- About us
- Support the Gallery
- Venue hire
- Publications
- Research library
- Organisation chart
- Employment
- Contact us
- Make a booking
- Onsite programs
- Online programs
- School visit information
- Learning resources
- Little Darlings
- Professional learning
Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE (1926–2010) was one of the world's greatest operatic divas.
3 portraits in the collection
Gift of William Bowmore AO OBE 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Eric Harding and Athol Hawke 2002
Graham Sutherland OM (1903–1980) was an English artist, best known as the painter of the portrait of Sir Winston Churchill aged 80, subsequently destroyed by the sitter's wife, Clementine.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC and the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2015
An interview with the indomitable Joan Croll, subject of John Brack's portrait.
Joan Kirner AC (1938-2015) was the first female premier of Victoria. Daughter of a fitter and turner and a homemaker, she attended the selective University High School, graduating from the University of Melbourne to teach in state schools.
1 portrait in the collection
Dr Joan Croll AO (1928–2022), radiologist and physician, studied medicine at the University of Sydney and commenced practising in 1975.
2 portraits in the collection
Joan Kerr (1938-2004), art historian, writer and lecturer, was responsible for several key reference texts on Australian art.
1 portrait in the collection
Joan Redshaw AM (1921–1994), medical practitioner, chose her career in opposition to her father, a judge, who thought the University of Sydney medical school was a hotbed of women's activists.
1 portrait in the collection
Julia Gillard pays poignant tribute to her friend and mentor, the late Joan Kirner, Victoria’s first and only female premier.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Semple Kerr 2004
Gift of Frank Croll and Dr Joan Croll AO 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Dr Joan Croll AO 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006
Purchased 2016
Emma Kindred looks at the career of Joan Ross, whose work subverts colonial imagery and its legacy with the clash of fluorescent yellow.
Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.
Discover 50 colonial-era collection works alongside 50 works by contemporary artist Joan Ross. With wit and wry critique, Ross will make you consider the artist’s role in determining which stories are told, about who and why.
Joan Sutherland, Robert Helpmann and Raigh Roe
Peter Schipperheyn (b. 1955), Melbourne-based sculptor, is well known for his contemporary marble and bronze sculptures of the human form.
1 portrait in the collection
Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry
Clif Peir (b.1905) was a Sydney painter and teacher, who studied at the Julian Ashton School under Ashton and H.C.Gibbons.
1 portrait in the collection
Robert Hannaford AM (b. 1944), a largely self-taught artist, grew up on his family farm near the small South Australian town of Riverton before working as political cartoonist for the Adelaide Advertiser from 1964 to 1967.
6 portraits in the collection
This issue of Portrait Magazine features David Moore, Midnight Oil, Dr Joan Croll by John Brack, the acquisition of the Captain Cook portrait, and more.
Coby Edgar reflects on the artist Joan Ross, whose practice probes the ongoing consequences of colonisation, climate change and consumerism in Australia.
This issue features Julia Gillard on the late Joan Kirner, Julian Opie’s digital portraiture, Nicholas Harding’s Godot gouaches and more.
It is not well known that the person who composed the famous theme music for the BBC's Doctor Who series was Australian Ron Grainer.
Dame Margaret Scott AC DBE (1922-2019) ballerina and teacher, was scarred by her education in a Johannesburg convent boarding school and left her home on a Swaziland farm in 1939.
1 portrait in the collection
June Mendoza AO OBE (1924–2024) was born into a musical family in Melbourne and started sketching portraits while touring with her mother, a composer and pianist.
1 portrait in the collection
A magnanimous portrait of Helena Rubinstein has been acquired for the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.
Robert Hannaford has completed around 400 portraits over the span of his career.
Richard Bonynge AO CBE (b. 1930), conductor, won a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music when he was twelve.
1 portrait in the collection
Ryan Presley about portraiture, Emma Kindred on the career of Joan Ross, Ellie Buttrose looks at Archie Moore’s kith and kin, and Joanna Gilmour steps into the world of Julie Rrap.
