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Powerful Indigenous women

June Oscar AO lauds three iconic Aboriginal figures in the Portrait Gallery collection who have inspired and influenced her.

June Dally-Watkins, 1949 (printed 2008)

Purchased 2008

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

June Dally-Watkins, 1959

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal 2023

June Elliott, c. 2000

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

June Dally Watkins, c. 1968 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Mervyn Godfrey, 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of June Orford 2009

The Rt Rev Barbara Darling, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Tony and Maureen Wheeler, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Gordon and Marilyn Darling, 1994

Gift of Francis Reiss 2009

The Godfrey family of Melways guides, 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Last week to vote for your favourite portrait

The National Portrait Gallery’s National Photographic Portrait Prize 2015 will close Monday 8 June 2015, this is the last week to visit the exhibition in Canberra and vote for your favourite portrait in the People’s Choice.

Dr Gene Sherman AM announces resignation from the National Portrait Gallery Board

It is with deep regret, but great pride, that the National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the decision of its Deputy Chairman to resign from the Gallery’s Board, to focus on a new international role as co-Chair of the Tate Asia Pacific Acquisitions Committee.

Paul Kelly and The Portraits media information

Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.

So Fine

Ten women artists explore the possibilities of portraiture as a contemporary art form; and reinterpret and reimagine Australian history in the Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history.

APS4 Learning Facilitator (Temporary Register)

The Gallery is establishing a temporary register to fill short-term vacancies when they arise throughout the 2023-24 Financial Year. Vacancies could be full-time or part-time.

Artist in residence creates portraits using brainwave zctivity

Digital media artist, George Khut, is creating a spectacular form of digital portraiture involving public participants.

Harold David Takes out the People’s Choice Award for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize

The votes are in and the National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce The Honourable Bob Hawke savouring a strawberry milkshake by Harold David is the people’s choice for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018.

The 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize

Shea Kirk’s portrait of friend and fellow-artist Emma Armstrong-Porter has won the 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Rod McNicol

Australian photographer Rod McNicol has consistently analysed the passing of time through the evidence of the photographic portrait. At once confronting and tender, McNicol’s portrait photographs are bold and intimate.

Portrait 12

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Peter Brew-Bevan, daguerreotypes, the exhibition Depth of Field, Ern McQuillan's photographs of sportspeople and more.

Portrait 43

This issue features Cindy Sherman, Tim Storrier, Brett Whiteley and Patrick White, contemporary Chinese portraiture, Charles Blackman and more.

Portrait 36

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

Portrait 28

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Harold Cazneaux, nineteenth-century carte de visites, Tim Winton, Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo, Evelyn Chapman and more.

Portrait 20

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Dame Nellie Melba and Frances Alda, Leigh Bowery, Karin Catt, Sidney Nolan and more.

Portrait 8

This issue of Portrait Magazine focusses on the importance of philanthropy for the National Portrait Gallery.

Portrait 32

This issue features Vanity Fair, Nancy Bird Walton, William Barak, Sidney Kidman, Benjamin Duterrau's portraits of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania, and more.

Portrait 24

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Robert Hannaford, Walter Lindrum, John Brack, judicial portraits, Vincent Lingiari and more.

Portrait 16

This issue of Portrait Magazine features portraits by Rick Amor, colonial charicatures, Les Murray, Peter Porter, Helen Garner and more.

Portrait 4

This issue of Portrait Magazine features articles on Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, George Lambert's self-portrait, Professor Peter Doherty, the man behind the Dr. Who theme, and more.

The People’s Choice Awards

The votes have been counted, and the winners of the National Portrait Gallery’s People’s Choice Awards for the Prize exhibitions are...

Inner Worlds and psychoanalysis

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.

INXS, ANU Union, Canberra, 18 June 1981

Grow the Portrait Gallery of Australia

The Portrait Gallery is calling for contributions to support in the acquisition of superb portraits for the national collection.

Feather voted the people’s favourite

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to announce that the People’s Choice award for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize goes to Natalie Grono from Byron Bay for her photograph Feather and the Goddess Pool 2014.

Jeffrey Smart, Tuscany, June 8, 2011

Rare Set of Watercolour Paintings on Display for the First Time

A rare and enchanting collection of 52 portraits of British street people will be on display for the first time in the National Portrait Gallery’s winter show, Dempsey’s People: a folio of British street portraits 1824-1844.

In Conversation

Brenda L Croft (Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra peoples) talks with Ngambri/Ngunnawal/Wiradjuri elder, Dr Matilda House, about her photographic portrait.

INXS, Michael Hutchence (vocals), ANU Union, Canberra, 18 June 1981

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, 1882

Purchased 2009

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, page 2

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, page 1

APS2 Casual Visitor Services Officers (Temporary Register)

The Visitor Services Officer is part of the Access and Learning Team greeting visitors as part of the front of house team. This role requires experience in dealing with the general public, welcoming at the door and guiding them to the Gallery amenities, scanning pre-sold exhibition tickets, and assisting visitors to various exhibitions in the Gallery.

Charles Kingsford Smith and crew of the Southern Cross before the east-west crossing of the Atlantic, June 1930, 1930

Purchased 2019

Julia Gillard, 2013

Gift of the artist 2013

Yassmin Abdel-Magied, 2017

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015). The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

Update on Temporary Closure of the National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery will close its doors from Tuesday 23 April 2019, but the public are still able to experience the home of portraiture during the four-month closure.

Hardtmuth 'Hottie' Lahm, 1973

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of June Lahm 2015
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Sculling Match at Sydney for the Championship of the World, 1877

Purchased 2015

The last bushrangers

Brothers in harms

Les and Eileen, 2010

Gifts and Benefits Register

In accordance with the Australian Public Service Commission’s Guidance for Agency Heads on Gifts and Benefits, the National Portrait Gallery will maintain a register of gifts and benefits accepted by its Director and publicly disclose any that are over $100 in value.

The Archduke

The immediate chain of events that led to the outbreak of the First World War began 100 years ago on June 28.

Executive Remuneration Reporting

The remuneration of the Principal Executive Officer (Band B) is set in accordance with the Determination of the Remuneration Tribunal.

Runners, 2010

Gifts register for previous years

Onsite visit bookings

For in person visits, make an educational booking here through our bookcanberraexcursions.com.au portal.

The Destruction of the Kelly gang (from The Australasian Sketcher, 17 July 1880), 1880

Purchased 2017

2023 Annual Appeal

In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.

Howard Arkley 1, 1980 (printed 2012)

Purchased 2012

Portrait 57

The discovery of Dempsey's People, Australian rugby greats, Athol Shmith's progressive pictures, and powerful Indigenous portraits.

Ned Kelly the Bushranger (from The Australasian Sketcher, 7 August 1880), 1880

Purchased 2002

So Fine

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce its winter exhibition is So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history. It will open to the public from 29 June 2018.

Hera Roberts, 1936

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

Stable Scene with Shane Dye, 2000

Gift of the artist 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Nourou-gal-derri, 1807-1817

Purchased 2009

Sylvia Breamer, c. 1920

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Sylvia Breamer, c. 1917-1919

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

The Right Honourable Charles Lord Hawkesbury, Chancellor of the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster, 1788

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Extraordinary airmen make aviation history

Charles is my wingman

Fanny Jane Marlay, c. 1841

Purchased 2013

John Connell, c. 1830

Gift of Eleanor Thornton 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt as Marguerite Gautier in 'La Dame aux Camélias', 1891

Purchased 2020

Daddy Cool, Melbourne, 1974

Purchased 2005

The Kelly Gang (from The Australasian Sketcher, 17 July 1880), 1880

Purchased 2017

A Chief Secretary "Blunt, but Honest" [The Hon. James Goodall Francis], 1874

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

a Postmaster General (Sir James Fergusson), 1892

Purchased 2014

Kay Cottee, 1993

Gift of the artist 1999

Australian Cricket (George John Bonnor), 1884

Purchased 2013

Buoyant Brack brood breeds inspiration

Domesticity’s creative maelstrom

From riot to revelry

Pride, protest, panache

Lord Kitchener, n.d.

