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'I love getting into the Salon as a street artist because the whole ethos of that award is the refused, the rejected'

Purchased 2015

Luke Cornish

Portrait story

Luke Cornish, aka E.L.K. describes his street art and portraiture

Luke Cornish

Portrait, hand-cut acetate stencil, aerosol enamel on canvas

Luke Cornish (b. 1979) is a Sydney-based handmade stencil artist. A self-described former blue-collar worker from Canberra, under the name of E.L.K he began experimenting with stencil cutting and spray paint in his mid-twenties.

1 portrait in the collection

Bob Hawke, 2012

Luke Cornish

Purchased 2013

Purchased 2022

Gervaise Purcell

Gervaise Purcell was a commercial photographer specialising in fashion.

1 portrait in the collection

Rosie Batty AO

Rosie Batty AO (b. 1962), campaigner against family violence, became well known to the Australian public in early 2014, when her eleven-year-old son Luke was murdered by his father as she stood waiting to take him home from cricket practice.

1 portrait in the collection

Hiljaisuus: Four Walks, 2016

by Luke Aleksandrow

Finalist, DPA 2016

Nick Cave, Susie Bick and Luke Cave, 1998 (printed 2020) Dominique Issermann. Courtesy of the artist © Dominique Issermann

Stepping out

Devotion

Beautiful punk love

Lady Florence Packer

Lady Florence Packer (1915-2012) was born in Paris to Edmond Porges, a major in the British Army, and his Russian wife Marie-Mathilde Brodsky.

1 portrait in the collection

Lady Packer, 1968

Cecil Beaton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Florence Packer 2004

Hélène Kirsova, 1937

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Hélène Kirsova, 1938

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Hélène Kirsova with a rope, 1937

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

Tamara Tchinarova

Tamara Tchinarova (1919–2017), dancer, was one of the original 'baby ballerinas' of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo.

2 portraits in the collection

Hélène Kirsova in Petrouchka, 1936-1937

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

Tamara Tchinarova, 1938

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

Irina Baronova

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Irina Baronova (1919–2008) was one of the three legendary 'baby ballerinas' of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, who created an international dance sensation in the 1930s and 1940s.

1 portrait in the collection

Rosie Batty, 2017

Nikki Toole

Commissioned with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2017

Irina Baronova (handing on the baton), 2007

Jenny Sages

Portrait, encaustic, oil and pigment on composition board

Gift of the J Sages Family Trust 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The steam apprentice, 2009

by Gary Steer

Image

Rosie Batty

'Together we will give victims a voice and demand our leaders act'

Portrait story

The 2015 Australian of the Year talks about grief and searching for recognition of, and action on, domestic violence.

Helmut Newton

Helmut Newton was born and grew up in Berlin, which he fled in 1938 to escape persecution as a Jew.

1 portrait in the collection

Nine square images of previous winners of the National Photographic Portrait Prize

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

Upcoming exhibition

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.

George Dance

George Dance the Younger, architect, was a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.

4 portraits in the collection

2017-19 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

From 2017 to 2019 the Acquisition Fund was focussed on the commission of a stunning portrait of Rosie Batty by Nikki Toole.

Arnold Haskell

NPPP 2012 learning resource

Arnold Haskell (1903-1981) was an English ballet critic who became a passionate advocate for Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Alina Gozin'a

An interview with the photographer.

Portrait of Rosie Batty Unveiled at Portrait Gallery

24 January 2018

Archived media releases 2018

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a newly commissioned portrait of Australian domestic violence campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty.

Arnold Haskell, 1937

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

Lucio Galletto OAM

Lucio Galletto OAM (birth date undisclosed) was born into a family of farmers and restaurateurs in north-west Italy.

1 portrait in the collection

Californian clinch in the ‘Australian’ outback

Lust

Long-term love scene

Sir Kenneth Gillespie

Sir Kenneth Gillespie (1929–2010), dancer, teacher and founder of the Tasmanian Ballet, left his native Launceston at age sixteen to join the Borovansky Ballet in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Hélène Kirsova

Hélène Kirsova (1910–1962), dancer and founder of Kirsova Ballet, the first professional ballet company in Australia.

4 portraits in the collection

Talma Studios, Sydney

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Talma Studios opened in Sydney in March 1899 in a George Street premises next door to the GPO.

1 portrait in the collection

Guy Pearce, 2000 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Purchased 2005

Sarah Engledow and Acorn, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Explore The Popular Pet Show

The artists and their furry friends

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Curator, Sarah Engledow, introduces the artists and the animals in The Popular Pet Show.

Kenneth Gillespie, 2005

Dean Beletich

Purchased 2015

Handing on the baton

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

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

Monochromatic Self-Portrait, 2000 by Genevieve Preston

Headspace 1

Previous exhibition, 2000

Headspace showcases portrait art produced by secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 in Government, Catholic and Independent schools in Canberra and its surrounding regions extending to Wollongong, Deniliquin, Leeton, Crookwell, Bombala, Narooma and Albury

Dancer

Touring exhibition, 2024

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition celebrates dance and dancers.

Headspace 6

Who Am I?

Previous exhibition, 2005

The sixth in the National Portrait Gallery’s series of student exhibitions, will feature 200 portrait artworks, both two and three-dimensional, from secondary school students from across Australia

Vintage Cassab

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Peter Goldsworthy AM

Peter Goldsworthy AM (b. 1951), medical doctor and writer, was born in Minlaton, South Australia, and grew up in various country towns as his father, a school teacher, moved for work.

2 portraits in the collection

Noni Hazlehurst AM

Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd

Actor, presenter and broadcaster Noni Hazlehurst AM (b. 1953) studied drama at Flinders University in South Australia, and after graduating gained roles in the television cop shows Division 4, Homicide and Matlock Police.

2 portraits in the collection

Studio

Previous exhibition, 2007

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2009

Previous exhibition, 2009

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Soffritto di Lucio, 2009

Garry Shead and Adrienne Levenson

Portrait, oil on linen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lucio Galletto OAM 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Jenny Sages

Paths to Portraiture

Previous exhibition, 2010

The exhibition Sages examines the process of portrait making through four large-scale portraits of women by Jenny Sages, paired with intimate preparatory drawings.

The Writer: Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

by Deidre But-Husaim

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AO and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018.

Rehearsing Godot (Mullins as Lucky) 4.11.2013 by Nicholas Harding

Waiting for Godot

'Artist and actors, advancing spasmodically, find their rhythm together' writes Sarah Engledow.

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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Previous exhibition, 2022

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.

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

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

About Face article

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.

Safe space

Magazine article by Amy Middleton, 2023

Amy Middleton on the power of portraiture in promoting inclusivity and connecting with intersectionality and diversity in all its forms.

The play’s the thing

About Face article

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

Nicholas Harding

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Over the years the young Nicholas Harding got his hands on various mice and guinea pigs, but they served mainly to illustrate the concept of mortality.

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

The Thyssen Art Macabre

About Face article

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.

Naked nostalgia

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

The more things change...

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.

Some prime ministers

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay