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Who's that?

Michael Desmond discusses the iconic picture of two Rugby League players which became known as 'The Gladiators'.

Reflection

British novelist and poet, Michael Rosen, weaves a tale about his early encounters with creativity and the self-portrait of a childhood friend.

Observation point

Michael Zavros on when a portrait is not really a portrait.

Inside outside

Michael Desmond explores the portraiture of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.

Self-effacing

Michael Wardell samples the fare in the University of Queensland National Self-portrait Prize.

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Michael Desmond profiles a handful of the entrants in first National Photographic Portrait Prize and notes emerging themes and categories.

Movement is my radar

Michael Desmond charts the path of portraiture, arriving at Julian Opie’s digital realm.

Is the truth of portraiture vested exclusively in likeness?

Curator Michael Desmond introduces the exhibition Truth and Likeness, an investigation of the importance of likeness to portraiture.

Conflicting images

Michael Desmond reveals the origins of composite portraits and their evolution in the pursuit of the ideal.

Look who's coming to dinner

Michael Wardell’s personal insight into Jacques van der Merwe’s New Arrivals.

International issue

Michael Desmond looks at the history of the Vanity Fair magazine in conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008

Essential portraiture

Michael Desmond in conversation with University of Houston professor of philosophy Cynthia Freeland.

Technical terminology

Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.

Food for thought

Michael Wardell on Chrys Zantis’ Ora.

Giving and getting

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.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

The Philosophy of Teapots and Ducks

Cartoonist Michael Leunig's insights into the human condition and current affairs have become famous Australia-wide.

Extremely generous and incredibly close

Michael Desmond examines the daguerreotype portraits created by American artist Chuck Close.

Obey

Michael Desmond investigates the street art of Shepard Fairey, who was catapulted to fame during the 2008 presidential election with his resonant image of Barack Obama.

The God-shaped hole

Exploring the photographs of Martin Schoeller, Michael Desmond delves into the uneasy pact that exists between celebrity and the camera.

Black and white history

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

Of human clay

The first collaborative commission has arrived. It's a self portrait, it's ceramic and it's from Hermannsburg.

I walk the line

Bruce Petty's animated self portrait captures a life's journey compressed into a few minutes.

Head, hand, heart

An extensive selection of portraits by John Brack were on display at the National Portrait Gallery in late 2007.

Public hanging

As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.

Tender tragedies

George Foxhill's self portraits were the subject of a small focus display at the National Portrait Gallery in 2006.

True fella

Michael Desmond profiles the Australian songwriter and performer Neil Murray and his contribution to Australian music.

Where the wild things are

Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.

Poison pen

Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Penn on paper

Michael Desmond discusses Irving Penn's photographic portrait of Nicole Kidman.

Handing on the baton

Michael Desmond explores the life of ballerina Irina Baranova through the portrait by Australian artist Jenny Sages.

Black tie or wombat: How formal should I go?

Michael Desmond discusses the portrait of Senator Neville Bonner by Robert Campbell Jnr.

Sure thing

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.

The highest honour

Bringing eminent scientist Frank Fenner and artist Jude Rae together for the National Portrait Gallery commission was like matchmaking.

Pre-Raphaelite Profile

In 2006 the National Portrait Gallery acquired a splendid portrait of Victoria's first governor, Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe by Thomas Woolner.

The painter and the princess

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

Good, bad and the ugly

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

Judicial portraits

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

Painting mates

Michael Desmond discusses Fred Williams' portraits of friends, artist Clifton Pugh, David Aspden and writer Stephen Murray-Smith, and the stylistic connections between his portraits and landscapes.

Michael Kimmelman

Michael Kimmelman, Chief Art Critic of The New York Times and author of Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere, presented the National Portrait Gallery Third Anniversary Lecture on 2 March 2002. He was generously brought to Australia by the Gordon Darling Foundation and Qantas.

Portrait 47

This issue features Michael Riley, TextaQueen, Thea Proctor, Jean Appleton, In the flesh, digital identity and more.

Portrait 17

This issue of Portrait Magazine features conservationists Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, Michael Leunig, legendary photographer Cecil Beaton and more.

Portrait 44

This issue features The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait, Nicholas Harding, Ingvar Kenne, Laura Moore, Michael Rosen and more.

Portrait 54

Explore an Indian treasure trove, photography by Robert McFarlane and Nan Goldin, Michael Taylor's expressionist paintings, the Great War portraits, and more!

Portrait 56

Browse the history of the National Photographic Portrait Prize, Cayce Zavaglia's embroidered portraiture, and modern wedding photography!

