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
Commissioned 2006
Commissioned 2006
Purchased 2011
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 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 (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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
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
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.
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.
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
Gift of Marjorie Cotton Isherwood 2002
Purchased 2018
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.
Avril Thomas (b. 1956), artist, was born in Malaysia and went to boarding school in Scotland and Australia.
2 portraits in the collection
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
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 (1938–2017), sprinting champion, was Australia's leading gold-medal winning track and field athlete.
5 portraits in the collection
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
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 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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
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
Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video
Exploring select works from the NPPP 2012. For secondary students.
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, portrait painter and pupil of Johann Zoffany, was greatly influenced by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
1 portrait in the collection
Press releases and image downloads for media.
Henry Hoppner Meyer, thought to be the son of an engraver, was a nephew of the painter John Hoppner.
2 portraits in the collection
Peter Wegner's approach to portraiture could be considered a visual record of the rapport, the dynamic space between artist and subject.
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, 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 (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
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
A bromance in banter
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 (1762-1801), naval officer, began his career with the Royal Navy at the age of twelve.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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
Xavier Herbert (1901 –1984), author, was born Alfred Jackson to a single mother in Geraldton, WA.
2 portraits in the collection
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 (1890-1940) was the Managing Director of Okura and Co. Trading Ltd in Sydney from 1937 to his death.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
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
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
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
Purchased 2010
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Bob Barnard AM, 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
Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.
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 (1905-2002) was born in Vienna, Austria to Jewish parents.
63 portraits in the collection
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
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
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
Gift of the Cornelius family 2019
James Mollison AO (1931–2020) was the inaugural director of the National Gallery of Australia.
2 portraits in the collection
Joanna Gilmour on the exuberant union of fashion pioneers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, captured in luminescent splendour by artist Carla Fletcher.
Michele Aboud, commercial, fashion and portrait photographer, is a graduate of the Photographic College of London and UCLA.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2001
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 MBE (1948–2011), boxer, was the first Aboriginal Australian to win a world sporting title.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Mollison AO 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Mollison AO 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ron Wylie 2007
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
My Favourite Australian is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.
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.
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
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Australian photographer Karin Catt has photographed world leaders, a host of rock stars and Oscar-winning compatriots Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett.
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 (1865-1945), banker and astronomer, joined the Savings Bank of New South Wales in 1888.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986
Lauren Dalla examines the life of Basil Bressler, the art patron responsible for one of the NPG's most important bequests.
The acquisition of David Moore's archive of portrait photographs for the National Portrait Gallery's collection.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.
The acquisition of the ivory miniatures of Mortimer and Mrs Lewis.
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
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
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.
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
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002
Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.
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
The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.
Two lively portrait photographs reflect the agility of their subjects: world champion Australian sportsmen Lionel Rose and Anthony Mundine.
Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.
Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry
An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.
Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.
Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.
Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.
Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.
Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.
The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.
Diana O’Neil on Noel Counihan’s vivid 1971 portrait of Alan Marshall.
The National Portrait Gallery's acquisition of the portrait of Edward John Eyre by pioneering English photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.
Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.
Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the gift of two striking paintings by the Australian artist Ken Done AM.
Barry York charts the course from childhood request to autographed celebrity portrait anthology.
Ron Ramsey, former Director of Cultural Relations at the Embassy of Australia interviewed NPG Washington Director, Marc Pachter, about their building renovations.
Tony Curran ponders whether our phones can change the course of painting.
Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.
Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.
Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.
Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.
Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.
