Search / marjorie jackson-nelson

Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE (b. 1931), former sprinter, was Governor of South Australia from 2001 to 2007.

3 portraits in the collection

Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE, 2006

Avril Thomas

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Commissioned 2006

Preparatory study for Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE

Preparatory study for Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE, 2005

Avril Thomas

Commissioned 2006

Marjorie Jackson, 1953

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Purchased 2011

Spikes: then and now

As part of its ongoing program of commissions of portraits of prominent Australians, the National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a portrait of Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson by South Australian artist Avril Thomas.

Marjorie Lawrence

Marjorie Lawrence CBE (1907-1979), dramatic soprano, studied singing from 1925 in Melbourne, moving to study with Cécile Gilly in Paris in 1928 after winning the Geelong Sun Aria competition.

2 portraits in the collection

Marjorie Cotton Isherwood

Marjorie Cotton Isherwood (1913–2003) was the first professionally qualified children's librarian in New South Wales and many of her initiatives continue today.

1 portrait in the collection

Marjorie Lawrence, Paris, 1937

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Marjorie Lawrence, Amneris, 1951

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Linda Jackson

Linda Mary Jackson (b. 1950) is a fashion designer and artist. Having studied fashion design at Emily McPherson College and photography at Prahran Technical College, she travelled to New Guinea, through Asia and Europe, and worked for Parisian couture house Mia-Vicky.

1 portrait in the collection

William Jackson Hooker

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on wood

William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), botanist, was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in which capacity he had significant influence on the study of Australian flora.

1 portrait in the collection

Aussie Icon: Portrait of Linda Jackson, 2023

Adrienne Doig

Purchased with funds provided by donors 2023

Nelson Illingworth

Nelson Illingworth trained in sculpture in England and worked as a modeller at the Royal Doulton potteries for nine years before moving to Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Nelson Mandela, Sydney, 2000

David Moore

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001.

Nelson Mandela, Sydney, 2000

David Moore

Nelson Mandela, Sydney, 2000

David Moore

Portrait, painted terracotta

'The crimson thread of kinship' Henry Parkes

'The crimson thread of kinship' Henry Parkes, c. 1898

Nelson Illingworth

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

The Federal Leader Edmund Barton, c. 1900

Nelson Illingworth

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

James Horatio Nelson Cassell, late 1840s to early 1850s

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Portrait, daguerreotype

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Sir George Reid, c. 1895

Nelson Illingworth

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Captain James Cook from the original in the Naval Gallery, Greenwich Hospital

Captain James Cook from the original in the Naval Gallery, Greenwich Hospital, c. 1837

William Holl, Peter Jackson, London & Paris after Nathaniel Dance

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

Portrait of Marjorie Cotton, 1969

Jean Isherwood OAM

John R. Jackson after John Linnell

Gift of Marjorie Cotton Isherwood 2002

General Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales

General Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales, c. 1840

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased 2018

Nelson Earl - Dance - The Ephemeral Art, Straithfield, 2018

by Kellie Leczinska

Linda Jackson, with Jenny Kee, Flamingo Park, Sydney, ‘73

Carol Jerrems

More about In the flesh artists

Jan Nelson

Jan Nelson was born in Melbourne. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1983 and has been exhibited her work in both solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia since that time including at the MCA, Sydney, National Gallery of Victoria, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane and the Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide.

Horatio Nelson

Sir William Beechey

Portrait of Brendan Nelson, 2019

Todd Simpson

Avril Thomas

Avril Thomas (b. 1956), artist, was born in Malaysia and went to boarding school in Scotland and Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

The cat's out of the bag

Kalyanii Holden

Emma Hamilton

George Romney

Twin Souls, Linda Jackson

Carla Fletcher

Portrait, drypoint on wove paper

Myles Nelson

Finalist interviews

It was definitely a candid encounter as was the expression on the face. It was constructed insofar as the image was deliberately taken from a distance so as to minimize intrusion and to magnify the effect of the image.

Andrew Southall, 1995

Rick Amor

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

'Timbere sauvage de la nouvelle galles du sud en grand costume (Relache au Port Jackson)'

'Timbere sauvage de la nouvelle galles du sud en grand costume (Relache au Port Jackson)', 1822

Pierre Langlume after Jacques Etienne Victor Arago

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Nlle. Hollande- Port Jackson - Sauvages des Montagens Bleues: Karadra and Hara-o

Nlle. Hollande- Port Jackson - Sauvages des Montagens Bleues: Karadra and Hara-o, 1825

Alphonse Pellion

Jean Coutant after Jacques Etienne Victor Arago

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Nlle. Holland Port Jackson: Sauvages des environs de Sydney: Nani, Taran, Abinghou, Broten, Timbere

Nlle. Holland Port Jackson: Sauvages des environs de Sydney: Nani, Taran, Abinghou, Broten, Timbere, 1825

Portrait, line engraving on paper

Purchased 2015

Walking in tall grass, Viktor, 2005 by Jan Nelson

Transition

More about In the flesh

We fix adolescence as the time of inner turmoil, private worlds and secret refuges, doubt and imagination, protest and liberation. The human mind and body never really leaves this state of transition.

Betty Cuthbert AM MBE

Betty Cuthbert AM MBE (1938–2017), sprinting champion, was Australia's leading gold-medal winning track and field athlete.

5 portraits in the collection

John Schank

John Schank (1740–1823), naval officer, joined the Royal Navy at age 17, having served in the merchant service as a boy.

1 portrait in the collection

Walking in tall grass, Lucy, 2010 by Jan Nelson

More about In the flesh artists

Previous exhibition, 2014

The exhibition features work from Jan Nelson, Natasha Bieniek, Patricia Piccinini, Juan Ford, Petrina Hicks, Ron Mueck, Yanni Floros, Sam Jinks, Michael Peck and Robin Eley.

In the flesh

In the flesh is an enthralling and immersive experience of contemporary art that confronts the concept of humanness and the experiences of consciousness and emotion. Featuring ten Australian artists including Jan Nelson, Patricia Piccinini, Ron Mueck and Michael Peck, the exhibition explores themes of intimacy, empathy, transience, transition, vulnerability, alienation, restlessness, reflection, mortality and acceptance.

Betty Cuthbert, 1955 (printed 2003)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Portrait of Ingvar Kenne, 2012 by Simon Harsent

Finalist interviews

Barthélemy Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

Interviews with NPPP 2013 finalists Melanie Faith Dove, Simon Harsent, Ahmad Sabra, Sharon Zwi, Katherine Bennett, Krystal Seigerman, Arianne McNaught, Janet Tavener, Louise Whelan, Myles Nelson and Heather Corrigan.

Oui-re-kine, 1807-1817

an unknown artist, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office

Purchased 2009

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

Daniel Orme after Robert Dighton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Portrait of Captain John Hunter, 1792

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Jenny Kee AO

Jenny Kee AO (b. 1947) is a fashion designer and an Australian style icon.

1 portrait in the collection

Gil Askey, 2011

by Titian Scheffer

an unknown artist, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office

Portrait 65

Autumn/Winter 2021

Magazine

Hugh Ramsay, the fashion of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, Peter Wegner's centenarian series, John and Elizabeth Gould's family connections, Karen Quinlan's top five portraits and more.

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

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

Nicolas-Martin Petit

Nicholas-Martin Petit was born in Paris, the son of a fan maker, and learned graphic art in the studio of Jacques Louis David.

9 portraits in the collection

Blek Bala MJ, 2017

by Timothy Hillier

Learning resource archive

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Yhonnie and Indiana, 2012 by Janelle Low

NPPP 2013 learning resource

Exploring select works from the NPPP 2012. For secondary students.

David Ramsey McNicoll CBE

David Ramsay McNicoll CBE (1914-2000) was editor-in-chief of Sir Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press from 1953 to 1972, and wrote an immensely popular column for the Bulletin magazine from 1972 to 1999.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Beechey

Archived media releases 2014

Sir William Beechey, portrait painter and pupil of Johann Zoffany, was greatly influenced by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

1 portrait in the collection

In the Flesh

15 October 2014

Press releases and image downloads for media.

Henry Meyer

Henry Hoppner Meyer, thought to be the son of an engraver, was a nephew of the painter John Hoppner.

2 portraits in the collection

John Vickery

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

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

Inspiration + Realisation: Peter Wegner

Peter Wegner's approach to portraiture could be considered a visual record of the rapport, the dynamic space between artist and subject.

Harmony (Self portrait)

Paule Vézelay

Molly Meldrum

Ian 'Molly' Meldrum AM (b. 1946) has a long history of involvement and influence in the Australian rock music industry.

1 portrait in the collection

Dora Toovey

Dora Toovey, born in Bathurst, trained in Sydney under Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo, James R Jackson (whom she married) and John Passmore.

2 portraits in the collection

Lieutenant John Watts

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen and ink on paper

Lieutenant John Watts (1755-1801) joined the Navy in 1770 and embarked with James Cook in 1776 on the fatal voyage of the Resolution.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1952

Louis Kahan AO

Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Karin Catt

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Karin Catt grew up in Newcastle, where she began taking photographs of touring bands while a schoolgirl, and also in London and Hong Kong.

9 portraits in the collection

Gough Whitlam, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

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

Roy and HG: John Doyle as Roy Slaven (L) and Grieg Pickhaver as HG Nelson: in studio (radio), c. 1990 Reproduced by permission of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Library Sales. © 1990 ABC

Relationship boundaries breed marathon success

Nearest & Dearest

A bromance in banter

Penelope Seidler, 2019 (printed 2021)

Anne Zahalka

Portrait, pigment ink print on paper

Purchased 2021

Captain John Hunter

John Hunter (1737-1821), naval officer and governor, came to Sydney as second captain of the Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet.

3 portraits in the collection

Edward Riou

Edward Riou (1762-1801), naval officer, began his career with the Royal Navy at the age of twelve.

2 portraits in the collection

Xavier Herbert

Xavier Herbert (1901 –1984), author, was born Alfred Jackson to a single mother in Geraldton, WA.

2 portraits in the collection

Wilfred John Peisley

Faces of the Twentieth Century

Wilfrid John Peisley, born in Bathurst, won a number of prizes at regional shows before gaining a scholarship to the East Sydney Technical College at the age of seventeen.

1 portrait in the collection

Karsh

Previous exhibition, 1998

Yousuf Karsh - the most famous portrait photographer in the world - has photographed the statesmen, artists, literary and scientific figures who have defined the 20th century and shaped our lives, In this, his 90th year, the National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to present an exhibition of Karsh's photography of 20th century figures.

Shigeo Sawada

Shigeo Sawada (1890-1940) was the Managing Director of Okura and Co. Trading Ltd in Sydney from 1937 to his death.

1 portrait in the collection

Alphonse Pellion

Alphonse Pellion, artist and naval draughtsman, was a midshipman aboard l'Uranie on Louis de Freycinet's three-year scientific and ethnographic expedition around the world in 1817-1820.

2 portraits in the collection

Captain John Hunter, Governor New South Wales, 1801

William Ridley

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

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

This 1910 portrait of Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts by Tom Roberts was brought into the Gallery's collection with the assistance of the Acquisition Fund in 2013.

Harold Blair AO

Giovanni Vendramini, T Cadell & W Davies after William Evans, Sir William Beechey

Harold Blair AO (1924–1976), singer and Indigenous advocate, spent his youth on the Purga Mission, and began singing in local concerts on the canefields in the Childers area.

