Dame Joan Sutherland (1926–2010) was one of the world’s greatest operatic divas.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of William Bowmore AO OBE 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Eric Harding and Athol Hawke 2002
Kynan Sutherland was born in Launceston, Tasmania. He has traveled and painted all over the continent, from the deserts of Central Australia to the forests of South Gippsland.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
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
Joan Croll AO (b. 1928), a breast physician and practising radiologist, is a conservation activist and vigorous writer of letters-to-the-editor.
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 and bluestockings.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Joan Croll AO 2007
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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 Frank Croll and Dr Joan Croll AO 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Semple Kerr 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.
Joan Sutherland, Robert Helpmann and Raigh Roe
Peter Schipperheyn, Melbourne-based sculptor, gained his diploma in Fine Art from the Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1978.
1 portrait 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.
This issue features Julia Gillard on the late Joan Kirner, Julian Opie’s digital portraiture, Nicholas Harding’s Godot gouaches and more.
Robert Hannaford (b. 1944), a largely self-taught artist, grew up on his family farm before working as political cartoonist for the Adelaide Advertiser from 1964 to 1967.
6 portraits in the collection
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
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
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
Norm Provan (b. 1932), 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
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.
Edward Richards, photographer, has lived and worked in Canberra for most of his life.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Barbara and Jim Higgins 2010
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999
Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry
Barbara Tribe was born in Sydney, where she enrolled at East Sydney Technical College at the age of fifteen.
4 portraits in the collection
Anne Levy AO (b. 1934) was the first female ever to preside in an Australian parliament.
1 portrait in the collection
Kate Grenville completed an arts degree at the University of Sydney and worked as a film editor before spending several years in the UK and Europe, where she began to write.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Anne Levy AO 2014
The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lin Bloomfield 2017
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
George Hurrell, born in Kentucky, began his working life studying painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Joan Connery OAM 2020
Rick Amor (b. 1948) is a Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor.
27 portraits in the collection
Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Brian Close, Githabul Tribe, Woodenbong 2000
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Rennie Ellis: Aussies All is a celebration of the life and work of the late Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.
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.
Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film.
The Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia is delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Karen Quinlan as its incoming Director.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Joan Collins and the Todd-Wilson family in memory of Bill Collins 2019
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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
Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.
Born in Surakarta (Solo), Indonesia in 1969, Melati Suryodarmo’s first degree was in international relations.
Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.
Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.
Karl James reflects on soldier portraiture during the Great War.
Celebrate the Gallery’s 20th birthday summer with Electric! Portraits that pop! The collection exhibition features a mix of bright, bold and colourful paintings, prints and photographs, and buoyant video portraits.
Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.
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.
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.
Michael Desmond in conversation with University of Houston professor of philosophy Cynthia Freeland.
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.
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).
The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of convict-turned-artist William Buelow Gould.
Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.
