Search / janet holmes a court

Janet Holmes à Court AC (b. 1943), businesswoman and philanthropist, graduated in science and worked as a teacher before marrying young Perth lawyer Robert Holmes à Court in 1966.

1 portrait in the collection

Janet Holmes á Court, 2001 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Portrait, offset lithograph on mountboard/card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Robert Holmes a Court, c. 1984

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Sir Charles Court and Richard Court, 2006-2007

Mary Moore

Portrait, oil on composition board

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2006

Tracey Holmes

Tracey Holmes (b. 1966), sports broadcaster and journalist, has covered twelve Olympic Games and was the first woman to host an Australian national sports program, Grandstand.

1 portrait in the collection

Rev. Margaret Court AC MBE

The Rev. Margaret Court AC MBE (b. 1942) has won more major tennis championships than any other player, having acquired 62 Grand Slam titles between 1960 and 1975.

1 portrait in the collection

Stan Grant and Tracey Holmes

Nic Walker

Portrait, archival pigment print on Canson Edition Etching cotton rag paper

Stan Grant and Tracey Holmes, 2020

Nic Walker

Gift of the artist 2021

Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong, c. 1971

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

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

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

Janet Vernon AM

Janet Vernon AM, dancer, met her life and professional partner, Graeme Murphy, at the Australian Ballet School.

1 portrait in the collection

Janet Dawson

In their own words

Recorded 1965

Gift of the artist 2000

Janet Vernon, 1986

Max Dupain OBE

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Janet Dawson, Paddington, Sydney, 1966 (printed 2000)

David Moore

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.

Summer 1986, 1986

Purchased 2000, part gift of Michael Boddy

Chris Dickins, 1983-1984

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Bill Hunter, 1974

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Joseph Cotta, 1983-1984

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Joseph Cotta, 1984

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Joseph Mathew Cotta and Gladys Maria Cotta 2016

Gladys Cotta, 1984

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Joseph Mathew Cotta and Gladys Maria Cotta 2016

Michael with beetroot sprouting, 2008

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Purchased 2015

Figurative foundation

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and art of the Australian artist Janet Dawson.

Janet Dawson

Explore The Popular Pet Show

When soulmates Janet Dawson and Michael Boddy moved from Sydney to a property, Boddy was clear about why: ‘Our marriage is one long conversation - we moved to the bush so we could talk to each other without so many interruptions.’

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.

Mr and Mrs Horace Keats in the "Christopher Brennan Cycle", 1945

Dora Toovey

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Gift of Anne and Brennan Keats 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.

First High Court of Australia, c. 1903

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Wendy Whiteley in conversation with Janet Hawley

19 October 2015

Archived media releases 2015

Wendy Whiteley in candid conversation with Janet Hawley to celebrate the release of the book Wendy Whiteley and The Secret Garden.

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

A passion eating into your vitals

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

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

Janet Tavener

Finalist interviews

Mikala is the eldest of my three daughters. I have photographed her on many an occasion. Needless to say we are both extremely at home with the practice.

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Alan Goldberg AO QC

The Australian, 26 November 2016

Alan Goldberg AO QC (1940-2016), Federal Court judge, was born into a pioneering Jewish Melbourne family and graduated from the University of Melbourne law school in the early 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Janet Dawson’s painting of Michael Boddy gives paws for thought

Bronwyn Watson writes about Summer 1986 for the Popular Pet Show.

Alan Goldberg, 2014

Jacqueline Mitelman

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

A County Court Judge "Sober as a Judge" [Judge Pohlman], 1874

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Petite beauty marries gentle giant

Passion

Books, beets and heat

Richard and Pat

Art, love, absurdity and exuberance

Passion

Partners in sparkle

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin)

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin) (1912-1996), Kija visual artist, spent much of his life in and around his country near Bedford Downs station in WA.

1 portrait in the collection

Rover Thomas

Rover Thomas (1926-1998), Kukatja-Wangkajunga artist, was born in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia and worked as a stockman and fencer before losing his employment upon the introduction of equal pay for indigenous workers in 1975.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 36

June - August 2010

Magazine

This issue features convict portraitists, Janet Dawson, Paul Grabowsky, Nam Le, the Present Tense exhibition and more.

Ada Bird Petyarre

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Ada Bird Petyarre (c. 1930–2009), painter and printmaker, was an Anmatyerre woman from the Northern Territory, and one of seven sisters who all became notable artists.

1 portrait in the collection

Paddy Jaminji, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

Robert W. Pohlman

Portrait, print on transparency film

Robert Williams Pohlman (1811–1877), judge, arrived in Melbourne in 1840 and with his brother acquired a sheep station, Darlington (later Glenhope), near Kyneton.

1 portrait in the collection

Study for commissioned portrait, "Equation of life - a portrait of Professor Derek Denton", 2016

Evert Ploeg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with the assistance of funds provided by Janet Whiting AM, Philip Lukies and Antonia Syme 2016

Sir William Deane AC KBE KC

Sir William Deane AC KBE KC (b. 1931), High Court judge, was governor-general of Australia from early 1996 to mid-2001.