1 portrait in the collection

George Rose, 1811

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

John Shortland

John Shortland (1739-1803), naval officer, was a member of a family of which six members were associated with the colonisation of Australia and New Zealand.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Clive Shakespeare, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Daryl Braithwaite, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Garth Porter, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Tony Mitchell, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Alan Sandow, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Angel Street (Adam Cullen), 2010

Darren McDonald

Portrait, oil on linen

Purchased 2012

Sherbet, 1974

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

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

James Mollison, c. 1973 (printed 2004)

Wesley Stacey

Gift of James Mollison AO 2004

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

Bob Barnard AM

Bob Barnard AM (1933-2022), jazz cornettist, grew up in a Melbourne musical family and started on cornet with a local brass band at the age of 12.

1 portrait in the collection

John Tebbutt

John Tebbutt (1834-1916), astronomer, was born into a family of pioneering free settlers and was well educated.

1 portrait in the collection

Louis Kahan AO

Louis Kahan (1905-2002) was born in Vienna, Austria to Jewish parents.

64 portraits in the collection

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM

Forget after Alphonse Pellion

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM GCSI CB MD FRS (1817-1911), botanist, explorer and medical doctor, visited Australia as a member of James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition of 1839 to 1843.

2 portraits in the collection

Sauvages Des Montagnes-Bleues from de Freycinet, Louis - Voyage autour du monde, Paris

Sauvages Des Montagnes-Bleues from de Freycinet, Louis - Voyage autour du monde, Paris, c. 1822

W Sherwin after Francis Wheatley

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

Arthur Phillip Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief in & over the territory of New South Wales

Arthur Phillip Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief in & over the territory of New South Wales, 1789

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Francois Peron

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

François Péron (1775-1810), naturalist and explorer, served as a soldier from 1792 to 1794, in which period he was imprisoned and lost the sight of one eye.

6 portraits in the collection

Robert H. Black MD, c. 1950

Nora Heysen AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet

Louis-Claude Desaulses de Freycinet (1779–1842), hydrographer and cartographer, sailed with Nicolas Baudin on the Expédition aux terres australes, a journey of discovery, commissioned by Napoléon, to the unknown southern coast of New Holland.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr Stella Cornelius AO OBE, 1989

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Gift of the Cornelius family 2019

James Mollison AO

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2021

James Mollison AO (1931–2020) was the inaugural director of the National Gallery of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Twin chics

Joanna Gilmour on the exuberant union of fashion pioneers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, captured in luminescent splendour by artist Carla Fletcher.

Michele Aboud

Michele Aboud, commercial, fashion and portrait photographer, is a graduate of the Photographic College of London and UCLA.

1 portrait in the collection

Aden Ridgeway & pallbearers entering Sydney Town Hall, State Funeral for Kwementyaye Perkins AO, 25th October 2000

Aden Ridgeway & pallbearers entering Sydney Town Hall, State Funeral for Kwementyaye Perkins AO, 25th October 2000, 2000

Mervyn Bishop

Purchased 2001

Bon Scott

Ronald 'Bon' Scott (1946-1980) had come to Australia with his family in 1952, aged six, had lived in Melbourne and Fremantle, where he joined a pipe band; had dropped out of school at fifteen; and had spent some time in custody.

1 portrait in the collection

Lionel Rose, World Champion Bantam Weight Boxer before departing to the USA to defend his title

Lionel E. Rose MBE

Conrad Westermayr after Jean Henri Cless

Lionel Rose MBE (1948–2011), boxer, was the first Aboriginal Australian to win a world sporting title.

1 portrait in the collection

François Péron, c. 1805

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

James Mollison, c. 1973 (printed 2004)

Wesley Stacey

Gift of James Mollison AO 2004

Lord Viscount Sydney, c. 1790

John Young after Gilbert Stuart

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Tim Johnson, 1994 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased 2018

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

William Fernyhough

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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

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

Robert Dodd

Portrait, aquatint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Portrait of Captain Edward Riou, 1801

James Heath after Samuel Shelley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Sydney Cove medallion, 1789 by Josiah Wedgwood

The medallion

Portrait, lithograph on paper

In recent years I have become fascinated by the so-called Sydney Cove Medallion (1789), a work of art that bridges the 10,000-mile gap between the newly established penal settlement at Port Jackson and the beating heart of Enlightenment England.