Purchased 2016

The Payne family, 1888-1889

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018

Charles Dickens

Captain John Lort Stokes, c. 1841

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

The people's champion, Mr Lang, c. 1927

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Neil Finn and Paul Hester, 1987 (printed 2021)

Gift of the artist 2021

Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes folio atlas (second edition), 1824

Purchased 2017

Betty Churcher, 1994

Gift of the artist 2021

The Boss, Ross Wilson, 2009

Collection: National Portriat Gallery
Gift of the artist 2011

Robert Brown, c. 1835

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, c. 1870

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

The Bushranger Tragedy (from The Australasian Sketcher, 23 November 1878), 1878

Purchased 2003

Mary Chomley, 1909

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021

Her Majesty, The Queen, Elizabeth II (Blue), 2001

Purchased 2021

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2015

National Portrait Gallery Director Angus Trumble invites media to the announcement of the winner and exhibition preview for the 2015 National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Portrait of Augustus Leopold Küper, 1823

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Mandawuy Yunupingu, 1991 (printed 2011)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Mandawuy Yunupingu, NT, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Martha Knox, c. 1855

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

Eagle Ross (Ross Wilson), 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Max Walker, 1976 (printed 2010)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by James Bain AM and Janette Bain 2010

Henry (Harry) Donnan (member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

A Victorian Knight "Thrice Chief Secretary" [Sir James McCulloch K.C.M.G.], 1874

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Sir William Dargie

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

John Fairfax, c. 1860

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Call for entries

DPP entries close 11:55pm AEDT Wednesday 31 January 2024.

Sir Oswald Brierly, c. 1870

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Mysterious eyes

Boyd’s self-portrait at age 25 is joined by his equally emotive portraits of those around him.

The Waxworks

Waxworks were among the various types of entertainment venue to emerge in Australian cities in the mid-nineteenth century. 

JOH (The Hon Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen), c. 1987

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003

Arizona 250 GT Major General Liz Cosson, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

At easel

Tim Bonyhady recalls his experience as sitter for his close friend and former National Portrait Gallery Director, the late Andrew Sayers.

Awesome Achievers

What makes someone awesome? And how does a portrait tell a person's story? Bring your students up close and personal with some great Australians. For upper primary school students.

Clem Hill (member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Dame Nellie Melba,

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Governor of South Australia, 1881

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Cour-rou-bari-gal, 1807

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Darling Portrait Prize

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015), who was instrumental in establishing the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

The First Ministry under Responsible Government in New South Wales, 1856

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian, c. 1866

Purchased 2014

Duke of Wellington, 1841

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

William Charles Windeyer, c. 1857

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009

Kelly in the Guard's Van en route to Beechworth (from The Australasian Sketcher, 17 July 1880), 1880

Purchased 2017

On the passage and pace of time

In shock it fluctuates and with age, accelerates. Remembering the First World War and the Easter Rising.

Arthur Boyd Portraits

This is the first in a series of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions to survey the portraits painted by artists who are not thought of, primarily, as portrait painters

Heads of the People

For Tom Roberts - Australia's best nineteenth-century portrait painter - neither a proto-national portrait gallery nor more popular collections of portrait heads, were sufficient public celebrations for the notables of Australian history

Arts Handlers’ Award Announced for NPPP 2018

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce Stephanie Simcox  has received the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 Art Handlers’ Award for her portrait titled Joey.

Autumn in Canberra

In Persuasion (1818), a long walk on a fine autumn day affords Anne Elliot an opportunity to ruminate wistfully and at great length upon declining happiness, youth and hope.

Wylie, 1840-1841

Purchased 2018

The Saints, 1978 (printed 2018)

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Beyond the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, a number of other notable anniversaries converge this year. Waterloo deserves a little focussed consideration, for in the decades following 1815 numerous Waterloo and Peninsular War veterans came to Australia.

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022)

The National Portrait Gallery is deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Throughout her 70-year reign, Her Majesty represented graciousness, humanity and stability during times of enormous social change.

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (future Queen Elizabeth II), 1942-1943

Purchased 2019

Collection: Icons

When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

Graeme Murphy, n.d.

Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Post digital

Tegan McAuley looks at the evolution of video portraiture.

Cooey! An Australian Song

"Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey—Love has caught the strain, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey—it whispers back again." The “Australian lady” who composed these fruity lyrics was none other than Desda— Jane Davies, sometime Messiter (née Price) of Leddicott, Lavender Bay.

Sir William Dargie CBE

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

New app gets kids excited about portraits at the National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery has officially launched a new digital interactive Gallery experience called Headhunt!, the first app of its kind being used in museums and galleries. Headhunt! is a tablet-based app for visitors aged 7-15 that encourages children to take the lead and independently explore the Gallery.

Mr John Eason, 1838

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2013

Nellie Melba, 1898

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

The National Photographic Portrait Prize is an annual event intending to promote the very best in contemporary photographic portraiture by both professional and aspiring Australian photographers.

Ned Kelly death mask, date unknown

Collection: National Portrait Gallery Study Collection, Canberra
Gift of John Molony 2018

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Untitled (preparatory study for sculpture of Dr John Yu), 2003

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2004

Captain W Kinghorne, 1834

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2007

To Look Within

This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of self-portraits in Australia, from the colonial period to the present

HM Queen Elizabeth II, 2001

Purchased 2002

First Ladies

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

Sideshow Alley

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.

The consolations of religion

James McCabe provides proof that hanging wasn’t necessarily a fate reserved for the perpetrators of murder and other deeds of darkest hue. 

Modern Australian Women

Close contemporaries, Thea Proctor, Margaret Preston and Grace Cossington Smith were frequently sources of inspiration and irritation to each other. 

Presenting… Shirley Purdie’s Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

The National Portrait Gallery this week launches an online exhibition of Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe to coincide with Reconciliation Week.

Time and light

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.

Liu Wei

Born 1965 in Beijing. Lives and works in Beijing.

Edward John Eyre, 1867

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

Masters of Fare

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.

Primed

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

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

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.

Robert O'Hara Burke, c. 1860

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Textiles Scientist Voted the People’s Favourite

The black and white portrait of an elderly woman with sidelong glance and irreverent, contemplative smile has taken out the people’s choice award in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Thomas Pearce, c. 1878

Purchased 2010

Dempsey's people

Those of you who are active in social media circles may be aware that through the past week I have unleashed a blitz on Facebook and Instagram in connection with our new winter exhibition Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits, 1824−1844.

Husbands and Wives

'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.

Australian of the Year

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

Uncommon Australians

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.

Making Portraits

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

Hearts of Darkness

The National Portrait Gallery's acquisition of the portrait of Edward John Eyre by pioneering English photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

The first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America, 1878

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Very fine and very like

When did notions of very fine and very like become separate qualities of a portrait? And what happens to 'very like' in the age of photographic portraiture?

2021 Annual Appeal

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

Powerful energy

Dr Christopher Chapman explores the symbolism in the portrait commission of Marcia Langton by Brook Andrew.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

Images for media use will be available from 8 March 2018.

Three ways to look at a photograph

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2019 Prize.

Gary Grealy wins National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

After months of anticipation, the winner for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 has been announced with renowned Sydney portrait photographer Gary Grealy taking out the award. George Fetting, guest judge for the 2017 Prize, was entranced with the evocative nature of the winning portrait Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay.

Terms and conditions

These terms and conditions govern entries to the National Portrait Gallery’s Darling Portrait Prize 2024.

The 1850s to the 1880s

The restrained and cultivated facial hair fashions evident through the first decades of the 1800s were on the wane by the middle of the century, when hirsute faces became mainstream.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 winner announced

Finalists have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Winner and Highly Commended for the National Photographic Portrait Prize since December. It is our pleasure to announce the Winner for 2018 is Lee Grant for her portrait titled Charlie and Highly Commended has been awarded to Filomena Rizzo for her portrait titled My Olivia.

Announcing... Portrait23: Identity

In this major new exhibition marking the National Portrait Gallery’s third decade, 23 Australian artists and collectives have been invited to create portraits without constraints or boundaries.

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats, 1790

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Portrait of Captain Edward Riou, 1801

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Embrace your inner nerd

The southern winter has arrived. For people in the northern hemisphere (the majority of humanity) the idea of snow and ice, freezing mist and fog in June, potentially continuing through to August and beyond, encapsulates the topsy-turvidom of our southern continent.

A stitch in time: Participating in portraiture

Author and embroidery enthusiast Emma Batchelor shares her experience of joining a sewing circle with Portrait23: Identity artist Deborah Kelly.

Basking in light

Pieter Roelofs, Head of Painting and Sculpture at Rijksmuseum and co-curator of Vermeer, delves into the largest-ever exhibition of the master artist.

A rogue's calling card

Joanna Gilmour explores the stories behind the ninteenth-century carte de visites of bushrangers Frank Gardiner and Fred Lowry.

