Search / malcolm shore

Ivy Shore (1915–1999), painter, was born in Melbourne, daughter of a South Australian suffragette, Elka, and engineer John Williams.

2 portraits in the collection

Arnold Shore

Arnold Shore, a lifelong inhabitant of Melbourne, was apprenticed to a stained glass and leadlight company called Brooks, Robinson soon after leaving school at the age of twelve.

2 portraits in the collection

Self portrait, 1962

Arnold Shore

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Shore 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Arnold Shore

In their own words

Recorded 1962

Ivy Shore, 1961

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Harvey and Russell Shore 2014

Kondelea (Della) Elliott, 1979

Ivy Shore

Gift of Jeannie Highet and Kim Buchan 2012

HV (Doc) Evatt, 1935

Arnold Shore

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

Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC CH

The Rt. Hon John Malcolm Fraser AC CH PC (1930-2015) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983.

5 portraits in the collection

Malcolm Williamson AO CBE

Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson AO CBE (1931–2003), composer, was born in Sydney, and was educated at Barker College, Hornsby, and then at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he studied piano and French horn as well as composition under Sir Eugene Goossens.

1 portrait in the collection

Malcolm J. McCusker AC CVO KC

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

1 portrait in the collection

200 Years of Portraiture

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

The Right Hon. Malcolm Fraser, AC, CH

'How can I get out of doing this?'

The Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser, AC, CH, who died in Melbourne on 20 March, was the last surviving prime minister of Australia to have been sworn of H.M. Privy Council (in 1976)—hence the “Right Honourable”.

Malcolm McCusker & Vincent Fantauzzo

Portrait story

Malcolm McCusker talks with artist Vincent Fantauzzo about starting out as a lawyer and becoming Governor of Western Australia.

Malcolm, 1976

Frank Hinder

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

Malcolm Fraser, 1990 (printed 2010)

Bill McAuley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Malcolm McCusker AC CVO KC, 2022

Vincent Fantauzzo

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Gift of Nigel Satterley AM and Denise Satterley 2022

Malcolm Fraser, Randwick Racecourse, 1975 (printed 2002)

Roger Scott

Purchased 2012

First study for portrait of Malcolm Fraser

First study for portrait of Malcolm Fraser, 1981

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Malcolm Williamson, 1948

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Diane Williamson and Marion Foote 2013

Malcolm Fraser, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Country man

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

Preparatory study of Tom Hughes, 2003

Jiawei Shen

Portrait, brown chalk and pastel on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull 2003

Malcolm and Angus Young, AC/DC

Bob King

Image

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.

Not your average teacher’s pet!

It's Complicated

Love versus art

Max Meldrum, 1951

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Shirley Greathead 2009

Reflection, 2009

by Imants Larsens

Image

Brian Fitzpatrick, 1953

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on masonite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sheila and David Fitzpatrick in memory of their father 2008

The Hon E.G. Whitlam AC QC, 1980

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on masonite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Preparatory study for the portrait of the Hon Tom Hughes KC

Preparatory study for the portrait of the Hon Tom Hughes KC, 2001

Jiawei Shen

Portrait, ball point pen on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull 2003

James Semple Lisle

Major James Semple Lisle (1759-1799) was a confidence trickster. Convicted of theft, he was sentenced to transportation and embarked on the Lady Shore for Botany Bay in 1797.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Portrait, ambrotype, hand coloured

Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. 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.

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

Leura Dowling, c. 1861

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
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

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

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

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

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

Robert Hughes AO

Robert Hughes AO (1938-2012) was the senior art critic for Time magazine and one of Australia’s famous expatriates of the 1960s.

5 portraits in the collection

Angus Young

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Angus Young (b. 1955), guitarist and songwriter, was a founding member of Australia's most successful ever band, AC/DC.

3 portraits in the collection

Robert Hughes, 1962

Louis Kahan AO

Purchased 1998

Robert Hughes, 1962

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

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

Sir John Gorton GCMG AC CH

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

The Rt Hon Sir John Gorton GCMG AC CH (1911–2002) was the nineteenth prime minister of Australia and the only senator yet to have served in the office.

5 portraits in the collection

Gough and John, 1981

Peter van der Veer

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Robert Hughes - Nothing if not critical, 2001

Bill Leak

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Robert Hughes, 1996

Rex Dupain

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

The spirit walker, 2017

by Alex Ellinghausen

Image

Miriam Hyde AO OBE

Miriam Hyde AO OBE (1913-2005), composer, recitalist, teacher, examiner, poet, lecturer and writer of numerous articles for music journals, studied first with her mother and then with William Silver at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

The Dipper

Moustaches

One of the versions of thick, macho moustache strongly associated in the Australian visual lexicon with sportsmen of the 1970s and 80s.

George Bell OBE

George Bell studied in Melbourne and Paris, and was elected a member of the Modern Society of Portrait Painters, London, in 1908.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Billy Snedden KCMG

Gettin’ robbed, gettin’ stoned, gettin’ beat up, broken boned

Sir Billy Snedden KCMG QC (1926-1987), politician, was elected as a federal member in 1955.

1 portrait in the collection

Oz Rock

Two of the music industry’s highest-selling performers originated in suburban Australia. The Bee Gees started out in Brisbane, for instance, and AC/DC played their first gigs at a nightclub in inner Sydney.

Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC

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

Alfred Barry

Alfred Barry (1826-1910), Anglican bishop of Sydney and primate of the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, was educated at King’s College, London and at Cambridge.

2 portraits in the collection

Isabella Louisa Parry, c. 1826

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Purchased 2014

Dr Edward MacMahon CBE

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Edward MacMahon CBE (1904–1987), surgeon, studied medicine at the University of Sydney and completed his residency at the Sydney Hospital.

1 portrait in the collection

John Gorton, 1970

Victor Greenhalgh

Portrait, terracotta

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Paul and Wendy Greenhalgh 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Dr Alfred Barry, c. 1870

Sarony & Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

The Bishop of Sydney DD (Alfred Barry), 1884

Albert Fradelle

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

Hon Tom Hughes KC, 2001

Jiawei Shen

Commissioned with funds provided by Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull 2003

Kevin Weldon, 1978

Portrait, watercolour and collage on paper

Gift of Kevin Weldon 2012

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens, 1857

Maria Brownrigg

Purchased 2017

Colleen McCullough

The novelist Colleen McCullough (1937–2015) was born in Wellington, New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter de Waal and Peter Bonsall-Boone, St Kilda, October 1966 Unknown artist

Committed to the cause and each other

Devotion

Love versus the law

John Gorton, 1997

Nathan Kelly

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Graeme Inson

Graeme Inson (1923–2000), artist and teacher, was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales and educated at Canberra Grammar School.

6 portraits in the collection

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959

Sir William Dobell OBE

Gift of the MacMahon family in affectionate memory of Edward MacMahon and William Dobell 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Thomas Pearce

Thomas Pearce (c. 1860-1909) was an apprentice on the English merchant vessel the Loch Ard, which embarked for Victoria in March 1878 carrying 37 crew and 16 passengers, many from the Carmichael family.

1 portrait in the collection

Bill Leak, 1999

Simon Obarzanek

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO QC DCL

The Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO QC DCL (1919-2011), academic, writer and former Governor-General, was educated at Scotch College and the University of Melbourne before serving in the navy in the Second World War.

3 portraits in the collection

Colleen McCullough, 1992-1993 (printed 2005)

Anthony Browell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Max Dupain, Artamon, Sydney, 1979 (printed 2000)

David Moore

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

Tilman Ruff, 2019

Nikki Toole

Purchased 2019

Clyde Cameron

Harold Cazneaux, Max Dupain OBE

Clyde Cameron (1913-2008), Labor politician and historian, worked as a shearer and union organizer before serving as a Member for Hindmarsh between 1949 and 1980.

1 portrait in the collection

William Hardy Wilson at Purulia, Warrawee

William Hardy Wilson at Purulia, Warrawee, 1921 (printed by Max Dupain 1981)

Gift of the Simpson Family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Chester Porter QC, 1997

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

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

Tilman Ruff AO

Tilman Ruff AO (b. 1955), infectious diseases and public health physician, was a founder of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

1 portrait in the collection

Angus Young, 2003 (printed 2014)

Ingvar Kenne

Gift of the artist 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings

Max Dupain OBE

Portrait, pencil and oil on canvas laid on chipboard

Max Dupain OBE (1911–1992) was a pioneering modernist photographer.

