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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Search / noel foley

Sir Noel Foley, c. 1985-1990

Brian Dunlop

Portrait, oil on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Foley 2015

Gary Foley

Biography

Gary Foley (b. 1950) is a Gumbainggir activist, actor, historian, curator and academic.

2 portraits in the collection

Fiona Foley

Biography

Fiona Foley (b.1964), Badtjala artist, activist, curator and writer, grew up on Fraser Island and in nearby Hervey Bay before moving south to study art at the East Sydney Technical College.

2 portraits in the collection

Untitled 4539, 2010

by Paul Foley

Image

Creature from the Black Platoon starring Gary Foley 2011, 2011

TextaQueen

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Purchased 2011

'Red Terra' - Black Activist: A portrait of Gary Foley, 2006

by Rod McNicol

Image

Gary Foley, Invasion Day - We Have Survived

Gary Foley, Invasion Day - We Have Survived, 1988

Juno Gemes

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

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

Fiona Foley in her studio at Hervey Bay, 1994

Juno Gemes

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

After Ophelia: Fiona Foley at Lake Mackenzie, Fraser Island (Referencing Ophelia by John Everett Millais), 1994

Juno Gemes

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Noel Stapleton

Biography

Noel Stapleton (1927-2017) commercial artist, began his career in Brisbane in 1944.

1 portrait in the collection

Noel Rubie

Biography

Noel Rubie (1901–1976) was a painter and photographer who had a portrait and industrial photography studio in Sydney and worked during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

1 portrait in the collection

Noel McGrowdie

Biography

Noel 'Digger' McGrowdie (1920-1961), jockey, was born in Brisbane and educated at a Christian Brothers School in Toowoomba before being apprenticed in Brisbane at the age of fourteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Noel Counihan

Biography

Noel Counihan, born in Melbourne, began his career as a press caricaturist, freelancing in Australia, New Zealand and Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.

1 portrait in the collection

Noel McKenna

Biography

Noel McKenna (b. 1956), artist, is best known for his spare linear style and paintings of everyday scenarios, often featuring animals and interiors.

2 portraits in the collection

Noel Counihan

In their own words

Recorded 1961

Noel Fraser Hickey

Biography

Noel Fraser Hickey (1921–2010) was born in Kensington, in Sydney, New South Wales, a stone's throw from the Royal Randwick Racecourse.

1 portrait in the collection

Noel McGrowdie, 1957 (printed 2003)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Stable Scene with Shane Dye, 2000

Noel McKenna

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of the artist 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Noel Charlie, 2011

by Tobias Titz

Image

Noel McKenna

Explore The Popular Pet Show

It’s a matter beyond dispute that in the entire history of Australian art, it’s Noel McKenna who’s painted the liveliest rendition of the head of a Chihuahua.

Alan Marshall, 1971

Noel Counihan

Portrait, oil on masonite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Barrie and Jenny Hadlow 2015

Dr Joseph Brown with Two Typists, 1996

Noel McKenna

Portrait, enamel on canvas

Gift of the artist 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Noel Fraser Hickey, 1957

Nancy Menetrey

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of the artist 2021

JOH (The Hon Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen), c. 1987

Noel Stapleton

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas board

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003

Millicent Preston Stanley Vaughan, c. 1945

Noel Rubie

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Gift of Judi Preston-Stanley 2013

Brian Dunlop

Biography

Brian Dunlop studied at East Sydney Technical College and won the Le Gay Brereton Prize for Drawing while still a student.

7 portraits in the collection

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.

Milestones

About Face article

This month I turn fifty, soI am just now looking rather more closely than usual at Fiona Foley, Steven Heathcote, Brenda Croft, Russell Crowe, Jeff Fenech, Akira Isogawa, Lee Kernaghan, My Le Thi, Shona Wilson and Mark Taylor AO, mindful that they too were 1964 arrivals.

The Popular Pet Show

Previous exhibition, 2016

This exhibition expresses the joy and warmth that many of us derive from our animal companions, and celebrates their trusting, unpretentious ways, with portraits of Australians and their furry, feathered and fluffy friends.

Scrapbook page featuring portraits of Fred Lowry and Frank Gardiner

Frederick Lowry

Biography

Fred Lowry (1836-1863) was a stockman before he turned to cattle and horse duffing.

1 portrait in the collection

HJ Wedge

Biography

HJ Wedge (1957–2012), Wiradjuri artist, was born at Erambie mission near Cowra.

