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Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.
Jane Franklin (née Griffin, 1791–1875) came to Van Diemen’s Land in 1837 following the appointment of her husband, Sir John Franklin, to the position of lieutenant-governor of the colony.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Joanna Gilmour explores the life of colonial women Lady Ellen Stirling, Eliza Darling, Lady Eliza Arthur, Elizabeth Macquarie and Lady Jane Franklin.
Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), Arctic explorer and governor, served under Matthew Flinders on the Investigator and later said that this experience fired his passion for exploration.
5 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Jane Windeyer (1865–1950) was the second eldest daughter of politician and judge Sir William Charles Windeyer (1834–1897) and his wife, Mary (née Bolton, 1837–1912), a leading campaigner for women’s rights.
2 portraits in the collection
Jane Kennerley (nee Rouse) was born in Parramatta and in 1834 married Alfred Kennerley (1810-1897) who, like Jane's father, owned large amounts of land in western Sydney and on the Cudgegong River.
1 portrait in the collection
Jane Barnes (b. 1958), musician, was born in Bangkok. After her parents' divorce, she spent her childhood travelling around the world with her diplomat stepfather, mother and two sisters, living in Australia, Italy, Russia, New Guinea, Kiribati, Malta and Malaysia.
1 portrait in the collection
Jane Varkulevicius is the Catalogues Manager of the Digger's Club. Although not a professional photographer she has taken a number of images for the Digger's Club and its associated publications.
1 portrait in the collection
Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?
Jane Raffan examines unique styles of Indigenous portraiture that challenge traditional Western concepts of the artform.
Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.
Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.
Jane Raffan feasts on modernity’s entrée in the Belle Époque theatre of the demimonde.
In the exhibition William Kentridge: Drawn from Africa at the National Gallery of Australia, the artist marries Gogol's Tsarist Russia, with that of Stalin and the damaging history of his homeland, South Africa.
Fanny Jane Marlay (1819–1848), was the second-eldest daughter of military officer, Edward Marlay (1792–1839).
1 portrait in the collection
Sarah-Jane 'Sass' Clarke AM (b. 1974) and Heidi 'Bide' Middleton AM (b.
1 portrait in the collection
Jane Campion DNZM (b. 1954), director, producer and screenwriter, is the first woman to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the second woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, both for her acclaimed film The Piano (1993).
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012
Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Pamela Glasson 2009
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman discusses the portraiture of Henri Matisse.
Purchased 2013
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Purchased 2011
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009.
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2021
Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007
Stand by your man
Born: 1961, Melbourne
Works: Melbourne
Bob Brown discusses the events that occurred during the Franklin River campaign as depicted in his portrait by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.
Foxy ladies’ fame, friendship
Tiny token, big love
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Phillip Law AC AO CBE (1912–2010), scientist and Antarctic explorer, developed an interest in the frozen continent as a boy.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the Estate of Harold Thornton 2009
Gift of Dr Phillip Law 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Elizabeth Roberts (1812-1856) was the daughter of Warwickshire-born William Roberts, (1754–1819) and his wife, Jane (née Longhurst, c.
1 portrait in the collection
Rodney Hall OAM (b. 1935), writer, came to Australia in 1947 and settled in Brisbane.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Janet, Andrew, Kathryn and Eleanor Ramsay, daughters and son of Alexander Maurice Ramsay and Amy Jane Ramsay
John Lort Stokes (1812–1885), explorer, naval officer and surveyor, joined the navy at age twelve and age thirteen was assigned to HMS Beagle as a midshipman.
1 portrait in the collection
David Malouf (b.1934), educated at Brisbane Grammar and the University of Queensland, left Australia at the age of 24 and remained abroad for a decade, teaching in England and travelling throughout Europe.
3 portraits in the collection
Alexis Wright (b. 1950), author and activist, won the Miles Franklin Award in 2007 for her novel Carpentaria and the 2018 Stella Prize for her collective memoir Tracker.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Helga Leunig 2013
Commissioned with assistance from the Circle of Friends 2012
Bob Brown (b. 1944), environmentalist, doctor and former politician, is an environmental campaigner and former Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Michelle de Kretser 2015
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Heidi 'Bide' Middleton AM (b. 1971) and Sarah-Jane 'Sass' Clarke AM (b.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal 2020
Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) is one of the most intriguing and talented figures in colonial Australian art.
4 portraits in the collection
Thomas Keneally (b.1935), author and republican activist, has achieved a considerable reputation for the breadth and accessibility of his writing, and his passion for causes about which many Australians feel deeply.
1 portrait in the collection
Percy Lindsay (1870-1952), artist, was the eldest child of Robert and Jane Lindsay, born, as were his nine siblings, in Creswick, Victoria.