98 portraits in the collection

Zelman Cowen, c. 1977

Ray Crooke AM

Gift of David Crooke 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Gorton, 1970 (cast 1999)

Victor Greenhalgh

Portrait, cast bronze

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Cast 1999 from terracotta donated by Paul and Wendy Greenhalgh 1999

Colin Friels

Colin Friels (b. 1952) arrived in Australia as an adolescent with his Scottish parents, both blue-collar workers.

1 portrait in the collection

Creature from the Black Platoon starring Gary Foley 2011

Creature from the Black Platoon starring Gary Foley 2011, 2011

TextaQueen

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2011

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

Bryan Westwood

Portrait, pencil, brush and ink on paper

Bryan Westwood (1930-2000) was a painter and printmaker who twice won the Archibald Prize, for his portrait of artist and critic Elwyn Lynn (1989) and of the then Prime Minister, Paul Keating (1992).

10 portraits in the collection

Sir Zelman Cowen, 1982

Andrew Sibley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor (1957-1992), critic and curator, graduated from Monash Univeristy in 1979.

1 portrait in the collection

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain)

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain), c. 1935 (printed 1999)

Olive Cotton

Purchased 2010

Penelope Seidler AM

Penelope Seidler AM (b. 1938), architect, is one of three children of barrister and state parliamentarian Clive Evatt QC (1900–1984) and his wife Marjorie.

2 portraits in the collection

Faith Bandler AC

Faith Bandler AC (1920–2015), civil rights activist and writer, was born in Tumbulgum, New South Wales, to a Scottish-Indian mother and a cane-worker father from Ambrym Island, in what is now Vanuatu.

2 portraits in the collection

Whitlam & Snedden, 1974

Frank Hinder

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

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

Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, c. 1976 (printed 2017)

Robert McFarlane

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Proof

Portraits from The Movement 1978-2003

Previous exhibition, 2003

Portraits from The Movement is the first comprehensive survey of photographs from the Juno Gemes archive, which has supported the Aboriginal struggle for justice in Australia from 1978 to the present day.

William Hardy Wilson

William Hardy Wilson (1881-1955) - or Hardy Wilson, as he styled himself - is regarded as one of the most significant and visionary Australian architects of the twentieth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Gary Foley, Invasion Day - We Have Survived

Gary Foley, Invasion Day - We Have Survived, 1988

Juno Gemes

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

Sir Zelman Cowen, 2000

Wes Walters

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Marc Besen AO and Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE 2000

Colin Friels, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

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

A G Stephens, c. 1910 (printed later)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

Honour board

Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue AC CBE DSG

Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG (1932–2024), a Yankunytjatjara woman, dedicated her life’s work to advancing the rights and wellbeing of Australia’s First Peoples.

2 portraits in the collection

Tim Winton, 2004

Quentin Jones

Stop in all the byways, playin' rock 'n roll

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Guthugga Pipeline, Christmas Show, upstairs, The (old) Griffin Centre, Civic, 22 December 1979. Crowd, L-R : Ben Donaldson, Anne Redmond, Nick Vollis, Esa Makela, Megan Woodrow (Mohawk), Andy Hall (scarf) 'pling

Capital Cool

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Outsiders tend to give Canberra a bad rap: sterile, plagued by politicians, a comatose capital for professionals and academics. Nick Cave once said he didn’t like the city because there were too many punks.

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia, 1978 (printed 2010)

Rennie Ellis

Purchased 2010

Mal Meninga AM

Magazine article by Olivier Krischer, 2016

Malcolm (Mal) Meninga AM (b. 1960) is one of Australia’s most lauded rugby league players.

2 portraits in the collection

Untitled from The Other Shore 2014-15, by Wei Leng Tay

Insight and identity

Olivier Krischer in conversation with photographer Wei Leng Tay.

Portraits for Posterity

Previous exhibition, 2006

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.

Eric McIllree

Eric McIllree (1914-1973) was the founder, chairman and managing director of the Australian arm of Avis Rent-A-Car, and for twelve years the owner and developer of Dunk Island.

1 portrait in the collection

Keith Miller, early 1950s (printed 2008)

Max Dupain OBE

Purchased 2008

Sir Ian McLennan, c. 1978

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Portrait, oil on board

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

Mal Meninga, 2018

Peter Hudson

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Sir Ian Potter, 1973

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Primrose Potter 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Sketch for portrait of Justin O'Brien, 1980

Portrait, oil with fibre-tipped pen underdrawing on composition board

Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2002

The Hon. Bill Hayden AC

The Hon Bill Hayden AC (1933‒2023) was Governor-General of Australia from 1989 to 1996 and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983.

1 portrait in the collection

Lowitja O'Donoghue, 2006

Robert Hannaford AM

Commissioned with funds donated by BHP Billiton Limited, Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund, Newmont Australia Limited, Reconciliation Australia, Hon Paul Keating and Hon Fred Chaney 2006

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

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Purchased 2015

Margaret Robertson, c. 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

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

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

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

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

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.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Previous exhibition, 2019

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

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.

Lady Isabella Louisa Parry

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Isabella Louisa Parry (née Stanley, 1801–1839), amateur artist, community worker and collector, was the daughter of Sir John Stanley, first Baron Stanley of Alderley, a Whig politician and member of the Royal Society.

1 portrait in the collection

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

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

William St. Leonards Robertson, c. 1869

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

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 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

2021 Annual Appeal

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.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Open Air

Portraits in the Landscape

Previous exhibition, 2008

Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2017

Nicholas Harding: 28 portraits features paintings of Robert Drewe, John Bell and Hugo Weaving alongside gorgeously coloured recent oil portraits, delicate gouaches and bold ink and charcoal drawings.

Skyhooks (Red Symons, Bob Starkie, Shirley Strachan, Greg Macainsh, Freddie Strauks) in Parker’s studio, Fitzroy, 1975 David Parker

Cool cool world

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

Penelope Grist unpacks photographs by David Parker, who captured the phenomenal emergence of the 1970s and 80s Melbourne music scene.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

Previous exhibition, 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.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

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.

The 1950s to the present day

Mo and beard timeline

Certain European leaders (needless to name) had the effect of making certain styles of facial hair decidedly undesirable in the years immediately after World War 2.

Tracks in the sand

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses Quentin Jones's photograph of Australian author Tim Winton.

Off the wall

Magazine article by John Witzig, 2008

Photographer and surf mag editor John Witzig tells the stories behind his iconic surf images.

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.

Anthony Anderton

NPPP 2012 learning resource

An interview with the photographer.

Mal Meninga, 2018

by Peter Hudson

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

The bright-eyed Mariner

A new colonial portrait brings a zealous captain near.

Lustre, held by a Groom, ca. 1762 by George Stubbs

Stubbs and the horse

Magazine article by Professor Stephen FitzGerald AO, 2016

One of the chief aims of George Stubbs, 1724–1806, the late Judy Egerton’s great 1984–85 exhibition at the Tate Gallery was to provide an eloquent rebuttal to Josiah Wedgwood’s famous remark of 1780: “Noboby suspects Mr Stubs [sic] of painting anything but horses & lions, or dogs & tigers.”

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.

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.

Cooey! An Australian Song

Magazine article by Leslie Moran, 2007

"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.

Judicial portraits

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

Giving and getting

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

The exhibition Portraits for Posterity celebrates gifts to the Gallery, of purchases made with donated funds, and testifies to the generosity and community spirit of Australians.

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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

Expect the unexpected

Joanna Gilmour revels in accidental artist Charles Rodius’ nineteenth century renderings of Indigenous peoples.

Trumble's way

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

At the end of a summer break one is tempted to say that there is nothing much to report. Isn’t one restful holiday very much like another?

Donated duo

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the gift of two striking paintings by the Australian artist Ken Done AM.

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

The Thyssen Art Macabre

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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.

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.

An Australian story

Magazine article by The Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd, 2009

In his speech launching the new National Portrait Gallery building on 3 December 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the Gallery in a national and historical context.

Snap decisions

Magazine article by Robert Cook, 2018

NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.

Peter Wilmoth, age 12, with copies of Our World 1974 Courtesy of the author

Paper, boy

Magazine article by Peter Wilmoth, 2016

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

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.

Mexico from the Palace painted by ‘Maximilian Emperor'

Empirical art

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

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.

Australia’s great internationalists

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

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

Prima facie

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

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

High & Bligh

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Joanna Gilmour explores the 1790 portrait of William Bligh by Robert Dodd.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

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

Sydney city (Patrick White and Tom Uren, Hiroshima Day demonstration), 1984

The activist A-list

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.

Friends and Acquaintances

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.

Cultural kaleidoscope

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

Listomania

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Progressive pictures

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2017

Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

Generous Janice

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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

Christmas Island