1 portrait in the collection

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

Upcoming exhibition

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015). The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

Djon Mundine OAM

Biography

Djon Mundine OAM (b. 1951), a Bundjalung man, is a curator, writer, artist and activist.

1 portrait in the collection

Phillip Noyce AO

Biography

Phillip Noyce AO (b. 1950), director, was part of the first student intake at the Australian Film and Television School in 1973.

2 portraits in the collection

Lady Florence Packer

Biography

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

Elaine Pelot-Syron

Biography

Elaine Pelot-Syron grew up in Miami and came to Australia to teach English in 1971.

1 portrait in the collection

Athol Shmith, 1985

Michel Lawrence

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Eileen, 2017

by Sue Healey

General content

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Djon, 1990 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased 2013

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones, 1970

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Charles E. Lloyd Jones and Kim Lloyd Jones 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Unboxed

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2022

Sandra Bruce explores a new acquisition that has within it a story of interconnectivities in the Australian art world.

Wilfred John Peisley

Biography

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

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones OBE

Biography

Hannah Benyon Lloyd Jones OBE (1901–1982) was the third wife of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, the chairman of David Jones from 1920 until his death in 1958.

3 portraits in the collection

Margel and Tarquin, Canberra, c. 1945

Frank Hinder

Portrait, pen and ink, brush and ink and pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Ross family in memory of Noel and Enid Eliot 2014

Nigel Butterley AM

Biography

Nigel Butterley AM (1935-2022) was one of the foremost Australian composers and pianists of his generation.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Frank Packer

Biography

Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer KBE (1906-1974), media proprietor, grew up in Sydney and became a cadet journalist on the Daily Guardian, owned by his father RC Packer, in 1923.

2 portraits in the collection

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

Honour board

Nancy Menetrey

Biography

Nancy Menetrey (née Wilkinson) was born in Sydney in 1924. After serving with the Australian Women's Land Army, formed during the Second World War to address labour shortages in the agricultural sector, she travelled overseas in the early 1950s, living and working in London for a number of years.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC

Biography

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

Self portrait, 1921

Thea Proctor

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Ross family in memory of Noel and Enid Eliot 2013

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.

Pets of all types take over the National Portrait Gallery

3 November 2016

Archived media releases 2016

It is not every day that a national gallery turns its walls over to the animal companions that bring unconditional love and joy to their owners but this summer we have opened the doors to 15 contemporary artists with very different ways of depicting our furry, feathered and scaled pets.

The Delltones, 1964 (printed 2019)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

blood/memory: Brenda & Christopher I (Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra; Mara/Ngarrindjeri/Ritharrngu; Anglo-Australian/Chinese/German/Irish/Scottish) 2021

blood/memory: Brenda & Christopher I (Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra; Mara/Ngarrindjeri/Ritharrngu; Anglo-Australian/Chinese/German/Irish/Scottish) 2021, 2022 (printed 2023)

Brenda L Croft, Prue Hazelgrove, Richard Crampton

Portrait, original wet plate collodion process tintype, digital scan to Ultrachrome pigment on paper

Purchased 2023

Vincent Brady leading anti Bicentenary Protest, Brisbane, 1987 Michael Aird

Activating the space

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

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

Clifton Pugh

Australians

Previous exhibition, 2005

This exhibition offers a comprehensive display of Clifton Pugh's portraits revealing his development and growth from tonal paintings to a unique style that was in demand from politicians, artists, academics and Australian personalities.

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.

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

One hundred days at 7pm 2015 by Fiona McMonagle

Self-effacing

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

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

Shall I raise my eyebrows and gasp? (Alex), 2011 by TextaQueen

Pen power

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.

The selfie stick

About Face article

Last week ABC Television came to interview me about selfie sticks. The story was prompted by the announcement that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has lately prohibited the use of these inside their galleries. So far as I am aware we have not yet encountered the phenomenon, but no doubt we will before too long.

Seduce, Amuse, Entertain

NPPP 2007 exhibition essay

General content

Michael Desmond, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2007 Prize.

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

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

A sketch for some portraits

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

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

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

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

Give me five

Magazine article by Karen Quinlan AM, 2021

National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan AM nominates her quintet of favourites from the collection, with early twentieth-century ‘selfies’ filling the roster.

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.

The silent partner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

71 results

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