4 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013
Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Anthony Browell reminisces about meeting Rose Lindsay, the wife of Australian artist Norman Lindsay.
Thea Astley (1925-2004), novelist, was born in Brisbane and studied arts at the University of Queensland before becoming a teacher.
1 portrait in the collection
Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘identity’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.
Peter Carey (b. 1943) is an author whose novels sweep between the fantastic and the realistic, the comic and the tragic, and the present and the past.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
Reconnect and reflect with our new major exhibition, Australian Love Stories (in real life!) as we explore love, affection and connection in all its guises.
The Darling Portrait Prize is a national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015). The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.
Elizabeth Jolley AO (1923-2007) was a West Australian writer. Born in England, she worked as a nurse during the war and after migrating to Western Australia in 1959, when she also worked as a cleaner and saleswoman.
1 portrait in the collection
Deborah Paauwe (b. 1972), photographer, was born in the USA and came to Adelaide in 1985 after a childhood spent travelling around the world with her missionary parents.
1 portrait in the collection
Xavier Herbert (1901 –1984), author, was born Alfred Jackson to a single mother in Geraldton, WA.
2 portraits in the collection
As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.
The discovery of Dempsey's People, Australian rugby greats, Athol Shmith's progressive pictures, and powerful Indigenous portraits.
In 2020 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Sally Robinson's remarkable portrait of author Tim Winton.
Henry Sadd was born in London and exhibited engravings there before emigrating to the USA some time around 1840.
8 portraits in the collection
Samuel Johnson Woolf, American painter, lithographer and illustrator, was born in New York City and named after the English essayist Samuel Johnson.
1 portrait in the collection
Theresa Walker is acknowledged as Australia’s first female sculptor.
3 portraits in the collection
Georgina ‘Ina’ Gregory (1874-1964) grew up with her sister Ada at Rosedale, her family home in East St Kilda.
1 portrait in the collection
David Jones (1793-1873), merchant, began his retail career in Pembrokeshire and London before emigrating to Sydney via Hobart.
1 portrait in the collection
Emeritus Professor Derek John Mulvaney AO CMG (1925–2016), one of Australia’s foremost prehistorians, has often been described as the father of Australian archaeology.
1 portrait in the collection
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
Peter Dombrovskis, photographer and environmental activist, was born of Latvian parents in a refugee camp in Wiesbaden at the end of World War 2.
1 portrait in the collection
Ruth Park (1917–2010) was born in New Zealand and lived there until 1942.
1 portrait in the collection
Lily Brett OAM (b. 1946) is a New York-based novelist, essayist and poet.
2 portraits in the collection
For love, not money
Theresa Shepheard Mort (née Laidley, 1820-1869), colonial spouse, was one of eight children of civil servant James Laidley and his wife Eliza Jane (née Shepheard).
2 portraits in the collection
Christine Anu (b. 1970), singer/songwriter and actor, was born in Cairns, Queensland.
1 portrait in the collection
Michelle de Kretser (b. 1957), author, came to Melbourne with her Sinhalese Dutch parents in 1972.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Gift of Andrea Goldsmith 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Drusilla Modjeska (b. 1946), writer, feminist and academic, was born in England and moved to Australia in 1971 after several years in Papua New Guinea.
1 portrait in the collection
Tim Winton (b. 1960) is the author of 29 books, with his work translated into 28 languages.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010
Purchased with funds provided by Barbara and Jim Higgins 2010
In experiencing intimacy the human mind wrestles with the impossible task of being as one with another. Sculptor Sam Jinks unites the textures of the human body and human emotion in these works addressing moments of intimacy.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Alfred George Stephens (1865–1933), editor, journalist and publisher, was born and educated in Toowoomba.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Joanna Russell Maher (née Windeyer) 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John and Jean Mulvaney 2000
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Gift of an anonymous donor 2021
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003
John Tsiavis (b. 1977) is a photographer working across portraiture, entertainment, editorial and advertising projects.
6 portraits in the collection
Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016) writer, spent her childhood in Sydney but left with her parents at the age of sixteen for South East Asia and New Zealand.
1 portrait in the collection
David Campbell (1952–1984) decided to become an artist while a student at Erina High on the New South Wales Central Coast.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Purchased 2007
Lady Hay, née Chalmers (c. 1806-1892) was reported at the time of her death to have been about ten years older than Hay.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Roger Neill 2006
Christos Tsiolkas (b. 1965) is a Melbourne-born writer of Greek descent, whose work deals uncompromisingly with sexuality, identity and politics.