Living landscape

Gillian Raymond ponders landscapes as self-portraiture in Michael Taylor’s intimate expressionism.

Unpacked

Louise Cummins reveals the rich symbolism in Michael Peck’s photorealistic portrait of AFL legend and MND ambassador Neale Daniher.

Tribute

Bob Ellis (1942–2016) was a journalist, columnist, screenwriter, film director, playwright, speechwriter and critic.

Portrait 67

William Yang on his autobiographical self portraits, David Parker's 1970s and 80s Melbourne music photographs, seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon, and Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis.

No shirt, no service

Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.

Now and then

Photographed 35 years apart, these two portraits offer both a timeline of, and thematic thread for, Maria (Polly) Cutmore’s life – from a young woman to a respected Gomeroi Elder.

Now and Then

Spanning 30 years, these portraits capture a life in music. Violinist, conductor and composer Richard Tognetti AO is Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Portrait of the artist as a young man

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the early life and career of John Brack.

A serious man

Alistair McGhie discusses Andrew MacColl's portrait photograph of Australian comedian Mick Molloy.

A gift from the heart

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

Golden Jubilee

Polly Borland's photograph of The Queen was commissioned by Buckingham Palace as part of a series of high profile celebrations to mark the Golden Jubilee.

Observation point

As I prepared for my recent retrospective at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark’s National Portrait Gallery, I was struck with the feeling of looking back at a visual diary of the past 30 years.

Everybody's heard about the bird

Two professionals; Australian surfer Layne Beachley and photographer Petrina Hicks, combine their strengths to achieve a remarkable portrait.

Intense identity

Dr Chistopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian author Christos Tsiolkas taken by John Tsiavis.

Capturing the Mouse

Nancy Wake AC (b. 1912), one of the most­ decorated women of World War 2, earned the name the 'White Mouse' for her maddening ability to evade the Gestapo.

The man behind the art

Giles Auty introduces British painter John Wonnacott who will talk at the National Portrait Gallery on 2 November 2002.

Pin-ups

Christopher Chapman describes the art and life of Australian artist Richard Larter.

Surfer artist rockstar

Christopher Chapman talks with Scott Redford about his character Reinhardt Dammn.

In bloom

Susi Muddiman delights in Michael Zavros’ stunning portrait of the honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO.

Figurative foundation

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and art of the Australian artist Janet Dawson.

Face the music

Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.

All there in black and white

The National Portrait Gallery acquired a beguiling silhouette group portrait by Samuel Metford, an English artist who spent periods of his working life in America.

One and all

The current exhibition of portraits at the National Gallery of Ireland Print Gallery investigates just how paper-thin ideas of likeness are.

Big shots

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

Imagination

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

The bright-eyed Mariner

9 lives of Karin Catt

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

Let’s dance

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

Getting bare

How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.

The art of peace

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

In our nature

Tara James chats with award-winning artist Tamara Dean about portraiture prizes, the environment and the strength of women.

In the flesh

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

The life of Bryant

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

Shiny, happy people

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

Friends and Acquaintances

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

Thousand mile stare

John Elliott talks about his photographic portrait practice, including his iconic image of Slim Dusty arm-in-arm with Dame Edna Everage.

Reveries

The exhibition Reveries: Photography and mortality is a powerful display which brings together images that depict the last phase of people's lives.

Hyperversity

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.

Cool cool world

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

Beautiful bones

Sarah Engledow reflects on the shared life and writing of Dorothy Porter and Andrea Goldsmith.

Activating the space

Sandra Phillips on portraits of Indigenous activism from Cairns Art Gallery’s 2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture exhibition.

The fat of the land

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

Star signs

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

You are who?

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

Donated duo

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

Natural born stiller

Penelope Grist speaks to Robert McFarlane about shooting for the stars.

Human encounters

Joanna Gilmour takes us behind the scenes of some of Ralph Heimans’ best-known portraits of royalty, heads of state and cultural icons.

It's a Mora!

Select extracts from Mirka Mora's autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous, provide rich accompaniment to recent Gallery acquisitions.  

Illuminating history

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

Us being ourselves

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

Australia’s great internationalists

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

Drawing inspiration

Christopher Chapman absorbs the gentle touch of Don Bachardy’s portraiture.

To the end of the earth

The portrait of Dr. Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster from 1780, is one of the oldest in the NPG's collection.

You beauty

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

Home truths

Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.

Great Experimentations

Rebecca Harkins-Cross considers Carol Jerrems’ portraiture against the backdrop of social change in the 1970s.

The Vanity model

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

The catechist and the cricketer

Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.

Prima facie

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