Norm Provan (1932-2021), footballer and coach, played junior rugby league for Sutherland and trialled unsuccessfully for Eastern Suburbs before being signed by the St George Dragons in 1951.
1 portrait in the collection
John Vickery (1906-1983), illustrator, designer and painter was the only Australian to be part of the New York School in 1960s which includes painters such as Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell and Willem de Kooning.
1 portrait in the collection
James Scobie (1860-1940), horse trainer, was born at Ararat, Victoria, and at age 20 he rode his first metropolitan jumping winner at Ballarat.
1 portrait in the collection
With contributions from Julia Gillard, Fiona Gruber, and Dr Karl James, the National Portrait Gallery’s 50th edition of Portrait has something for everyone.
Purchased with funds provided by Barbara and Jim Higgins 2010
Edward Richards, photographer, has lived and worked in Canberra for most of his life.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of the artist 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Helena Rubinstein (1872‒1965) was the first self-made millionairess of modern times, and created the first publicly-listed global cosmetics corporation.
Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.
Purchased with funds provided by Harold Mitchell AC 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999
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.
Gift of The Honourable Margaret Lusink AM 2021
Purchased with funds provided by Joan Connery OAM 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lin Bloomfield 2017
The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.
The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.
John Connell (c. 1759–1849), free settler, merchant and landowner, came to New South Wales aboard the Earl Cornwallis, which arrived in Sydney in June 1801.
1 portrait in the collection
Barbara Tribe (1913–2000), artist, is one of Australia's most significant sculptors.
4 portraits in the collection
Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.
Anne Levy AO (b. 1934), politician, was the first woman to preside in an Australian parliament.
1 portrait in the collection
George Hurrell, born in Kentucky, began his working life studying painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.
1 portrait in the collection
Rick Amor (b. 1948) is a Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor.
27 portraits in the collection
Gift of Richard Brian Close, Githabul people, Woodenbong 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Members of the Board, Foundation and staff of the National Portrait Gallery are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Angus Trumble.
Shepard Fairey is best known for his iconic poster Obama/Hope which he made in support of Barack Obama for the 2008 US election.
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.
The Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia is delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Karen Quinlan as its incoming Director.
The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.
Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film.
Gift of Joan Collins and the Todd-Wilson family in memory of Bill Collins 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.
Frà Professor Richard Divall AO OBE (1945–2017), conductor, composer and scholar, grew up in Manly and was educated at Manly Boys’ High School.
1 portrait in the collection
Born in Surakarta (Solo), Indonesia in 1969, Melati Suryodarmo’s first degree was in international relations.
Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.
Karl James reflects on soldier portraiture during the Great War.
Elspeth Pitt talks to multidisciplinary artist Nell about ghosts, artistic lineages and hybrid art forms.
Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.
David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.
Anne Sanders and Christopher Chapman bring passionate characterisation to Express Yourself, the Portrait Gallery collection exhibition celebrating iconoclastic Australians.
Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.
Michael Desmond in conversation with University of Houston professor of philosophy Cynthia Freeland.
Dr Sarah Engledow examines a number of figures in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery who were pioneers or substantial supporters of the seminal Australian environmental campaigns of the early 1970s and 1980s.
As the National Portrait Gallery opens its exhibition of portrait and figurative work by veteran photographer Sam Haskins, the artist reflects on the highlights of his fifty-year career so far.
Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.
An extensive selection of portraits by John Brack were on display at the National Portrait Gallery in late 2007.
Penelope Grist finds inspiration in pioneering New Zealand artist, Frances Hodgkins.
Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.
Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.
‘Everybody’s lives are built by so many influences, and for me, it is writers, artists and activists who have influenced how I think about the world.’
Anne O’Hehir on the seductive power of the film still to reflect and shape ourselves and our cultural landscape.
To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).
Rebecca Harkins-Cross considers Carol Jerrems’ portraiture against the backdrop of social change in the 1970s.
The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.
Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of convict-turned-artist William Buelow Gould.
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.
Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.