2 portraits in the collection
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
Frances Alda (1879–1952) was one of the world's greatest sopranos. Born Fanny Jane Davis in Christchurch, New Zealand, which claims her as a prominent expatriate, she was raised in Melbourne, where she began singing operetta in 1897.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021
Rose Scott (1847-1925), feminist and social reformer, devoted much of her life to campaigns that resulted in increased independence for Australian women.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004
Dorothy Porter (1954–2008), poet and writer, grew up in Sydney and the Blue Mountains, graduated from the University of Sydney in 1975 and taught creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Louis Nowra (b. 1950), writer, grew up in dire family circumstances on a housing commission estate in Melbourne.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of an anonymous donor 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.
Geoff Dyer (1947-2020) was renowned landscape and portrait painter whose practice depicted Tasmania and its people.
1 portrait in the collection
Glenn McGrath AM (b. 1970), philanthropist and former Test cricketer, is one of international cricket's greatest ever fast bowlers.
1 portrait in the collection
David Wenham (b. 1965), actor, studied drama at the Nepean College of Advanced Education (now the University of Western Sydney), graduating with a BA in Performing Arts in 1987.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.
Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.
Magda Szubanski AO (b. 1961), actor and writer, was born in Liverpool, England and moved to Australia when she was four.
1 portrait in the collection
The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
'Diving Venus' and 'the perfect woman' are two of the numerous descriptions applied to Annette Kellerman, who achieved international fame during the early decades of the twentieth century.
Peter Goldsworthy AM (b. 1951), medical doctor and writer, was born in Minlaton, South Australia, and grew up in various country towns as his father, a school teacher, moved for work.
2 portraits in the collection
Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.
Jenny Sages (b. 1933), artist, was born to Russian Jewish parents in Shanghai and came to Australia with her family in 1948.
33 portraits in the collection
Emile Sherman, film producer, graduated from the University of Sydney before beginning his career with a documentary about his great-great-uncle Chatzkel, a Lithuanian Jew who lived through both world wars and the Bolshevik revolution.
1 portrait in the collection
Annette Kellerman (1886–1975), champion swimmer and entertainer, was among the early twentieth century's most recognisable women.
2 portraits in the collection
Answers to your questions about entering the prize.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Jane Fisk 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012
With contributions from Julia Gillard, Fiona Gruber, and Dr Karl James, the National Portrait Gallery’s 50th edition of Portrait has something for everyone.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Purchased with funds from the Ian Potter Foundation 2008
Kerry Walker AM, actor, graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1974 and made her professional stage debut in a melée in Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet with the Australian Ballet.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of the artist 2003
From 2015 to 2017 the Acquisition Fund was focussed on Reg Richardson AM by Mitch Cairns, a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2014, and a great example of minimalist portraiture.
Dr Chistopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian author Christos Tsiolkas taken by John Tsiavis.
Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.
Isabella Louisa Parry (née Stanley, 1801–1839), amateur artist, community worker and collector, was the daughter of Sir John Stanley, first Baron Stanley of Alderley, a Whig politician and member of the Royal Society.
1 portrait in the collection
A major new exhibition celebrating love in all its guises. Opening 20 March 2021.
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
Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.
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.
Ensconced and meditative in crisp Tasmania, Joanna Gilmour pays tribute to passionate green advocate and photographer Olegas Truchanas.
The Darling Prize is a new annual prize for Australian portrait painters, painting Australian sitters. The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.
Sarah Engledow reflects on the shared life and writing of Dorothy Porter and Andrea Goldsmith.
Images for media use will be available from 8 March 2018.
Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AO, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AO and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018.
'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.
First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.
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
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.
Dr Sarah Engledow discusses Quentin Jones's photograph of Australian author Tim Winton.
Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.
Traversing paint and pixels, Inga Walton examines portraits of select women in Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.
Roger Neill delves into the life of a lesser-known Australian diva, Frances Alda.
Read the full requirements for entering the prize.
The wild balancing act of McDonald’s home décor (is that there as a joke? where do I actually sit down? is this ironic or what? what a lovely photo of Darren and Robin in Europe!) is reflected in his own personality.
Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.
Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).
Joanna Gilmour profiles the life and times of the shutter sisters May and Mina Moore.
Michael Desmond reveals the origins of composite portraits and their evolution in the pursuit of the ideal.
English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.
Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.
Australia's former Cultural Attache to the USA, Ron Ramsey, describes the mood at the opening week of the revitalised American National Portrait Gallery.
Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.
Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.
Scott Redford discusses his dynamic portrait commission of motorcycling champion and 2008 Young Australian of the Year Casey Stoner.
Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.
Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.
Penelope Grist explores the United Nations stories in the Gallery’s collection.
One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.
Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.
Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.
Christopher Chapman absorbs the gentle touch of Don Bachardy’s portraiture.
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.
Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.
Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.
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.
An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.
Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.
Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.
John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.
Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.