The play’s the thing

Penelope Grist charts an immersive path through Stuart Spence’s photography.

The Good Doctor

Dr Sarah Engledow describes the achievements of internationally renowned burns and trauma surgeon Professor Fiona Wood.

Australia’s great internationalists

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

Eye line

Jo Bertini describes the evolution of her portrait of artists and friends Kitty Kantilla and Freda Warlapinni.

Vintage Cassab

The oil portrait of Sir Frank Packer KBE by Judy Cassab was gifted to the National Portrait Gallery in 2006.

The painter and the princess

Michael Desmond interviews Ralph Heimans about his portrait of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

Imagination

Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.

Let’s dance

Emma Batchelor uncovers the compelling contemporary dance made in response to the works in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Andrew Sayers AM FAHA

The Chairman, Board, Director and staff mourn the loss of the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural director.

Capturing Cook

In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.

Entry guidelines 2024

Read the full requirements for entering the prize.

Annual Appeal

Sir Thomas Gore-Browne, 1864

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Mind and body

Christopher Chapman interviews photographer Nikki Toole about her bold and controlled portraits of skateboarders in the exhibition Skater.

Back track

Penelope Grist finds photographer Matt Nettheim re-visiting a formative and fulfilling career tram stop.

Lauded legacy

Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

The Saint and the merchant

Emanuel Solomon gave shelter to the Sisters of St Joseph upon the excommunication of St Mary MacKillop.

Storied portrait

Emily Casey takes in Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait, Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe.

Moving pictures

The exhibition California Video at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles demonstrated how video artists expand the boundaries of portraiture.

What price self?

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

Terms and conditions

Conditions of entry for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2015.

Meeting by Murder

The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.

South-bound and down

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

Recollections of a sinologist sitter

Professor Stephen Fitzgerald, Australia’s first Ambassador to China, traces the historical course from sino-australian cultural engagement to a maturing Australian identity.

Air wear

Aviation carried women’s roles in society to greater heights – fashion followed suit.

All the way with K of K

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

Alwin Reamillo

Alwin Reamillo was born in Manila, Philippines in 1964. He studied painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, and began his career as a visual art teacher at the Philippine High School for the Arts.

Less than six degrees of separation

Anne Sanders finds connections in Inner Worlds between Hungarian expatriates and the development of psychoanalysis in Australia.

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) comedian, impresario and entrepreneur, was a driving force of the early Australian theatre.

Beyond the bow tie

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

The bright-eyed Mariner

A man of superior attainments

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Doodles of the Diva

Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.

No Laughing Matter

The biographical exhibition of Barry Humphries was the first display of its kind at the National Portrait Gallery.

The personal and the historical

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.

Painting them gently

Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.

Go Figure!

Claire Roberts interviews Swiss art collector Uli Sigg.

A reflection on conversation pieces

There is in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, an English painting, datable on the basis of costume to about 1745, that has for many years exercised my imagination.

Kiwi magpie

Penelope Grist finds inspiration in pioneering New Zealand artist, Frances Hodgkins.

The art of peace

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

Wunderkind lost

Inga Walton on the brief but brilliant life of Hugh Ramsay.

Reflections on portraiture

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

Us being ourselves

Penelope Grist talks to photographer Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis about capturing moments, telling stories and keeping Culture strong.

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.

Great Scots

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The importance of being bearded

Joanna Gilmour discovers that the beards of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills were as epic as their expedition to traverse Australia from south to north.

The life of Bryant

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

You beauty

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

Lovingly observed

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

In a good paddock

Celebrating a new painted portrait of Joseph Banks, Sarah Engledow spins a yarn of the naturalist, the first kangaroo in France and Don, a Spanish ram.

Big bouquet of Blackmans

Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.

Terms and conditions

The Dissecting Room

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

Some prime ministers

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

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

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.

Anna Culliton

Anna Culliton never had a colouring-in book when she was little. Her parents –Tony, a filmmaker, and Stephanie, a painter – wouldn’t let her have one. Instead, they insisted on her drawing her own pictures to colour-in. 

The Thyssen Art Macabre

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.

Thrown together

Shipmates for years, James Cook and Joseph Banks each kept a journal but neither man shed light on their relationship.

Generous Janice

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

The shipwright's arms

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

Portrait Donors

Portraiture in a Bleak House

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.

Christmas Island

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.

Material culture

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