Gooseberry, widow of King Bungaree, 1836

William Fernyhough

Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dr Stella Cornelius AO OBE

Stella Cornelius AO OBE (1919–2010), businesswoman and peace activist, was born to Jewish parents in Sydney and grew up moving around New South Wales as her father, a draper and tailor, found work during the Depression.

1 portrait in the collection

Shigeo Sawada, c. 1915

Kan Studios

Previous exhibition, 2024

Gift of Ron Wylie 2007

Bobbi Sykes, Aboriginal Medical Service, 1973 Carol Jerrems

Carol Jerrems: Portraits

Carol Jerrems: Portraits is a major exhibition of one of Australia’s most influential photographers. Jerrems’ intimate portraits of friends, lovers and artistic peers transcend the purely personal and have come to shape Australian visual culture.

David Wenham AM

David Wenham AM (b. 1965), actor, studied drama at the Nepean College of Advanced Education (now the University of Western Sydney), graduating with a BA in Performing Arts in 1987.

1 portrait in the collection

Joseph Dalton Hooker, c. 1880s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

The Right Honourable William Pitt

Previous exhibition, 2008

William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) was Tory prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 to 1801, and of United Kingdom from 1804 to 1806.

1 portrait in the collection

Lust for life

Magazine article, 2008

Celebrated Sydney-based photographer and performer William Yang was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to produce a new performance work that premiered at the opening of the Gallery's new building.

My Favourite Australian

My Favourite Australian is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.

Angus Young

Previous exhibition, 2000

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

Sporting Archibald

Celebrating the focus on sport during 2000, this special exhibition features our national sporting heroes and heroines immortalised on canvas

Fred Hilmer AO

Previous exhibition, 2006

Fred Hilmer AO (b. 1945), economic policy and reform strategist, was the chief executive officer of John Fairfax Holdings from 1998 to 2005 and vice- chancellor of the University of New South Wales from 2006 to 2015.

1 portrait in the collection

Fred Hilmer, 2018

Evert Ploeg

Portrait, oil on linen

Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018

Famous

Karin Catt Portraits

Australian photographer Karin Catt has photographed world leaders, a host of rock stars and Oscar-winning compatriots Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett.

Angus Trumble with Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks by Thomas Phillips

Banksia and grevillea

Portraits can render honour to remarkable men and women, but there are other ways.

David Collins

David Collins (1756–1810), lieutenant-governor, began his career in the British Navy, rising to the rank of captain before being returning to dry land and being placed on half-pay in late 1783.

1 portrait in the collection

Walter Frederick Gale

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Walter Frederick Gale (1865-1945), banker and astronomer, joined the Savings Bank of New South Wales in 1888.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Rennie Ellis

Purchased 2010

Neil Armfield, 2010

Adam Cullen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

More about In the flesh

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

In the flesh is realised through moments of intimacy, empathy, transitions in life and the transience of life, vulnerability, alienation, restlessness, self-reflection, mortality and acceptance.

Self portrait, 1976 (printed 2005)

David Malin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Sherbet, 1974 (printed 2002)

Archived media releases 2021

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London

Announcing Shakespeare to Winehouse

24 November 2021

More than eighty treasures from the National Portrait Gallery London will travel to Canberra for a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from March 2022.

Xavier Herbert, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Jacqueline Mitelman

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

A gift from the heart

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

Lauren Dalla examines the life of Basil Bressler, the art patron responsible for one of the NPG's most important bequests.

POL

Portrait of a Generation

Previous exhibition, 2003

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

A Captured Moment

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2001

The acquisition of David Moore's archive of portrait photographs for the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Percy, Reginald, Monty and George Faithfull, undated by Henry Dorner. Image courtesy the National Museum of Australia.

An affray which deserves particular mention

Ben Hall and his gang outdone, 6 February 1865

W Sherwin, John Stockdale after Francis Wheatley

Bushranger Ben Hall and his cronies held around 40 people hostage in a pub north-west of Goulburn, telling their captives ‘don’t be alarmed; we only came here for a bit of fun’.

Arthur Phillip Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief in & over the territory of New South Wales, 1789

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2002

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Little treasures

The acquisition of the ivory miniatures of Mortimer and Mrs Lewis.

First Ladies

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Arthur Boyd Portraits

Previous exhibition, 1999

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

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Heads of the People

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2000

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

M H Wednesday 11.15am from the series Self-harm, 2004

Big it up

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2005

Former National Portrait Gallery Curator Magda Keaney was a member of the selection panel of the Schwepes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004 at the National Portrait Gallery London.

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

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, 2002

Tim Johnson

Portrait, oil and polymer vinyl paint on canvas

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney

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 Henry Harvey

Previous exhibition, 2019

William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), botanist, formed a boyhood passion for natural history which was encouraged at Ballitore School, County Kildare.

1 portrait in the collection

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

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

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2010

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

The champs

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Two lively portrait photographs reflect the agility of their subjects: world champion Australian sportsmen Lionel Rose and Anthony Mundine.

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.

The Long Awaited, 2008 by Patricia Piccinini

In the flesh

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

William Yang

William Yang (b. 1943) is a pre-eminent Australian photographer known for an intensely sustained body of work that examines issues of cultural and sexual identity, and which unflinchingly documents the lives of his friends and community and his own lived experience with curiosity, sensitivity and humour.

15 portraits in the collection

Fred Hilmer, 2018

by Evert Ploeg

Magazine article by Djon Mundine OAM, 2017

Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018

Big shots

Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.

Albert Jonas and John Xiniwe of The African Choir, 1891 London Stereoscopic Co.

Back in black

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Some women you may not know

Alison Alder

‘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.’

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.

Heartfelt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.

9 lives of Karin Catt

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.

Goods and chattels

I have been reading systematically through the ads in the earliest issues of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, such a rich vein of information about certain aspects of daily life in Regency Sydney.

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.

Indexing, the art of

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

Progressive pictures

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2017

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

Sam Meers AO, John Barrington AM, Elizabeth Dibbs, Tom Mosby, Hayley Baillie, Hugo Michell, Valerie Tam

The Board

Governance & Board

The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999)

For the boys

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2011

The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.

Of jumpers and river gums, red

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2016

Diana O’Neil on Noel Counihan’s vivid 1971 portrait of Alan Marshall.

Hearts of Darkness

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2006

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

The fat of the land

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.

Virginia Woolf, 1902 George Charles Beresford

Love my way

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2022

Inga Walton delves into the bohemian group of artists and writers who used each other as muses and transformed British culture.

Donated duo

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

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

Star signs

Magazine article by Barry York, 2018

Barry York charts the course from childhood request to autographed celebrity portrait anthology.

Washington preview

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2005

Ron Ramsey, former Director of Cultural Relations at the Embassy of Australia interviewed NPG Washington Director, Marc Pachter, about their building renovations.

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Deputy Chair Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Sam Meers AO, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC, Nigel Satterley AM and Susan Armitage

Foundation Members

Foundation

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Sam Meers AO, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.

As long as you're here, 2013 by Tony Curran

Touchy touchy

Magazine article by Tony Curran, 2015

Tony Curran ponders whether our phones can change the course of painting.

Self Portrait with Stetson, 2011 by Darren McDonald

Painting them gently

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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

Diamond Doll

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2016

Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

Venus, 2022 Jordan Richardson, Archibald Prize 2022 finalist

We Were There

Magazine article by Benjamin Law, 2025

Preserving stories, subverting power and posing nude: Benjamin Law explores the potency and persuasiveness of portraiture.

Some prime ministers

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

Asiel Timor Dei, ca. 1728 by a master of Calamarca

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

European painters always enjoyed a good deal of latitude in the representation of angels, those asexual, bodiless, celestial regiments of God, so long as they were young and beautiful.

Woman with Fair Hair and Pink Cardigan, 1949 by John Perceval.

The family scene

Magazine article, 2016

Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Christmas Island