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Portrait, pencil, chalk and gouache on paper

Jessie Robertson (1835–1849) was the eldest of the seven children of pastoralist and businessman, William Robertson (1798–1874), and his wife Margaret (née Whyte, 1811–1866).

1 portrait in the collection

Jessie Robertson, c. 1849

Thomas Bock

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013

Album of cartes de visite and cabinet cards compiled by William St Leonards Robertson, 1860s-c. 1900

Various

Portrait, 24 page brown leather bound album of 119 cartes de visite and 16 cabinet card photographs

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

Miss Robertson of Colac (Dolly), 1885-86

Brothers on farms

Magazine article by Malcolm Robertson, 2011

Malcolm Robertson tells the family history of one of Australia's earliest patrons of the arts, his Scottish born great great great grandfather, William Robertson.

Martha Mary Robertson with her child William St Leonards Robertson

Martha Mary Robertson with her child William St Leonards Robertson, c. 1865

Portrait, eight carte de visites, hand coloured, contained in a red leather presentation case

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William and Martha Mary Robertson and their children [William St Leonards, Eliza, John, William St Leonards on a horse, Beatrice and Ida]

William and Martha Mary Robertson and their children [William St Leonards, Eliza, John, William St Leonards on a horse, Beatrice and Ida], 1860s-1870s

Various

Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Elegance in exile

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2012

Elegance in exile is an exhibition surveying the work of Richard Read senior, Thomas Bock, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and Charles Rodius: four artists who, though exiled to Australia as convicts, created many of the most significant and elegant portraits of the colonial period.

William Robertson and Martha Mary Robertson

William Robertson and Martha Mary Robertson, 1863

William Edward Kilburn

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

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

Jessie Whyte

Jessie Whyte (née Walker, 1779–1864). Born in Berwickshire, Scotland, Jessie married George Whyte (d.

1 portrait in the collection

George Hoyningen-Huene and Jessie the Barmaid

Jessie Sinden

Jessie Sinden was a barmaid at the Brooklyn Hotel on George Street in Sydney when she was 'discovered' by Baron George Hoyningen-Huene, a high-profile American fashion photographer and Hollywood figure.

1 portrait in the collection

Jessie Street

Jessie Street (née Lillingston, 1889-1970), feminist and activist, had a 50-year career encompassing achievements on landmark issues such as family planning, equal pay and equal employment.

1 portrait in the collection

Jessie Street

In their own words

Recorded 1967

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon)

Lady Jessie Eyre Williams

Portrait, pastel and chalk on paper laid down on cotton over Cedar strainer

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

1 portrait in the collection

Jessie Whyte, c. 1840

Thomas Bock

Purchased 2017

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.

Jessie Street, 1929

Reginald Jerrold-Nathan

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

George Hoyningen-Huene and Jessie the Barmaid, 1937

Max Dupain OBE

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Chance encounter

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of one of Melbourne's early socialites, Jessie Eyre Williams.

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon), 1833

Claude-Marie Dubufe

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2010

Purchased 2009

The considered life

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

Margaret Robertson

Margaret Robertson (née Whyte, 1811–1866) was the daughter of settlers George and Jessie Whyte, who emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land from Scotland in 1832.

4 portraits in the collection

Bill Robertson CBE MC

Bill Robertson CBE MC (1917-2011), public servant, was educated at Melbourne Grammar and Oxford, where he graduated from the school of Natural Philosophy in 1939.

1 portrait in the collection

William Robertson

William Robertson (1798-1874), pastoralist and entrepreneur, was a key player in the settlement of Victoria in the 1830s.

3 portraits in the collection

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

Ron Robertson-Swann OAM

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

1 portrait in the collection

William Robertson Jnr

William Robertson junior studied at Oxford University and is said to have been the first Australian to row in an Oxford eight, his team victorious in the Boat Race of 1861.

5 portraits in the collection

200 Years of Portraiture

About Face article

To celebrate his family bicentenary, Malcolm Robertson looks at the portraiture legacy left by his ancestors.

Shorty Jangala Robertson

Shorty Jangala Robertson (c. 1930-2014) a Warlukurlangu artist was from Yuendumu in the Northern Territory.

1 portrait in the collection

James Robert M. Robertson

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

1 portrait in the collection

Margaret Robertson, c. 1852

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Robertson, c. 1852

Portrait, 1/6 plate daguerreotype, hand coloured with case

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Robertson jnr, c. 1852

Portrait, 1/6 plate daguerreotype, hand coloured with case

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Margaret Robertson, c. 1855

Portrait, daguerreotype, hand coloured

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait of a young man, held to be John Robertson

Portrait of a young man, held to be John Robertson, c. 1852

Portrait, daguerreotype, hand coloured

Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Margaret Robertson, c. 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

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

James Robert Millar Robertson, 1926

W.A. Bowring

Gift of the descendants of James Robert Millar Robertson 2011

William Robertson junior, c. 1857

Conway Hart

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Martha Mary Robertson, 1866

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

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

Bill Robertson, 2008

Paul Gosney

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Portrait of Ron Robertson-Swann, 1989

Lindsay Churchland

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Anouk and Coby Sanchez 2019

Geoffrey Roland Robertson, 1999 (printed 2022)

Polly Borland

Purchased 2022

William St Leonards Robertson (standing) beside an unidentified man

William St Leonards Robertson (standing) beside an unidentified man, early 1880s

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

William St Leonards Robertson, c. 1865

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William St Leonards Robertson and the Oxford boat race crew

William St Leonards Robertson and the Oxford boat race crew, early 1880s

Hills & Saunders

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

William Robertson, 1866

Thomas Adams Hill

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

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

William St. Leonards Robertson, c. 1869

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

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

Shorty Robertson, 2003

Francis Reiss

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Lady Jessie and Sir Donald Bradman, Kensington Park, Adelaide, South Australia

Lady Jessie and Sir Donald Bradman, Kensington Park, Adelaide, South Australia, 1992-1993 (printed 2019)

Robin Sellick

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Aboriginal couple, Finniss Springs Mission, South Australia

Aboriginal couple, Finniss Springs Mission, South Australia, 1959 (printed 2000)

David Moore

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.

Dowling family portrait [Selina, Jane, Leura and Elizabeth (Bessie) Dowling]

Dowling family portrait [Selina, Jane, Leura and Elizabeth (Bessie) Dowling], c. 1862

Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Maria Dowling and her children Leura, Bessie, Selina, Jane, Jack, Ben and Joe Dowling [Selina Dowling, Jane Dowling, Maria Jane Dowling (née Ware), John Ware Dowling, Joseph Dowling, Benjamin Dowling, Elizabeth (Bessie) Dowling, Leura Dowling]

Maria Dowling and her children Leura, Bessie, Selina, Jane, Jack, Ben and Joe Dowling [Selina Dowling, Jane Dowling, Maria Jane Dowling (née Ware), John Ware Dowling, Joseph Dowling, Benjamin Dowling, Elizabeth (Bessie) Dowling, Leura Dowling], c. 1859

Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Maria Jane Dowling, c. 1862

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

Leura Dowling, c. 1861

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

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

The Hon. James Whyte, c. 1874

John Hubert Newman

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

A good innings

Devotion

Childhood sweethearts

Here’s looking at you, kid

Devotion

Is he thinking of me?

Portrait 33

September - November 2009

Magazine

This issue features Hermannsburg pottery, Nicole Kidman, Ken Done, Jessie Street, two gladiators, the Portraits+Architecture exhibition and more.

A charming prospect

Nearest & Dearest

Family fortunes

Suzie Petyarre Hunter

Suzie Petyarre (also spelt Pitjara) Hunter (b. c. 1966), painter, is an Alyawarre woman who lives a traditional life in the bush at Irrultja, Utopia.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Edward E. Williams

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

Reginald Jerrold-Nathan

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

2 portraits in the collection

Captain Francis Edward de Groot

Francis Edward de Groot (1888-1969) was born in Dublin and came to Australia in 1910.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Windeyer

Sir William Windeyer (1834-1897) was a politician and judge. One of the first undergraduates to study at the University of Sydney, he developed a particular interest in education and the rights of women - he was responsible for the Married Women's Property Act of 1879, and was Founding Chairman of the university's Women's College.

4 portraits in the collection

Suzie Petyarre, 1994

Greg Weight

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

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

Lillie Langtry, c. 1885

W & D Downey

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

Tom Thompson

Tom Thompson (b. 1953) is a publisher and writer. During the 1980s he worked as a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald and as publishing coordinator of the Encyclopedia of the Australian People (for the Australian Bicentennial Authority) before moving to Collins, for which he developed the Imprint label in 1988.

2 portraits in the collection

Rosemary Dobson, 1981

Max Dupain OBE

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

Sir William Charles Windeyer, 1892

Tom Roberts

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

Andrew Charlton

Andrew 'Boy' Charlton (1907-1975) was a keen surfer throughout his youth.

1 portrait in the collection

Edith Ellen Williams, c. 1871

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Sir Hartley Williams, c. 1871

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Kondelea (Della) Elliott, 1979

Ivy Shore

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Jeannie Highet and Kim Buchan 2012

Monochromatic Self-Portrait, 2000 by Genevieve Preston

Headspace 1

Previous exhibition, 2000

Headspace showcases portrait art produced by secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 in Government, Catholic and Independent schools in Canberra and its surrounding regions extending to Wollongong, Deniliquin, Leeton, Crookwell, Bombala, Narooma and Albury

Wenten Rubuntja, 2001

Greg Weight

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

Kondelea Elliott

Kondelea Elliott (1917–2011), union official and women's rights lobbyist, was the daughter of a Greek migrant father, Nicholas Xenodohos, who had come from the Queensland canefields via Sydney, and an Australian mother who had left school at the age of eight and performed in a circus.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Walsh

Sydney-born Richard Walsh (b. 1941) is an Australian publisher, journalist, broadcaster, editor, lecturer and company director.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Walsh, Editor OZ magazine at the Hunter Street offices, c. 1966 (printed 2021)

Robert McFarlane

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

Alex Kolozsy

Alex Kolozsy left his native Transylvania for Hungary as a small child.

1 portrait in the collection

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Ben Quilty

Ben Quilty (b. 1973), painter, gained bachelor’s degrees in painting and visual communication at Sydney College of the Arts and the University of Western Sydney.

1 portrait 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

2022 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

Arthur Murch