1 portrait in the collection

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Hon Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Hon. Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC (b. 1954) became Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in 2017 and is the first woman to have held the role.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC

The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC (b. 1945) is a leading barrister and former High Court judge.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Ingvar Kenne, 2012 by Simon Harsent

Finalist interviews

Interviews with NPPP 2013 finalists Melanie Faith Dove, Simon Harsent, Ahmad Sabra, Sharon Zwi, Katherine Bennett, Krystal Seigerman, Arianne McNaught, Janet Tavener, Louise Whelan, Myles Nelson and Heather Corrigan.

Richard Edward O'Connor

Richard Edward O'Connor (1851-1912), barrister and judge, was raised and educated in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon. Alex Chernov AC QC, 2019

Anne Middleton

Eddie Mabo

Koiki (Eddie) Mabo (1937-1992) was born and lived in the Torres Strait until 1959 when he moved to the mainland.

1 portrait in the collection

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC, 2018

Yvonne East

Gift of the artist 2019 acknowledging Herbert Smith Freehills for supporting the creation of the portrait

Lionel Murphy QC

Lionel Murphy QC (1922-1986), High Court judge and Labor politician, grew up in Sydney, studied science and law at Sydney University, was admitted to the Bar in 1947, and became a QC in 1960.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon. Alex Chernov AC KC, 2019

Anne Middleton

Portrait, oil on composition board

Gift of twenty members of the Victorian Bar 2020

Alexander Maurice Ramsay, 1978

Robert Hannaford AM

Gift of Janet, Andrew, Kathryn and Eleanor Ramsay, daughters and son of Alexander Maurice Ramsay and Amy Jane Ramsay 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Mary Moore

Mary Moore (b. 1957) is a West Australian portrait artist. She began formal art training in Claremont at the age of fifteen, later attending the Western Australian Institute of Technology and Royal College of Art, London.

4 portraits in the collection

Betty Churcher AO

(Elizabeth) Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying at the Royal College of Art in London.

3 portraits in the collection

The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG

Portrait, single channel moving image, colour, sound, 2 minutes, 47 seconds

The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG (b. 1939) was a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1996 to 2009.

16 portraits in the collection

Sir William Deane 2008, 2008

Merilyn Fairskye

Purchased 2011

Malcolm McCusker AC CVO KC, 2022

Vincent Fantauzzo

Gift of Nigel Satterley AM and Denise Satterley 2022

Radical Restraint
Justice Michael Kirby, 1998

Ralph Heimans AM

Pamela Joyce, Australian Tapestry Workshop

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

The Honourable Margaret Lusink AM, 2019

Portrait, wool and cotton tapestry

Gift of The Honourable Margaret Lusink AM 2021

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon)

Lady Jessie Eyre Williams

Jessie, Lady Eyre Williams (neé Gibbon, 1815-1903), colonial spouse, was the daughter of an Aberdeenshire clergyman.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon), 1833

Claude-Marie Dubufe

Purchased 2009

Portrait of Susan Crennan, 2017

Lewis Miller

Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro)

Gift of the Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Location

Plan your visit

We’re on King Edward Terrace in front of the High Court and next to the National Gallery of Australia. We are open every day of the year from 10am to 5pm, except 25 December.

Wik vs Queensland

Screening

Event, Sunday 2 June

This landmark feature documentary tracks the lead up to the 1996 High Court decision to grant native title to the Wik Peoples of Cape York, and the demonisation that followed at the hands of politicians and media.

Sir Henry Lee

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Eddie Mabo (after Mike Kelley's 'Booth's Puddle' 1985, from Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's profile) No.3, 1996

John Citizen

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999

Self portrait at 85, 1990

Joshua Smith

Portrait, oil on primed masonite

Gift of the late May Ralph 2019

Sir Percy Spender, 1981

Alex Kolozsy

Portrait, cold cast bronze

Gift of the artist and the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party of Australia 2004

William Hodges

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

Sir Edward E. Williams

Previous exhibition, 2016

Sir Edward Eyre Williams (1813–1880), judge and barrister, arrived in Port Phillip in 1842 having been admitted to the Bar in London nine years earlier.

1 portrait in the collection

The Popular Pet Show

This exhibition expresses the joy and warmth that many of us derive from our animal companions, and celebrates their trusting, unpretentious ways, with portraits of Australians and their furry, feathered and fluffy friends.

Peter, Silverton, NSW, 2012

by Krystal Seigerman

Previous exhibition, 2002

Angela Belgiorno-Zegna, 2001 by Salvatore Zofrea

Intimate Portraits

Intimate Portraits is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints that explore the less public side of portraiture

The Rt. Hon Sir Edmund Barton GCMG PC KC

Sir Edmund Barton GCMG PC KC (1849-1920), Australia’s first prime minister, was the youngest of nine children of a well-educated woman.

6 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Dame Roma Mitchell, 1940s

Geoffrey Mainwaring

Learning resource archive

Gift of friends of Dame Roma Mitchell 2018

Yhonnie and Indiana, 2012 by Janelle Low

NPPP 2013 learning resource

Exploring select works from the NPPP 2012. For secondary students.

William Charles Windeyer, c. 1857

In Galleries Seven, Eight and Nine

Portrait, daguerreotype

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Women Make History

Previous exhibition, 2021

Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.

HV (Doc) Evatt, 1935

Arnold Shore

Gift of Elizabeth Evatt and Penelope Seidler 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Edith E. Williams

Edith Ellen Williams (nee Horne, (1851–1885) was the first wife of Hartley Williams (1843–1929), a Victorian Supreme Court judge from 1881 until 1903.

1 portrait in the collection

Grant Matthews

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

In 1997 Grant Matthews successfully sued Consolidated Press for unauthorised reproduction of one of his photographs.

1 portrait in the collection

Australia (Sir Edmund Barton), 1902

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

Sporting Archibald

Previous exhibition, 2000

Celebrating the focus on sport during 2000, this special exhibition features our national sporting heroes and heroines immortalised on canvas

Sir William Dobell OBE

Sir William Dobell (1899–1970), painter, studied art and was apprentice to an architect in Sydney before leaving Australia for Europe in 1929.

10 portraits in the collection

Malcolm J. McCusker AC CVO KC

Previous exhibition, 2008

Barrister and philanthropist Malcolm James McCusker AC CVO KC was born in Subiaco, Western Australia in 1938.

1 portrait in the collection

My Favourite Australian

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

Thomas Forster Knox

The Knox's third son, Thomas Forster Knox (1849-1919) followed his father and older brother into business, and became prominent in the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Lady Edith Knox

Edith Knox (1855–1942), matriarch, was a daughter of Janet and Scottish-born merchant and businessman Joseph Scaife Willis, who was president of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and a founding director of the Sydney Exchange Co.

1 portrait in the collection

Horace Keats

Horace Keats (1895-1945) came to Australia from his native England in 1915 as accompanist to vaudeville performer Nella Webb.

1 portrait in the collection

Reclaimed youth, 2019

Sanjeev Singh

David Davies

David Davies began studying art at the School of Mines and Industries in his birthplace, Ballarat.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon. Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO QC

The Hon. Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO QC (1913–2000) was the first Australian woman to be a Queen's Counsel, Supreme Court judge, Acting Chief Justice, Deputy University Chancellor, Chancellor and State Governor.

2 portraits in the collection

Tony Mitchell, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Alan Sandow, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Clive Shakespeare, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Daryl Braithwaite, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Garth Porter, 1975 (printed 2001)

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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.

Justice Robin Millhouse, Maslin Beach, South Australia

Justice Robin Millhouse, Maslin Beach, South Australia, 1992-1993 (printed 2019)

Robin Sellick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Geoffrey R. Robertson AO KC

Geoffrey Roland Robertson AO KC (b. 1946), barrister, academic and defender of human rights, grew up in Sydney, attending Epping Boys' High and then the University of Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Sherbet, 1974

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

Sir John Kerr AK KCMG LSt J PC GCVO QC

Sir John Kerr AK KCMG LSt J PC GCVO QC (1914-1991) was the eighteenth Governor-General of Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Sir James Dowling

Sir James Dowling (1787-1844), judge, worked as a parliamentary reporter before he was called to the Bar in London in May 1815.

1 portrait in the collection

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

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.

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC (1897-1985) was a politician, statesman, diplomat and judge.

3 portraits in the collection

Visiting the gallery

How to get here

Plan your visit

Maps and public transport information for your visit.

Bassano Ltd

The Bassano studios operated from 1850, when photographer Alexander Bassano (1829-1913) opened premises in Regent Street, London.

2 portraits in the collection

Samuel Shelley

Samuel Shelley entered the Royal Academy Schools as a seventeen year-old in 1774 and exhibited at the Academy regularly from this time until 1804.

2 portraits in the collection

Lady Knox, c. 1927-1929

W B McInnes

Gift of Mrs Caroline Philippa Parker 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tom Glover

English-born Thomas Ellis Glover moved to New Zealand as a child and by his early twenties was working as a cartoonist, court reporter and journalist.

10 portraits in the collection

James McClelland

Jim McClelland (1915-1999) was a lawyer, politician (senator for NSW 1971-1978), judge and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald (1986).

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Roxburgh

Richard Roxburgh (b. 1962), actor, completed an economics degree at the Australian National University before gaining a place at NIDA on his second attempt.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Hartley Williams

Sir Hartley Williams (1843–1929), judge, was the third child and second son of Edward Eyre Williams and his wife, Jessie.

1 portrait in the collection

Candidate for Chelsea (9th Earl of Kintore)

Algernon Hawkins Thomond Keith-Falconer

Previous exhibition, 2011

Algernon Hawkins Thomond Keith-Falconer, 9th Earl of Kintore (1852–1930) was governor of South Australia from 1889 to 1895.

1 portrait in the collection

Inner Worlds

Portraits and Psychology

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

Edmund Barton, c. 1903

Crown Studios

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

John Knatchbull

John Knatchbull (c. 1792-1844), naval captain and convict, served in the British navy before being convicted of stealing and transported to New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Michael Boddy

Michael Boddy (1934–2014), writer and actor, was born in England and educated at Cambridge before arriving in Australia as a 'ten quid migrant' in 1960.

2 portraits in the collection

Gamaliel Butler, c. 1810

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Purchased 2015

Hon. Alfred Deakin

Alfred Deakin (1856-1919), Australia's second, fifth and seventh Prime Minister, was central to the Federation movement.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr HV Evatt, Albert Namatjira and Dame Mary Gilmore having a meal

Herbert Vere Evatt

Portrait, pencil on paper

Herbert Vere Evatt (1894–1965) was a Labor politician, judge, historian and statesman.

2 portraits in the collection

John Kerr, 1976

Frank Hinder

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

Sir William Dargie

A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute

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

Joshua Smith

Joshua Smith studied sculpture with Rayner Hoff and took classes in drawing and painting at Julian Ashton's Sydney Art School.

5 portraits in the collection

Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel

Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Tom Hughes AO KC

Hon Thomas Hughes AO KC (b. 1923), lawyer and former politician, was born in Sydney and educated at Riverview before serving in the RAAF during World War 2.

3 portraits in the collection

Rhys Maengwyn Jones

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

Rhys Maengwyn Jones (1941-2001), archaeologist and academic, grew up in Wales and studied at Cambridge before taking up an appointment at the University of Sydney in 1963.

1 portrait in the collection

Australia (The Hon. Alfred Deakin), 1908

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

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

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.

John Knatchbull, Murderer of Mrs Ellen Jamieson, 1844

Charles Rodius, Hiberian Printing Office

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Gift of Leo Schofield AM 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Paul Haefliger, 1974

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Magazine article by Leslie Moran, 2007

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

Judicial portraits

Leslie Moran investigates the portraits of judges in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Peter Dombrovskis, 1996

Liz Dombrovskis

Portrait, duo-tone print on photographic paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

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

Icons Syndicate

Lists alphabetically

Honour board

Sketch for portrait of Bart Cummings, 1986

Bryan Westwood

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.

Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
of Brunswick, 1804

Around the grounds

Anne Sanders writes about the exhibitions Victoria & Albert: Art & Love on display at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace and the retrospective of Sir Thomas Lawrence at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Ada E. Evans

Ada Emily Evans (1872–1947) was the first Australian woman to attain a law degree and the first woman admitted to the Bar in New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG

Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG (b. 1978), former Australian Army soldier, is the recipient of the Medal for Gallantry in 2006, the Victoria Cross in 2011 and the Commendation for Distinguished Service in 2013.In 2017, Roberts-Smith’s military service came under scrutiny as a result of an inquiry – commonly known as the Brereton Report – into questions of unlawful conduct on the part of Australian military personnel in Afghanistan.

1 portrait in the collection

Ron Castan AM QC

Previous exhibition, 2002

Ron Castan AM QC (1939–1999), barrister, played a leading role in some of the most significant Australian litigation involving the rights of Indigenous people.

2 portraits in the collection

Contemporary Australian Portraits

Contemporary Australian Portraits is a cross section, a sampling, of some of the present-day directions in Australian portrait practice

Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and King James II

Sir Peter Lely

Shirley Smith AO MBE

Shirley 'Mum Shirl' Smith AO OBE (1921–1998), humanitarian, was a Wiradjuri woman.

1 portrait in the collection

George Rose

George Rose, joint Secretary of the British Treasury at the time of the First Fleet, joined the civil service after leaving the Royal Navy in 1762.

1 portrait in the collection

Oliver Cromwell

Robert Walker

Polly Borland on Germaine Greer

In their own words

Recorded 2017

Jack Purtell

associated with John Taylor

Jack Purtell (1921-2017), jockey, had his first ride at the age of fifteen.

1 portrait in the collection

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

Louis Antoine de Bougainville

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811), explorer, was an outstanding soldier, sailor and navigator who was gifted, too, in many intellectual spheres.

2 portraits in the collection

John Newcombe and family, 1973

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

King Charles I

Gerrit van Honthorst

Ben Roberts-Smith, 2017

Julian Kingma

Giovanni Vendramini, T Cadell & W Davies after William Evans, Sir William Beechey

Commissioned in 2018 with funds raised through the 2020 project

George Rose, 1811

Portrait, engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Richard Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on paper

Purchased 2019

Barry Humphries, 1971 (printed 2010)

Bill McAuley

Purchased 2010

Henry Reynolds, 2012

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Graeme Murphy AO

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on buff board

Graeme Murphy AO (b. 1950), choreographer and dancer, was co-artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company with his wife Janet Vernon AM for three decades.

3 portraits in the collection

Annie Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Purchased 2019

Supporters

$5,000 - $9,999

Honour board

Study for commissioned portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (profile head study), 2005

Jiawei Shen

Commissioned with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy 2005

Rosie Batty AO

Rosie Batty AO (b. 1962), campaigner against family violence, became well known to the Australian public in early 2014, when her eleven-year-old son Luke was murdered by his father as she stood waiting to take him home from cricket practice.

1 portrait in the collection

Gamaliel Butler, c. 1824

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Merv Shearman 2012

Dame Roma Mitchell, 1998

Jessica Hromas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Hammond Care Group 1999

Frances Saville, 1903

Reutlinger Studios

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Sir Francis Forbes KNt

Sir Francis Forbes (1784–1841) was the first chief justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court.

1 portrait in the collection

Lleyton Hewitt, 1998

Robin Sellick

Gift of the artist 2004

Yami Lester speaks at Uluru Handback Ceremony

Yami Lester OAM

A Yankunytjatjara man, Yami Lester OAM (1941–2017) was born at Walyatjata in the north of South Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Equation of a life - a portrait of Professor Derek Denton

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

Evert Ploeg

Portrait, plasticine maquette

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

Jack Purtell, n.d.

John Frith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013

Ralph Heimans AM

Sydney-based painter Ralph Heimans AM (b. 1970) is one of the world's foremost contemporary portraitists, having created a body of work that has expanded and redefined the possibilities of what is sometimes perceived as an inflexibly traditional genre.

19 portraits in the collection

Ginger Riley at the Limmen River, Northern Territory

Ginger Riley at the Limmen River, Northern Territory, 1992 (printed 2013)

Helga Leunig

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Gift of Helga Leunig 2013

Ron Castan AM QC, 1995

Kate Gollings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851, 1883

John Noone after William Strutt

Portrait, photolithograph on paper

Purchased 2013

Edward John Eyre, Late Governor of Jamaica

Edward John Eyre, Late Governor of Jamaica, 1867

John Brown

Portrait, engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Karen McLeod Adair and Anthony Adair 2003

Jenny Munro

Jenny Munro (b. 1956) is a Wiradjuri elder and prominent activist for Aboriginal rights and sovereignty.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry Humphries, 1962

Portrait, photo screenprint with ballpoint pen framing lines on paper

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

Self portrait, c. 1982

Bea Maddock AM

Gift of David Archer 2016

The Hon. John Howard OM AC

The Hon. John Howard OM AC (b. 1939) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

Evonne Goolagong, 1973

Ern McQuillan OAM

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Sir Hartley Williams, c. 1871

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Edith Ellen Williams, c. 1871

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Sherbet, 1974 (printed 2002)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Ross Watson

Ross Watson specialises in interpolating representations of lithe semi-naked men into copies of paintings by masters such as Vermeer, Ter Borsch, David and Bronzino.

2 portraits in the collection

Shahleena Musk

Shahleena Musk is Larrakia lawyer from Darwin. She was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from the Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University) and to be admitted to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane

Batchelder & Company Photo

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane (1773-1860) was born into an aristocratic Scottish family and entered the army at the age of 16.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, c. 1870

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

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

Turia Pitt

Turia Pitt (b. 1987), author, businesswoman, motivational speaker and athlete, grew up in Ulladulla, New South Wales and studied engineering and science at the University of NSW, graduating in 2010.

1 portrait in the collection

Mum Shirl (Mrs Shirley Smith), 1988

Juno Gemes

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

James Gillray

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

James Gillray, caricaturist and printmaker, was born in Chelsea and learned the art of engraving as a youth in London.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir James Gobbo, 1983

Paul Fitzgerald AM

Gift of Mercy Health and Aged Care 2006

Chester Porter QC

Previous exhibition, 1999

From the age of thirteen Chester Porter QC (1926–2021) knew he wanted to be a barrister.

1 portrait in the collection

The Possibilities of Portraiture

What does 'portraiture mean at the end of the 20th century? At the outset of building a national portrait collection it seems an appropriate question to investigate.

Chester Porter QC, 1997

Graeme Inson

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

Gift of Jean Porter and family 2021. Donated through the Australia Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.

Shahleena Musk, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

Rosie Batty, 2017

Nikki Toole

Commissioned with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2017

Hong Fu

Hong Fu was born in China in 1946 and held his first solo exhibition at the National Art Gallery, Beijing, in 1988.

1 portrait in the collection

Bart Cummings AM

James Faed, W Wilding after John Watson Gordon

James Bartholomew (Bart) Cummings OAM (1927-2015) was Australia's most successful thoroughbred racehorse trainer.

1 portrait in the collection

General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1850 (published)

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

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

Walter Preston

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Walter Preston, engraver and convict, came to New South Wales aboard the Guildford in 1812.

1 portrait in the collection

Gough and John, 1981

Peter van der Veer

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Edward Knox Jnr and Thomas Forster Knox., c. 1855

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Portrait, daguerreotype

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010

The Federal Leader Edmund Barton, c. 1900

Nelson Illingworth

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

Martha Knox, c. 1855

Portrait, daguerreotype

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010

Lan Wang, Xini, Jiawei Shen and Billy, 2010

Greg Weight

Purchased 2012

Julian Burnside AO KC

Julian Burnside AO (b. 1949), barrister, grew up in Melbourne, attending Melbourne Grammar and studying economics and law at Monash in the late 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Lleyton Hewitt AM

At twenty years old, Lleyton Hewitt AM (b. 1981) was the youngest male tennis player ever to be ranked world number one.

1 portrait in the collection

Turia Pitt, 2017 (printed 2021)

Peter Brew-Bevan

Previous exhibition, 2003

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

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.

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra, 1982 (printed 2000)

David Moore

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

John Flaus

John Flaus (b. 1934) is an Australian broadcaster, actor, script editor and lecturer, known for Mary and Max (2009), Trust Frank (2020) and Tracks (2013).

1 portrait in the collection

Ken Rosewall AM MBE

Ken Rosewall AM MBE (b. 1934), champion tennis player, won the Australian Open in 1953 and again nineteen years later in 1972 (he remains both the youngest, and oldest, person to win the title).

1 portrait in the collection

Tony Bilson OAM

Tony Bilson, OAM (1944-2020), chef, grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Melbourne Grammar school before opening his first restaurant, La Pomme d'Or, in Camberwell in 1971.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian Tapestry Workshop

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

The Australian Tapestry Workshop (formerly the Victorian Tapestry Workshop) was established in 1976, following two years of planning and research on the part of its founding patrons, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Lady Joyce Delacombe.

2 portraits in the collection

Barton and Watson, 1902

G. H. Dancey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Evonne Goolagong (Cawley) AC MBE

Archived media releases 2021

Evonne Goolagong Cawley AC MBE (b. 1951), Wiradjuri tennis champion, was the number one women's tennis player in the world in 1971 and 1976.

3 portraits in the collection

Australian Love Stories

4 January 2021

A major new exhibition celebrating love in all its guises. Opening 20 March 2021.

Corporate Characters

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2005

A collection of thirty-seven caricatures by the artist Joe Greenberg capture the heroes and villians of Australian business in the 1980s.

Johann Zoffany

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

Dame Mabel Brookes, c. 1955

Sir William Dargie CBE

Gift of Rodney Davidson AO OBE 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Richard Tognetti AO

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

Ginger Riley

Ginger Riley Munduwalawala (c. 1937-2002), stockman and artist, was born in south-eastern Arnhem Land, in the coastal salt-water country of the Mara people.

1 portrait in the collection

Jan Senbergs AM

Archived media releases 2016

Jan Senbergs AM (1939-2024) came to Australia from Latvia in 1950. He studied at the Melbourne School of Printing and Graphic Arts, where he was influenced by Leonard French.

2 portraits in the collection

Pets of all types take over the National Portrait Gallery

3 November 2016

It is not every day that a national gallery turns its walls over to the animal companions that bring unconditional love and joy to their owners but this summer we have opened the doors to 15 contemporary artists with very different ways of depicting our furry, feathered and scaled pets.

Harold Parker, c. 1906

Bessie Gibson

Portrait, watercolour on ivory in locket frame

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

Two painters

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2007

Chris Chapman explains how Matthys Gerber bridges the gap between abstraction and portraiture.

Omai

Omai (Mai) (c. 1750-1778), the first Polynesian to visit Britain, was a young man of middling social standing who volunteered to sail from Huahine to England with Captain Furneaux on the Adventure (the ship accompanying James Cook's Resolution on Cook's second voyage of discovery (1772-1775).

2 portraits in the collection

Gamaliel Butler

Gamaliel Butler (1783–1852), lawyer and free settler, emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1824 with his wife, Sarah (née Paine, 1787–1870).

2 portraits in the collection

Sketch of Clifton Pugh painting John Perceval

Clifton Pugh AO

Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006

Clifton Pugh AO was one of Australia’s best-known artists of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and one of its leading advocates for the arts.

11 portraits 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.

Pat and Richard Larter, Luddenham, 1970s

Pin-ups

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Christopher Chapman describes the art and life of Australian artist Richard Larter.

William Bligh

William Bligh (1754-1817), naval officer, was born in Plymouth and first went to sea at around the age of eight.

3 portraits in the collection

Richard Tognetti, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Jan Senbergs, 2015

Jacqueline Mitelman

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick

The Rt. Hon Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC

The Rt Hon Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC (1903–1997) was Chief Justice of Australia from 27 April 1964 to 11 February 1981 – the longest serving Chief Justice of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Jan Senbergs, 1976

Keith Looby

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Padraic McGuinness 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

George Pell AC

George Pell AC (1941–2023), former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, was born and educated in Ballarat, Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry Humphries, 1958

Clifton Pugh AO

Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE

Hosting a touring exhibition

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

Dancer

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition celebrates dance and dancers.

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery

Visual Stories

Access support for a general visit to the Gallery.

Bea Maddock AM

Self Portraits in Australia

Bea Maddock AM (1934–2016) studied at the Hobart Technical College in the early 1950s before travelling to London, where she attended the Slade School from 1959 to 1961.

2 portraits in the collection

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

First Ladies

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Cardinal George Pell, 2007 (printed 2012)

David Roberts

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Rod Laver,

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

La Milo in Lady Godiva procession, Coventry, 1907

Pansy Montague

Pansy Montague, ‘La Milo’ (c. 1885-unknown) appeared as a chorus girl and actress in Melbourne from about 1898, and in 1901 understudied Nellie Stewart in Sydney.

10 portraits in the collection

Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on masonite

Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC (1916-2014) was prime minister from the end of 1972 to the end of 1975.

12 portraits in the collection

The Hon E.G. Whitlam AC QC, 1980

Graeme Inson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

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.

All you can eat

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

In February 2003 the National Portrait Gallery Circle of Friends brought Sir Robert Strong to Australia to present a series of lectures entitled The Artists & The Banquet- A History of Dining, which focused on the links between gardens and table decoration from the Renaissance to the Victorian Era.

Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1842

Frederick Bromley after Robert Frain

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Adam Scott: at Sanctuary Cove Golf Course

Celebrities on the field

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

Robin Sellick's portraits of Australian sportspeople include Harry Kewell, Adam Scott, Shane Warne, Mark Webber and John Newcombe.

Beyond the bow tie

Portrait, pigment photographic prints on paper, hand ground glass

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

Blow Back, 2018

Julie Rrap

Gift of the artist 2024. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Ned Kelly & co at Euroa, 9 and 10 December 1878

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

4 portraits in the collection

Prison photograph of Ned Kelly c.1873, image courtesy National Museum of Australia.

The outlaws coolly disported themselves

'Each man arrayed himself in a new rig from head to foot, and even such luxuries as soaps and perfumery were not despised'

Shane Warne, 2006

Robin Sellick

Purchased 2006

Miss Frances Samuel, 1840

Maurice Felton

Purchased 2011

Discussion between Bob Hawke and Yunupingu, Burunga Festival, Northern Territory

Discussion between Bob Hawke and Yunupingu, Burunga Festival, Northern Territory, 1988 (printed 2015)

Sue Ford

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Purchased 2015

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.

Hon Tom Hughes KC, 2001

Jiawei Shen

Previous exhibition, 2019

Commissioned with funds provided by Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull 2003

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.

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary

Previous exhibition, 2013

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.

Portrait of a Modernist

Magazine article by Dimity Goldie, 2003

The National Portrait Gallery acquired the self-portrait by Grace Cossington Smith in 2003.

Sir William Dargie CBE

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

Sir William Dargie, painter and eight times winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture, died in Melbourne on July 26, 2003, aged 91.

Dr B Marika AO

Previous exhibition, 2023

Dr B Marika AO (1954–2021), Yolgnu leader, printmaker, arts administrator, environmentalist and cultural activist, was a member of the renowned Marika family of artists and activists.

2 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.

James McClelland, 1946

Nancy Borlase AM

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gillian Appleton (McClelland) 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Horatio S. Wills

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

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

Country man

Angus Trumble’s tribute to the late Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser.

Admiral Bligh, 1801

John Chapman

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Purchased 2010

Study for Portrait of W S Robinson, 1952

Sir William Dobell OBE

Portrait, oil on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2003

The National Portrait Gallery building in twilight

On a human scale

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2006

The design concepts behind the new National Portrait Gallery building in Canberra.

Little treasures

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2002

The acquisition of the ivory miniatures of Mortimer and Mrs Lewis.

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham)

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham), 2009

Ross Watson

Portrait, oil on board

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

Edward John Eyre, 1867

Julia Margaret Cameron

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper

Presented by Sir Roy Strong and the late Dr Julia Trevelyan Oman in memory of their friendship with Gordon Darling and Marilyn Darling 2006

Edmond John Hogan

Previous exhibition, 2005

Edmond John (Ned) Hogan (1883-1964), farmer and premier, left school early and engaged in road-making, timber-cutting, farm-labouring and rabbiting in addition to farm chores at home.

1 portrait in the collection

Clifton Pugh

Australians

This exhibition offers a comprehensive display of Clifton Pugh's portraits revealing his development and growth from tonal paintings to a unique style that was in demand from politicians, artists, academics and Australian personalities.

Where the wild things are

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

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

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.

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.

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

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.

Sarah and Ann Jacob, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2018

Desert Island Discs

Previous exhibition, 2010

I agonized over the choice of four songs to take with me to the ABC Studios for Alex Sloan’s Canberra 666 afternoon program, a sort of iteration of the old BBC Desert Island Discs.

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.

Celebrity cutpurse

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2010

Grace Carroll discusses the portrait of the late-eighteenth century gentleman pickpocket George Barrington.

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Edward Riou

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Edward Riou (1762-1801), naval officer, began his career with the Royal Navy at the age of twelve.

2 portraits 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.

Venetia, Lady Digby, circa 1633-1634 by Sir Anthony van Dyck

Love in the extreme

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2020

Joanna Gilmour reveals love’s more intense manifestations in the tale of Lord Kenelm and Venetia Digby.

Portrait of Kang Sehwang, 1783 by Yi Myeonggi

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Magazine article by Kwon Hyeeun, 2019

Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.

Mexico from the Palace painted by ‘Maximilian Emperor'

Empirical art

Several years ago I came across this curious painting on the racks in a distant, dusty corner of the store room in the basement of the Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa. Since then the mystery surrounding it has never been far from my mind.

Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, 1983

Harold Thornton

Portrait, aquatint engraving on paper

Gift of the Estate of Harold Thornton 2009

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

The Mutineers turning Lieut Bligh and part of the Officers and Crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship the Bounty, 1790

Robert Dodd

Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008

Facing Facts

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers describes the 1922 Self-portrait with Gladioli by George Lambert.

Andrew Gaze, 2018

by George Fetting

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.

The Dissecting Room

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture.

Relaxed mornings

Visual Stories

Access support for a visiting the Gallery before the general 10:00am opening time.

Mary, Queen of Scots by unknown artist, National Portrait Gallery of London

Portrait dendrochronology

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Angus's latest Trumbology is accompanied by the following caveat: 'This one is reeeeeeally geeky.'

Risk Assessment for groups of students

For your peace of mind

School visit information

Find out about our environment, security checks, potential hazards and more.

Apollo's breath

Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography

Selected images

Magazine article by Alison Weir, 2011

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

Icons and imagery

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

Australia’s great internationalists

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist explores the United Nations stories in the Gallery’s collection.

Heart of Darkness

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

Magda Keaney talks with Bill Leak about his bold new portrait of Robert Hughes in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

Gordon Darling Hall, National Portrait Gallery

Architecture

About us

Natural light and human proportions – the design by Johnson Pilton Walker

Staffordshire bull terrier belonging to the Rev. John Gower, 1851

Essential portraiture

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

Michael Desmond in conversation with University of Houston professor of philosophy Cynthia Freeland.

Virtually yours

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2022

Gill Raymond on creating thought-provoking, interactive content to connect to our online community through portraiture.

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick, c. 1977

Jozef Vissel

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015

Reflections on castles

Andrew Sayers describes the unique characteristics of the international band of portrait galleries.

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

Magazine article by Kylie Scroope, 2011

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

School portraits

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2005

Inga Walton sheds light on a portraiture collection usually only seen by students and teachers at Melbourne University.

Australian Princess

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

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.

Private virtues public lives

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 1824 by James Thomson

Audacity, audacity, audacity

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

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

The portrait writ large

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Getting bare

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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

Emblems of beauty

Magazine article by Keith Christiansen, 2012

Keith Christiansen introduces the exhibition The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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.

You beauty

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

The art of Inner Worlds

Lecture, 7 May 2011

Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.

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

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Some years ago my colleague Andrea Wolk Rager and I spent several days in the darkened basement of a Rothschild Bank, inspecting every one of the nearly 700 autochromes created immediately before World War I by the youthful Lionel de Rothschild.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Home and away

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.

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2010

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

Indexing, the art of

Magazine article by Raimond Gaita, 2015

The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.

Have you forgotten yet? 2014 by Lee Grant

All that fall

Raimond Gaita comments on war and truth in the context of the First World War.

Alexander Pearce
executed for murder
July 19th 1824

Public hanging

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.

Full time

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

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

Portraiture in a Bleak House

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

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.

The numbers man

Dr. Sarah Engledow tells the story of Australia's first Federal statistician, Sir George Knibbs.

Be bold

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007

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.

Vincent Brady leading anti Bicentenary Protest, Brisbane, 1987 Michael Aird

Activating the space

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

Sandra Phillips on portraits of Indigenous activism from Cairns Art Gallery’s 2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture exhibition.

Desperately seeking Sonia

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

The more things change

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

National Photographic Portrait Prize curator, Sarah Engledow, finds reward in a difficult task and ultimately uncovers the essence of portraiture.

One hundred days at 7pm 2015 by Fiona McMonagle

Self-effacing

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

Michael Wardell samples the fare in the University of Queensland National Self-portrait Prize.

Conduct becoming

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2017

Penelope Grist speaks to Bill Henson and Simone Young to discover the origins of the artist’s stunning photographic triptych.

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.

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.

Vanity fair

Magazine article by Ashleigh Wadman, 2012

Ashleigh Wadman rediscovers the Australian characters represented with a kindly touch by the British portrait artist Leslie Ward for the society magazine Vanity Fair.

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats

South-bound and down

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour recounts the story of ill-fated sea voyages in the early stages of the Antipodean colony.

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

The cost of living luxuriously

In 1904, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia purchased as a gift for her sister, Queen Alexandra, a fan composed of two-color gold, guilloché enamel, mother-of-pearl, blond tortoiseshell, gold sequins, silk, cabochon rubies, and rose diamonds from the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg.

Inner Worlds and psychoanalysis

Lecture, 4 June 2011

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2005

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.

Washington preview

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

The Bare story

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

Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and David R. L. Litchfield at Villa Favorita, Lugano, Switzerland, 1989 © Nicola Graydo

The Thyssen Art Macabre

Magazine article by Glynis Jones, 2022

Books seldom make me angry but this one did. At first, I was powerfully struck by the uncanny parallels that existed between the Mellons of Pittsburgh and the Thyssens of the Ruhr through the same period, essentially the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Lyndall Hobbs and Marilyn at the Come as your favourite blonde party, Blitz Club, London, 1979 Robert Rosen

Shiny, happy people

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

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.

Rock Island Bend. Franklin River, South West Tasmania, 1979 by Peter Dombrovskis

Written in Water

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

Picture this...

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

This edited version of a speech by Andrew Sayers examines some of the antecedents of the National Portrait Gallery and set out the ideas behind the modern Gallery and its collection.

Good, bad and the ugly

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

Ms Anna Burke MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives 2015 by Jude Rae

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Magazine article by Jude Rae, 2016

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

Worth her salt

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959 by William Dobell

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

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.

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.

Anangu landscape learning

Magazine article by Natalie Wilson, 2023

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.

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.

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.

Naked ambition

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Joanna Gilmour dives into the life of Australian swimming legend Annette Kellerman.

First-Class Marksman, 1946 by Sidney Nolan

Money for Myth

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Kristin Headlam

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Basil grew into a speckled beauty – a long-legged leaper and an exceptionally vocal dog, with a great register of sounds, ascending in shock value from a whimper to a growl to a bark to a yelp that’s a violation of the ears.

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Sibly irresistible

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2019

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

History

About us

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

The silent partner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Christmas Island

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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.

Portfolio of 54 portraits compiled by Queen Victoria, 1859–1861 by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Camille Silvy, Frances Day and William Bambridge

Queen of cartes

Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

The shipwright's arms

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of convict-turned-artist William Buelow Gould.

Some prime ministers

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

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

Poise and Carats

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

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

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

All the way with K of K

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

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling