Scènes de la vie de bohème which was a chief source of the opera La bohème.

2 portraits in the collection

The Lord Chamberlain (Earl of Hopetoun John Adrian Louis Hope)

The Lord Chamberlain (Earl of Hopetoun John Adrian Louis Hope), 1900

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

Lowe Kong Meng

Lowe Kong Meng (1831–1888), merchant, was born and grew up in the British colony of Penang and came to Melbourne in 1853.

1 portrait in the collection

Martin King

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Martin King, an artist who specialises in making works on paper, was born in 1957 in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir John Young, c. 1862

Freeman Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Googie Withers AO

William Skelton after J. Wright

Georgette Lizette (Googie) Withers AO (1917–2011), stage, film and television actor, was born in India and studied drama at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.

1 portrait in the collection

Lieutenant King, 1789

Portrait, engraving on paper

Purchased 2010

Gino Zardo

Ludwig Lang after Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Gino Zardo (b. 1968) is a Queanbeyan-born photographer who moved to New York in the 1990s, where he lived and worked for twenty years.

2 portraits in the collection

Lowe Kong Meng, c. 1887

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

David Gist

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

David Gist is an Acquisitions Officer at the Australian War Memorial, the most recent position in a career spanning a broad range of fields in the museums sector.

Miss Elizabeth Roberts, 1830

Richard Read Jnr

Purchased 2013

Eileen, 2017

by Sue Healey

General content

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

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.

Googie Withers, 1962

Don Bachardy

Portrait, pen and ink, brush and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Billy Cook and Pride of Egypt, 1954

Ern McQuillan OAM

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

a Postmaster General (Sir James Fergusson)

a Postmaster General (Sir James Fergusson), 1892

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2014

Queen Victoria

William Daniell after George Dance

Victoria (1819–1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901.

8 portraits in the collection

William Westall, 1854

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM GCSI CB MD FRS (1817-1911), botanist, explorer and medical doctor, visited Australia as a member of James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition of 1839 to 1843.

2 portraits in the collection

Rosemary Madigan, 1992

Greg Weight

Previous exhibition, 2011

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

Inner Worlds

Portraits and Psychology

Portraits of Australia’s pioneering psychologists and artworks by artists fascinated by the subconscious mind.

Professor Mandyam Srinivasan, 2014

Sam Leach

Portrait, oil and resin on plywood

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2014

Cathryn Fitzpatrick

Toni Wilkinson

Tejal Shah

by Gitanjali Dang

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Born in 1979, Tejal Shah grew up in Chhattisgarh, central India, moving to Bombay in 1995.

George Andronicus, 1985 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Fay Bottrell, 1981

David Campbell

Portrait, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of Elizabeth Campbell-MacKenzie on behalf of the family of David Campbell 2012

Murray Bail, c. 1980 (printed 2018)

Jacqueline Mitelman

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Thomas Lord

Thomas Daunt Lord (1783–1865) was the commandant of the convict station on Maria Island from 1825 until 1832.

1 portrait in the collection

Cathryn Fitzpatrick, 2006

Toni Wilkinson

Portrait, inkjet print

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Major Thomas Lord, c. 1840

Henry Mundy

Purchased 2015

Sam Jinks

Portrait, oil on composition board

Sam Jinks developed a talent for drawing and constructing his ideas alongside his father, a Melbourne cabinetmaker.

2 portraits in the collection

Murray Bail, c. 1990

Jinx Nolan

Gift of an anonymous donor 2021

Portrait of the Seventh Earl of Hopetoun, the Rt Hon. John Hope

Rt Hon John Adrian Louis Hope KT GCMG GCVO PC

Rt Hon John Adrian Louis Hope KT GCMG GCVO PC, 7th Earl of Hopetoun (1860–1908) was the first governor general of Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Judy Davis, 1981

William Yang

J B. Hunt after Antoine François Jean Claudet

Purchased 1998

Caroline Chisholm, 1853

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Purchased 2015

Steve Waugh, 2001

Russell Shakespeare

Portrait, direct positive colour photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Vivan Sundaram

by Rakhee Balaram

Born in 1943 in Simla, Vivan Sundaram’s long career has given him opportunities to work in a range of mediums – painting, installation, assemblage, photography, digital media and film.

Jules Poret de Blosseville

Jules Poret de Blosseville (1802-1833), geographer, navigator and explorer, was a junior officer on the Coquille, which, under the command of Louis Isidore Duperrey, conducted a voyage to Oceania and South America between 1822 and 1825.

1 portrait in the collection

Albert Falzon

Albert Falzon (b. 1945), film maker and photographer, was in the Australian army and worked for Australian Surfing World magazine before co-founding the Australian surf magazine Tracks in 1970.

1 portrait in the collection

Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan AM

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan AM, PhD, DSc, FAA, FRS, FRIN (b. 1948) is Professor of Visual Neuroscience at the Queensland Brain Institute and in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Steve Kilbey, 1981 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Murray Bail

Murray Bail (b. 1941), writer, was born in Adelaide and spent several years in India and England in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

3 portraits in the collection

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), army officer and hero, was the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1828 to 1830.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir James Fergusson

Sir James Fergusson (1832–1907), governor, was educated at Rugby School and was still a student there when he succeeded his father as Baronet of Kilkerran in 1849.

1 portrait in the collection

Murray Bail, 1980-1981

Fred Williams

Gift of an anonymous donor 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Johann Zoffany

Portrait, inkjet print (black and white) on paper

Johann Zoffany, painter of portraits and conversation pieces, grew up in the court of the Prince von Thurn und Taxis in Germany, where his father was employed.

1 portrait in the collection

Robyn Davidson (near Uluru), 1979 (printed 2014)

Rick Smolan

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Joseph Dalton Hooker, c. 1880s

an unknown artist

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

Ali Cobby Eckermann

Ali Cobby Eckermann (b. 1963), Yankunytjatjara/Kothaka author and poet, was born in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

William Westall

William Westall (1781-1850), grew up in London and was taught to draw by his elder half-brother Richard, who was drawing master to Princess Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

James Robert M. Robertson

James Robert M. Robertson (1844-1932), mining engineer and coal magnate, was the son of a Scottish surgeon and colliery owner, and qualified in medicine himself before opting for a career in mining.

1 portrait in the collection

Alwar Balasubramaniam

by Zehra Jumabhoy

Born in 1971 in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, Alwar Balasubramaniam's sculptures, prints and installations challenge our perceptions while creating forms for the invisible and the intangible.

Lady Ellen Stirling

Lady Ellen Stirling (1807-1874) was the third daughter of James Mangles of Woodbridge in Surrey, a Director of the East India Company and later an MP.

1 portrait in the collection

Mona Hessing

Mona Hessing (1933-2001) weaver, was described as having made a 'very significant contribution from the late 1960s into the 1980s to the development of weaving as monumental public sculpture.

1 portrait in the collection

Gary Heery

Gary Heery, photographer, was born in Sydney, where he studied sociology and psychology at the University of New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Judy Davis

Judy Davis (b. 1955), actor, director and two-time Oscar nominee, has won many acting accolades, including eight AACTA awards, three Emmy awards, two BAFTAs and two Golden Globes.

3 portraits in the collection

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 1824 by James Thomson

Audacity, audacity, audacity

A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute

Angus delves into the biographies of two ambitious characters; Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir John Pope-Hennessy.

Sir William Dargie

Previous exhibition, 2002

As a tribute to Sir William Dargie's singular contribution to Australian art and cultural institutions, and on the occasion of his birthday, The Australian War Memorial, Parliament House and the National Portrait Gallery will mount exhibitions of his work between May and October

Shigeo Sawada, c. 1915

Kan Studios

Portrait, oil on canvas board

Gift of Ron Wylie 2007

Geoffrey Tozer, 1966

Rollo Thomson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Geoffrey Tozer 2012

Nusra Latif Qureshi

by Hammad Nasar

Nusra Latif Qureshi was born in Pakistan in 1973 and originally trained in the traditional art of Mughal miniature (musaviri) paintings.

Sir John Young

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

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

Duke of Wellington, 1841

John Lucas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Danila Vassilieff

Danila Vassilieff, born in Russia, arrived in Australia in the early 1920s having served in a Cossack cavalry regiment, been captured by Communist forces and escaped via Persia and India to China.

1 portrait in the collection

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE (c. 1871- 1944), shipping administrator, came to Australia from England and joined the office of the Australian Steam Navigation Company.

1 portrait 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

Franco Belgiorno-Nettis AC CBE

Franco Belgiorno-Nettis AC CBE (1915-2006), industrialist, engineer and patron of the arts, attended the Turin Military Academy and served in the Italian army in North Africa during World War II.

1 portrait in the collection

Julian Meagher

Julian Meagher was born in Sydney in 1978 and studied part time at the Julian Ashton Art School before undertaking a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at the University of New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoffrey Tozer

Geoffrey Tozer (1954-2009), pianist, achieved national fame as a child prodigy in the 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE (1872–1960) has been described as the 'divine angel of mercy' for Australian prisoners of war during the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Woureddy [Wurati], an Aboriginal Chief of Van Diemen's Land

Woureddy [Wurati], an Aboriginal Chief of Van Diemen's Land, 1835

Benjamin Law

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Herbert John Louis Hinkler

Herbert John Louis (Bert) Hinkler (1892-1933), aviator, worked with a photographer and in sugar mills before joining the Queensland Aero club and taking a correspondence course in mechanics.

1 portrait in the collection

The stately lotus

I spent much of my summer holiday at D’Omah, on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. Lotus and waterlilies sprout in extraordinary profusion in artful ponds amid palms and deep scarlet ginger flowers.

Grateful admiration and brotherly love

In the earliest stages of the Great War, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton was turned into a military hospital, and arrangements made there to accommodate the different dietary and other requirements of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim patients.

Ellen Stirling, c. 1828

Thomas Phillips

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008

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.

Elizabeth Roberts

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

Elizabeth Roberts (1812–1833) was the daughter of Warwickshire-born William Roberts (1754–1819) and his wife, Jane (née Longhurst, c.

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.

Madame Marie Carandini

Marie Carandini (née Burgess, 1826–1894), aka 'Madame Carandini', was seven years old when her family arrived in Van Diemen's Land as assisted immigrants.

1 portrait in the collection

Lord Kitchener

Imperial strategist

Archived media releases 2019

Once central to military strategy and venerated in patriotic households, Lord Kitchener is now largely forgotten.

Textiles Scientist Voted the People’s Favourite

27 March 2019

The black and white portrait of an elderly woman with sidelong glance and irreverent, contemplative smile has taken out the people’s choice award in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Thomas Woolner

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

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

In memory of the Rev William Hill, 1869

Charles Wherrett

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Murray frees himself from straightjacket in public, 1928 by Sam Hood

Risky business

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

Fannie Carandini, mid 1860s

Charles Hewitt

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Not perspiring, but glowing.

The cultural history of radiance.

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Angus Trumble explores the creative manifestations of radiance.

Trucaninny [Trukanini], wife of Woureddy [Wurati]

Trucaninny [Trukanini], wife of Woureddy [Wurati], 1836

Benjamin Law

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Queen Mary

George Frederick Ernest Albert, The Duke of Cornwall and York and later King George V (1865-1936), was the son of Edward VII, the man for whom the Edwardian era was named.

3 portraits in the collection

King George V

Chefs, winemakers, providores

George Frederick Ernest Albert, The Duke of Cornwall and York and later King George V (1865-1936), was the son of Edward VII, the man for whom the Edwardian era was named.

4 portraits in the collection

Masters of Fare

Previous exhibition, 2004

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Previous exhibition, 2022

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

Pushpamala N

by Ajay Sinha

Previous exhibition, 2009

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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

First Ladies

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Previous exhibition, 2015

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

General Birdwood, the Idol of Anzac, taking a dip in the sea after a hard days work 1915

In the thick of it

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Projecting the splendour of the empire, and the resolve of its subjects, the bust of William Birdwood keeps a stiff upper lip in the National Portrait Gallery.

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Previous exhibition, 2015

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

Queen Victoria, 1901

The Illustrated London News after Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Commander Skyring, Gang-gang cockatoo by Leila Jeffreys

A real tweet

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow plays wingman to Leila Jeffreys.

Queen Victoria

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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.

Worth her salt

Jerrold Nathan's portrait of Jessie Street shows the elegant side of a many-faceted lady.

Sir Thomas Gore-Browne, 1864

J Walch & Sons

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2011

At first glance, this small watercolour group portrait of her two sons and four daughters by Maria Caroline Brownrigg (d. 1880) may seem prosaic, even hesitant

Man of the year

Exhibition curator Christine Clark introduces the work by Indonesian artist Agus Suwage created for Beyond the self: Contemporary portraiture from Asia.

Shall I raise my eyebrows and gasp? (Alex), 2011 by TextaQueen

Pen power

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.

Anatomist's eye

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2016

Robert Hannaford has completed around 400 portraits over the span of his career.

The art of multiplicity

Magazine article by Meredith Hughes, 2019

Meredith Hughes explores a key Portrait Gallery work, emerging into the infinite iterations of identity.

Hema Upadhyay

by Amrita Gupta Singh

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Hema Upadhyay was born in Baroda in 1972 and moved to in Mumbai in 1998. Incorporating painting, installation, sculpture and printmaking, Upadhyay’s work often addresses issues related to migration, especially the experiences of those living in urban communities.

Desperately seeking Sonia

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

The Bare story

General content

Curator, Penny Grist, reveals how this exhibition came to be

Nikhil Chopra

by Rattanamol Johal

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2023

Nikhil Chopra was born in 1974, in Calcutta. His first degree was in commerce, but in 1997 he took up fine art studies, eventually gaining a Masters in Fine Art from Ohio State University, United States.

Aretha Brown

In conversation

Gumbaynggirr artist Aretha Brown talks street art, collaboration and ghost stories with First Nations Curator and Meriam woman, Rebecca Ray.

Studio portrait of Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War, 1914 by J Russell & Sons

All the way with K of K

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow bristles at the biographers’ neglect of Kitchener’s antipodean intervention.

A real Pratt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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.

Duty bound

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of colonial women Lady Ellen Stirling, Eliza Darling, Lady Eliza Arthur, Elizabeth Macquarie and Lady Jane Franklin.

Marian Anderson, contralto, New York, June 30, 1955 Richard Avedon

The right note

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

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

The Triumph of Death, c. 1562 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Black Death

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2016

The best horror stories are real. A flea sinks its proboscis into the skin of a sick black rat, feeds on its blood, and ingests lethally multiplying bacteria.

Studio portrait of servicewoman Lance Corporal Kathleen Jean Mary (Kath) Walker, c.1942

Past present

Krysia Kitch celebrates Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

The Conciliation, 1840 by Benjamin Duterrau

The art of conciliation

Magazine article by Gareth Knapman, 2017

Gareth Knapman explores the politics and opportunism behind the portraits of Tasmania’s Black War.

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.

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.

Women make history

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Jennifer Higgie uncovers the intriguing stories behind portraits of women by women in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

You beauty

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Joanna Gilmour explores the fact and fictions surrounding the legendary life of Irish-born dancer Lola Montez.

Earth to earth

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

Mugshots

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Little women

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Christmas Island

This is my last Trumbology before, in a little more than a week from now, I pass to my successor Karen Quinlan the precious baton of the Directorship of the National Portrait Gallery.

Forest Creek, Mount Alexander Diggings, 1852 by S. T. Gill

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush