Search / peter english

Peter English was an RAAF photographer from the early 1950s onward, taking air and ground photographs in Australia and Malaya.

1 portrait in the collection

Graham Kennedy, c. 1962 (printed 2000)

Peter English

'A quintessential Australian character'

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Tony Sattler 2016

Peter Schipperheyn

Portrait, carved marble on travertine marble base

Sculptor Peter Schipperheyn talks about working with marble and his portrait of Peter Garrett.

Bust of Peter Garrett, 1991-2016

Peter Schipperheyn

Gift of the artist 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Eve

Peter Eve is a Darwin-based editorial, industrial and commercial photographer.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Steele

Father Peter Steele AM (1939-2012), poet and Jesuit Provincial, grew up in Perth, destined from youth for the priesthood.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Skrzynecki OAM

Of Polish/Ukrainian descent, Peter Skrzynecki was born in 1945 in Germany and came to Australia with his parents in 1949.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Brock AM

Peter Brock (1945-2006), a professional racing driver from 1972 to 1997, was undoubtedly Australia's best known and most popular motor sports personality.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Porter OAM

Peter Porter OAM (1929-2010), poet and critic, moved from Brisbane to London in 1951 at age 22.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Travis AM

Peter Travis AM (1929-2016), ceramic artist, designer and teacher, was born in the beachside Sydney suburb of Manly.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Allen

Previous exhibition, 2009

Peter Allen (1944–1992), singer/songwriter and entertainer, was born Peter Allen Woolnough in Tenterfield, NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Sculthorpe

A Celebration

To celebrate Peter Sculthorpe's 80th birthday, the National Portrait Gallery has created a feature exhibition of portraits and associated biographic material drawn from the National Portrait Gallery and the composer’s personal collection.

Peter van der Veer

Peter van der Veer, photographer, designer and painter, studied at Prahran College in the 1970s.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Drewett

Peter G. Drewett is a Grafton craftsman. Drewett grew up in difficult economic circumstances in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

A man and his music: Peter Weiss and the Australian Chamber Orchestra

Peter Weiss AO

Peter Weiss AO (1935–2020), cultural benefactor, was born into a well-to-do family in Vienna, which they fled in the late 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Booth

Peter Booth (b. 1940) grew up in the English steel mill town of Sheffield, bike-riding on the nearby moors.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter O'Shaughnessy OAM

Peter O'Shaughnessy (1923-2013), actor and producer, has produced many Australian plays and acted the major Shakespearian tragic roles both in Australia and overseas.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Nicholson

Peter Nicholson (b. 1950), poet and author, grew up in Sydney. He published his first volume of poetry and narrative, A Temporary Grace, in 1991.

3 portraits in the collection

Peter Elliott AM

Peter Elliott AM (1926–2014) was an obstetrician, gynaecologist and gynaecological oncologist as well as a significant art collector and patron.

6 portraits in the collection

Peter Rushforth AO

Peter Rushforth AO (1920-2015), ceramic artist, was born in Sydney and studied art at the Royal Melbourne Technical College after World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Churcher

Peter Churcher's first qualifications were in music, not art. Travelling through Europe after gaining his Licentiate for Piano Performance from Trinity College, London, he visited a great many galleries and was persuaded to return to his original preoccupation, painting.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Fisher

Peter Fisher has been one of Australia's foremost commercial photographers over the past 25 years.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Carey AO

Peter Carey (b. 1943) is an author whose novels sweep between the fantastic and the realistic, the comic and the tragic, and the present and the past.

3 portraits in the collection

Peter Corris

Peter Corris (1942-2018), author, was educated at Melbourne High School and the University of Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Weir AM

Peter Weir AM (b. 1944) is a film director. Educated at Scots College and the University of Sydney, he worked as a stage hand at Channel 7 and made documentaries for the Commonwealth Film Unit before directing The Cars That Ate Paris in 1974.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE

Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE (1929–2014), composer, was born in Launceston and began music lessons around age seven, writing his first compositions by torchlight under the bedclothes at night.

4 portraits in the collection

Peter Schipperheyn

Peter Schipperheyn (b. 1955), Melbourne-based sculptor, is well known for his contemporary marble and bronze sculptures of the human form.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Hall

Peter Hall (1931-1995), architect, completed the Sydney Opera House after the Danish architect Jørn Utzon resigned from the project and left Australia in 1966.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Thomson AO MBE CBE

Peter Thomson AO MBE CBE (1929-2018), professional golfer, began to play the game at the age of 12.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Dombrovskis

Peter Dombrovskis, photographer and environmental activist, was born of Latvian parents in a refugee camp in Wiesbaden at the end of World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Hudson

Peter Hudson (b. 1950), is a landscape and portrait painter who lives and works in Maleny, Queensland.

5 portraits in the collection

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. 'Come + see the real thing, come + see' Conquistadors parts Hong. Ranger 3

Peter Garrett AM

Peter Garrett AM (b. 1953), musician, environmental and social activist, and former politician, is the lead singer of the band Midnight Oil, which originated in Sydney's northern beaches in the mid-1970s.

12 portraits in the collection

Peter Wegner

Peter Wegner first participated in a group exhibition in 1977, when he had had no art training.

7 portraits in the collection

Peter Goldsworthy AM

Magazine article by Peter Wilmoth, 2016

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

Peter Porter

In their own words

Recorded 1970

Peter Sculthorpe

In their own words

Recorded 1967

Peter Wilmoth, age 12, with copies of Our World 1974 Courtesy of the author

Paper, boy

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

Peter Sculthorpe

'Brings in the sun'

'Not your stereotypical scientist'

Legendary Australian composer, Peter Sculthorpe, describes the development of his career.

Professor Peter Doherty

Australian Nobel Prize winner, Professor Peter Doherty, provides some entertaining insights into his career and the science profession.

Peter Brew-Bevan

Peter Brew-Bevan (b. 1969) is a leading Australian portrait and fashion photographer.

25 portraits in the collection

Peter Thomson, 1970

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Professor Peter Doherty AC

Professor Peter Doherty (b. 1940), immunologist, shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1996 for his discoveries about how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Russell-Clarke

Peter Russell-Clarke, cook, started his career as a freelance cartoonist, working for advertising agencies in Australia and overseas.

1 portrait in the collection

The New Arrivals at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art

Peter Purves Smith

Peter Purves Smith (1912–1949), artist, went to Geelong Grammar with his lifelong friend Russell Drysdale.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Elliott, 1964

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Richard Elliott 2016. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Peter Abeles, TNT Ansett, n.d.

Joe Greenberg

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil, fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study for the portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2016

Study for portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott 2016
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Study for portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott 2016
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Study for portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2016

Study for the portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2016

Mike Smith, 2007 (printed 2013)

Peter Eve

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Eve 2013

Gay Bilson, 2004

Peter Fisher

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Self portrait, 2004

Peter Russell-Clarke

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Songman, portrait of Kev Carmody, 2006

Courtesy of Kev Carmody, Song Cycles Pty Ltd.

Mem Fox, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by Peronelle Windeyer 2021

Mal Meninga, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #5 Garrett in landscape

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #5 Garrett in landscape, 2001

Portrait, watercolour, gouache, mangrove bark pigment with alum on vellum

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Portrait of Peter Nicholson, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001

Portrait of Peter Nicholson, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001

Portrait of Peter Nicholson, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001

Peter Travis, 1971 (printed 2009)

Douglas Thompson

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and permanent marker on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Peter Porter, 2004

Tony Clark

Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

The Writer, Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

Deidre But-Husaim

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

Study for The Writer, Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

Deidre But-Husaim

Portrait, oil and hand-stitching on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018

A man and his music: Peter Weiss and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, 1995

Kerrie Lester

Gift of Peter Weiss AO 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Brock, 2000-2001

Julie Edgar

Portrait, cast bronze on granite base

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Peter Allen, 1980

William Yang

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on board

Purchased 2003

Peter Carey in Kelly country, 2000

Bruce Armstrong

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Peter O'Shaughnessy, 1947

Howard Matthews

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Peter Singer, 2002

Juliet van Otteren

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

Gift of Mr and Mrs Wilbur van Otteren 2002

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.

Peter Sculthorpe, 1977 (printed 2002)

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

Peter Carey, 1989 (printed 2002)

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

Peter Carey, 1989

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

Peter Sculthorpe, c. 1969

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Peter Weir, 1974 (printed 2001)

Gordon Glenn

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Peter Thomson, c. 1960

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mary Thomson 2017

Peter Rushforth, 1971 (printed 2009)

Douglas Thompson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Peter Hall, n.d.

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen and pen and ink on paper

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

Peter Sculthorpe, 1982

Eric Smith

Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

Peter Brocklehurst, 2005 (printed 2010)

Bill McAuley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Peter Kingston, 2003

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Skrzynecki, 2012

John Slaytor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Peter Powditch, 1995

Portrait, bromide fibre print

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Porter, 2009

Norman McBeath

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Norman McBeath 2011

Peter Wright, 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Garrett, 1999

Karin Catt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Peter Craven, 2015

Jacqueline Mitelman

Portrait

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

Peter Corris, 1982 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Dr Peter Farrell, 2001

Salvatore Zofrea OAM

Portrait, screenprint on paper

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

Get Wet series (Peter O'Doherty), 1979

Paul Worstead

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Father Peter Steele, 2009

Kristin Headlam

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2015

Peter Booth 3, September 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Robert Rooney

Portrait, screenprint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Creatures of Leisure series (Peter O'Doherty)

Creatures of Leisure series (Peter O'Doherty), 1982

Paul Worstead

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Creative space

Magazine article by Eric Smith, 2004

Eric Smith describes the agony and finally the ecstasy of winning the 1982 Archibald Prize with the portrait of Peter Sculthorpe.

John Marsden, 1998

Gift of the artist 2002

Halo: Clement Meadmore, 2001 (printed 2019)

Peter Hyatt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Chad (portrait of Chad Morgan), 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Jacques Miller, 2002

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Neil Murray, 2008

Portrait, pastel and watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Ian Thorpe, 2012 (printed 2021)

Portrait, pokerwork on spotted gum

Gift of the artist 2021

Joan Kerr, 2004

Peter Drewett

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Semple Kerr 2004

Victor Smorgon, 2000

Gift of the artist 2002

Archie Roach, 2008

Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Don Argus, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of BHP Billiton 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Sir Gustav Nossal, 1999

Peter Churcher

Magazine article by Peter Jeffrey, 2016

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Karen McLeod Adair and Anthony Adair 1999

Hottie's Snifter to port

Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.

Professor Peter Doherty, 2001

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2002

Gough Whitlam, 2005 (printed 2015)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2015

Ellie Cole, 2016 (printed 2021)

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

Poets' Portraits

The Portrait Gallery's paintings of two poets, Les Murray and Peter Porter, demonstrate two very different artists' responses to the challenge of representing more than usually sensitive and imaginative men.

Portrait of Professor Graeme Clark, 2000

Gift of the family of Professor Graeme Clark 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Julia Gillard, 2013

Gift of the artist 2013

Chris Hemsworth, 2016 (printed 2021)

Gift of the artist 2021

Jack Thompson, 2019 (printed 2021)

Gift of the artist 2021

Kerry Stokes, 2014 (printed 2021)

Gift of the artist 2021

Leisel Jones, 2015 (printed 2021)

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

Susie Porter, 2000 (printed 2001)

Purchased 2001

The Dance - David McAllister, 2016

Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016

Dawn Fraser, 1998 (printed 2001)

Purchased 2001

Naomi Watts, 2003

Gift of the artist 2004

Turia Pitt, 2017 (printed 2021)

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

Akira Isogawa, 2001

Gift of the artist 2005

Sketchbook journal for the commission portrait

Sketchbook journal for the commission portrait "The Dance - David McAllister", 2016

Portrait, 48 page journal with 25 illustrated pages in pencil, pastel, ink and collage of printed images with masking tape

Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016

Kristian Fredrikson, 2000 (printed 2001)

Purchased 2001

Dichotomia, Barry Otto, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Professor Graeme Clark (profile), 2000

Gift of the artist 2002

Professor Graeme Clark, 2000

Gift of the artist 2002

Paul Kelly, 2007

Gift of the artist 2012

Keith Urban, 2007

Purchased 2011

George Gregan, 1999 (printed 2001)

Purchased 2001

General Cosgrove, Dili, East Timor 1999, 2006

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2001

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Cannon and L. Gordon Darling AC CMG 2006

Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground

Seduce and Destroy

Magda Keaney explores the symbolism in eX de Medici's portrait of Midnight Oil.

David Morrison, 2016

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Russell Drysdale and Peter Sculthorpe, Tallow Beach, New South Wales

Russell Drysdale and Peter Sculthorpe, Tallow Beach, New South Wales, 1969 (printed 2000)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
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

Jane Campion, 2009

Portrait, gouache on paper

Purchased 2011

Maisie, 1938-1939

Peter Purves Smith

Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001

Rock Island Bend. Franklin River, South West Tasmania, 1979 by Peter Dombrovskis

Written in Water

Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.

Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown, 2006 (printed 2020)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020

Wesley Enoch and David McAllister, 2020

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

Purchased with funds provided by Alan Dodge AM and Neil Archibald 2021

A Meeting of Great Minds

The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.

On active service

Magazine article by Sam Bowker, 2007

The National Portrait Gallery has acquired an evocative depiction of soldier Peter Cosgrove by the Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor Rick Amor.

Professor Peter Karmel, 1996

Robin Wallace-Crabbe, Dianne Fogwell

Portrait, etching

Gift of the artist 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gough and John, 1981

Peter van der Veer

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground, 2001

Portrait, mangrove bark pigment, watercolour and gouache on vellum

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. N.T. Ranger Uranium

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. N.T. Ranger Uranium, 2001

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Cultural kaleidoscope

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.

Off grid

Aimee Board ventures within and beyond to consider two remarkable new Gallery acquisitions.

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #1 Ranger 3 pit mine Kakadu, N.T.

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #1 Ranger 3 pit mine Kakadu, N.T., 2001

Portrait, mangrove bark pigment on vellum

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Head studies

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Head studies, 2001

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'.

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'., 2001

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #4 Broadhead and wing pattern

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #4 Broadhead and wing pattern, 2001

Portrait, watercolour, gouache, mangrove bark dye with alum on vellum

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. 'Come + see the real thing, come + see' Conquistadors parts Hong. Ranger 3, 2001

Portrait, mangrove bark pigment and pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #2 Ranger 3 pit mine Kakadu, N.T.

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. Test #2 Ranger 3 pit mine Kakadu, N.T., 2001

Portrait, mangrove reduced bark dye (no alum) on unsanded vellum

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. M.O. Ranger 3

Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'. M.O. Ranger 3, 2001

Portrait, watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

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

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

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

Sydney city (Patrick White and Tom Uren, Hiroshima Day demonstration), 1984

The activist A-list

Dr Sarah Engledow examines a number of figures in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery who were pioneers or substantial supporters of the seminal Australian environmental campaigns of the early 1970s and 1980s.

Painting writing

Portrait, pen and pencil on paper

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

The New Arrivals at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, 1941

Russell Drysdale

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001

Peter Dombrovskis, 1996

Liz Dombrovskis

Portrait, duo-tone print on photographic paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Peter Brew-Bevan Portraits

In this exhibition Sydney based photographer Peter Brew-Bevan brings together an intimate collection of works that highlight his passion for the genre of portraiture over the last 10 years

The Writer: Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

by Deidre But-Husaim

Nicolas-Martin Petit, B Roger

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

Nouvelle-Hollane: N.lle Galles de Sud. Ourou-Maraé, dit bull-dog par leas Anglais, Jeune guerrier de la Tribu des Gwea-Gal. (New Holland: New South Wales. Ouron Marae, called Bull Dog by the English. a young Warrior of the Gwea Gal tribe) [From 'Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australies' by Captain Nicolas Baudin, 1800-04]

Nouvelle-Hollane: N.lle Galles de Sud. Ourou-Maraé, dit bull-dog par leas Anglais, Jeune guerrier de la Tribu des Gwea-Gal. (New Holland: New South Wales. Ouron Marae, called Bull Dog by the English. a young Warrior of the Gwea Gal tribe) [From 'Voyage de decouvertes aux terres australies' by Captain Nicolas Baudin, 1800-04], c. 1800

Portrait, colour printed stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Mal Meninga, 2018

by Peter Hudson

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Alex Mitchell

A folio of British street portraits 1824–1844

Alexander George Mitchell (1911-1997), academic, studied English literature and language at the University of Sydney and the University of London before joining the English department of the University of Sydney, where he assumed the McCaughey Chair of Early English Literature and Language in 1947.

1 portrait in the collection

Copeman, gardener, Great Yarmouth by John Dempsey

Dempsey's people

Previous exhibition, 2017

Dempsey’s people: a folio of British street portraits 1824–1844 is the first exhibition to showcase the compelling watercolour images of English street people made by the itinerant English painter John Dempsey throughout the first half of the nineteenth century.

Peter de Waal and Peter Bonsall-Boone, St Kilda, October 1966 Unknown artist

Committed to the cause and each other

Devotion

Love versus the law

Australia v England, 1887

Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, George Barrable, Goupil & Cie

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Norman and "Peter Ward", c. 1906

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Douglas Thompson

Douglas Thompson (b. 1932) was born in Stanthorpe, QLD and served in the RAAF as a photographer and photography teacher between 1950 and 1956.

5 portraits in the collection

Rose Lindsay in garden at Springwood with Peter the fox terrier

Rose Lindsay in garden at Springwood with Peter the fox terrier, c. 1924

Harold Cazneaux

Portrait, pencil with ink wash on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Coral Browne, 1975

Don Bachardy

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882

George Griffin

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Beal

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

John Blackman

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Boyle

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Alexander Bannerman

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Garrett

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

George Bonner

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Selina Snow

English born Selina Snow now lives and works in Sydney. She graduated from the prestigious Slade School of Art in London (1993) and Ecole des Beaux Art in Aix en Provence, France (1987).

4 portraits in the collection

Autumn Dinner 2012 photos

19 April 2012

With author and media identity Peter FitzSimons.

Jean-François de Galaup La Perouse

Jean-François de Galaup la Pérouse, Comte de la Pérouse (1741-1788), navigator, joined the French navy as a boy, rising to the rank of captain and serving with distinction and humanity in campaigns against the English in Hudson Bay in 1782.

4 portraits in the collection

Arcadia learning resource

Learning resources

A great addition to themes such as Australian History, Sport, Australian Studies, Cultural Studies, English and Visual Arts. For Year 9 – 12 students.

Les Murray AO

Leslie Allan ‘Les’ Murray AO (1938-2019) was acknowledged during his lifetime as one of the great poets writing in English.

4 portraits in the collection

All that fall artist interviews

'I always dreamed of being a mermaid'

Lawrence English, Ellis Hutch and Lee Grant talk about the works they created for All that fall.

Ellie Cole

Ellie Cole on the freedom of the pool and being photographed by Peter Brew-Bevan.

Barry Gibb

Thomas Woolnoth, William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London & New York

Barry Gibb (b. 1946) and twins Robin (b. 1949) and Maurice Gibb (1949-2003), were the brothers comprising the band The Bee Gees.

1 portrait in the collection

La Perouse, 1830s

Portrait, bromide fibre print

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

Les Murray, 2003

Norman McBeath

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Norman McBeath 2011

Baron Jacques Hamelin

Baron Jacques Hamelin (1768-1839), French naval officer, began his sailing career at seventeen, making his first long voyage on a merchant marine ship to and from Angola.

1 portrait in the collection

Marjorie Jackson, 1953

Purchased 2011

Thomas Fitzherbert Hawkins, c. 1790

Portrait, oil on cotton laid down on cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter E.B. Mansell 2018

Les Murray, 1995

Portrait, oil and egg tempera on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Portrait of Jill Neville, 1967 (completed 1997)

Reginald Gray

Gift of the artist 2002

Richard Avedon

Learning resource archive

A companion to our 2013 exhibition Richard Avedon People. This resource ties in with the Australian Curriculum and is designed primarily for upper secondary school teachers of Visual Arts, English, History and Theory of Knowledge.

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

Access support for schools

Current programs

The Gallery provides inclusive programs that meet the needs of all participating students.

George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga

George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga (1957–2007) was a Yolngu singer, activist and a founding member of the Warumpi Band.

2 portraits in the collection

Portrait 23

March - May 2007

This issue of Portrait Magazine features the Reveries: On Photography and Mortality exhibition, Peter Cosgrove, Martin Sharp, Terence Tao and more.

Portrait 12

June - August 2004

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Peter Brew-Bevan, daguerreotypes, the exhibition Depth of Field, Ern McQuillan's photographs of sportspeople and more.

Portrait 16

June - August 2005

This issue of Portrait Magazine features portraits by Rick Amor, colonial charicatures, Les Murray, Peter Porter, Helen Garner and more.

Geoffrey Dutton AO

September - November 2005

Geoffrey Dutton AO (1922–1998) was a prodigious writer and editor whose published works comprise poetry, novels, children's books, biographies, art history and literary criticism.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 17

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

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

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V)

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), 1901

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on original studio backing card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Elvis at 21 learning resource

Learning resource archive

Complementing our 2013 exhibition Elvis at 21, this resource has connections with the Australian Curriculum and is designed primarily for Year 10 teachers of English, History, Music and Visual Arts.

Portrait 4

June - August 2002

This issue of Portrait Magazine features articles on Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, George Lambert's self-portrait, Professor Peter Doherty, the man behind the Dr. Who theme, and more.

David Malouf

David Malouf (b.1934), educated at Brisbane Grammar and the University of Queensland, left Australia at the age of 24 and remained abroad for a decade, teaching in England and travelling throughout Europe.

3 portraits in the collection

Richard Divall OBE in the church mantle of the Order of Malta

Richard Divall OBE in the church mantle of the Order of Malta, 1999

Eric Smith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Bequest of Richard Divall AO OBE 2017

Nancy Wake AC

Nancy Wake AC (1912–2011) was one of the most-decorated women of the Second World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Jill Neville

Jill Neville (1932–1997), writer and critic, grew up in Sydney and attended a Blue Mountains boarding school.

1 portrait in the collection

Lewis Morley

Lewis Morley (1925–2013) established his reputation as one of the key British photographers of the 1960s and is known for his iconic image of a nude Christine Keeler straddling an Arne Jacobsen chair.

50 portraits in the collection

Krystal Seigerman

The photograph was a brief, candid moment, which unfolded into a portrait. Peter and I were in Silverton, NSW, chatting as our students explored the town. The weak afternoon light suddenly became dramatic and defined, so I asked Peter if I could take his portrait.

The photographers

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

The eight photographers represent diverse styles, specialities and career paths. Abigail Varney, Peter Brew-Bevan, Martin Philbey, John Tsiavis, Michelle Day, Julian Kingma, and Giovanni Lovisetto.

E. W. Knox, 1933

Lyndon Dadswell CMG

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter and Susan Dadswell 2015

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

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.

Sir Walter Murdoch KCMG

Sir Walter Murdoch KCMG (1874–1970), academic and essayist, was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and came to Australia with his family in 1884.

1 portrait in the collection

Harry Borden

Harry Borden is an English photographer who has specialised in photographing celebrities, among them Kylie Minogue.

1 portrait in the collection

George Fordyce Story

Dr George Fordyce Story (1800-1885) was an English-born doctor who became district assistant surgeon in Van Diemen's Land.

1 portrait in the collection

La Pérouse, c. 1830s

N Mague, Blaisot

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

John Davis

Alan Davies' and Peter Stanbury's The Mechanical Eye in Australia lists Sydney photographer John Davis (life dates unknown) as having a carte-de visite studio on King Street, and as working from addresses on Pitt and George Streets between 1870 and 1873..

1 portrait in the collection

John Le Gay Brereton

John Le Gay Brereton junior (1871–1933), writer and academic, was born in Sydney, the son of a doctor, also John, who had emigrated to Australia in the late 1850s.

1 portrait in the collection

Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE

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

Warumpi Band

The Warumpi Band burst onto the Australian music scene in 1984 with the release of their first album Big Name, No Blankets.

2 portraits in the collection

Thomas Pearce

Archived media releases 2016

Thomas Pearce (c. 1860-1909) was an apprentice on the English merchant vessel the Loch Ard, which embarked for Victoria in March 1878 carrying 37 crew and 16 passengers, many from the Carmichael family.

1 portrait in the collection

David McAllister to join National Portrait Gallery collection

26 April 2016

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister AM will join the Portrait Gallery’s national collection in a newly-commissioned portrait taken by illustrious Australian photographer, Peter Brew-Bevan.

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

Making Sense of Place #4 (Portrait of Professor George Seddon)

George Seddon AM

Portraits & Other Stories

George Seddon AM (1927-2007), scholar and academic, studied English at Melbourne University before spending several years abroad, travelling and teaching at universities in Europe and North America.

1 portrait in the collection

Sam Haskins

Haskins is known for his poetic combinations of images and this exhibition of 'extended' portraits builds on this approach.

Mortality

More about In the flesh

In Western religious art a Pietà, also called a ‘lamentation’, is an image of the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Christ.

Frank Beaurepaire, c. 1924

Bain News Service

Archived media releases 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Paul Kelly and The Portraits media information

18 June 2013

Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.

Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson AC CVO MBE, 2006

Avril Thomas

Commissioned 2006

Portrait of Bennilong, a Native of New Holland

Bennelong

Your backstage pass to 70s and 80s sounds and scenes

Bennelong (c. 1764-1813), a Wangal man, is one of the most significant Aboriginal people in the early history of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel 1984 (detail) Grant Matthews

Pub Rock

Previous exhibition, 2020

Celebrate the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on our nation’s identity.

Self portrait, 2005

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gnoung-a-gnoung-a Mour-re-mour-ga (dit Collins)

Gnoung-a-gnoung-a Mour-re-mour-ga (dit Collins), 1807-1817

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Self portrait, 1999

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

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

Giovanni Vendramini

Giovanni Vendramini, engraver, went to London from his native Italy at the age of nineteen, where he honed his skills as a draughtsman under Francesco Bartolozzi.

1 portrait in the collection

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House, 1984 (printed 2021)

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2021

Australia and the Nobel Prize

This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia

Nick Sinclair

Nick Sinclair is an acclaimed English photographer who works extensively in fashion and advertising.

2 portraits in the collection

Thomas Atkinson

The private life of a portrait

Thomas Lewis Atkinson (1817-c. 1890) is described in the Benezit Dictionary of Artists as 'one of the shining representatives of English engraving'.

1 portrait in the collection

Before hand

Previous exhibition, 2020

Revealing the backstories behind the NPG collection, Before hand features interviews with artists and sitters as well as working drawings, scrapbooks, sketches and footage taken in artists’ studios and out on location.

Bob Ellis

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

3 portraits in the collection

Ralph Hope-Johnstone

Ralph Hope-Johnstone was a hydro-electric engineer and photographer who worked with Olegas Truchanas on the campaign to save Lake Pedder in the late 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

The Bee Gees

Known as the 'Kings of Disco', The Bee Gees have sold over 120 million records worldwide and are among the highest-selling musical artists in history.

1 portrait in the collection

David Malouf, 1980

Jeffrey Smart AO

Previous exhibition, 2019

Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Eye to eye

Eye to Eye is a summer Portrait Gallery Collection remix arranged by degree of eye contact – from turned away with eyes closed all the way through to right-back-at-you – as we explore artists’ and subjects’ choices around the direction of the gaze.

Graham Sutherland

Portraits from prime time

Graham Sutherland OM (1903–1980) was an English artist, best known as the painter of the portrait of Sir Winston Churchill aged 80, subsequently destroyed by the sitter's wife, Clementine.

1 portrait in the collection

Ryder Jack Susman in a Williamstown hairdresser by Abigail Varney

PROMO

Previous exhibition, 2014

This exhibition goes behind-the-scenes and into the spotlight with professional photographers and the stars of Australian television, music and comedy. Whether negotiating the logistics of a big publicity shoot or quietly capturing moments on set during filming, the photographers' stories are intriguing and compelling.

Hon. Sir Reginald Talbot KCB

Previous exhibition, 2007

The Hon Sir Reginald Talbot KCB (1841-1929), army officer and English MP, was governor of Victoria from April 1904 to July 1908.

1 portrait in the collection

A D Hope and his circle

To celebrate the centenary of the birth of poet Alec Derwent Hope AC OBE (1907-2000), the National Portrait Gallery exhibited a selection from its many portraits of Australian poets and authors.

The Library

By the end of the eighteenth century, crime, criminals and punishment were standard subjects for those engaged in the English print trade.

Moses Griffith

Moses Griffith, topographer, draftsman, watercolourist and engraver, spent his life in the service of Thomas Pennant, antiquarian and amateur naturalist; although engaged as a servant, he was employed by Pennant as a full time artist from 1771.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 65

Autumn/Winter 2021

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.

Thomas Townshend, Lord Viscount Sydney

Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney PC (1733-1800) was British Home Secretary in the Pitt Government, given responsibility for devising a plan to settle convicts at Botany Bay.

1 portrait in the collection

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.

Hugo Wolfsohn

Hugo Wolfsohn, a Dunera Boy, was Foundation Professor of Politics at Latrobe University.

2 portraits in the collection

Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

Portrait, pencil, charcoal and pastel on paper

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844), naturalist, established the principle of ‘unity of composition’.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoffrey Dutton - out with the Monarchy, 1977

Frank Hinder

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

Sir Leslie Ward

Sir Leslie Ward (1851-1922), signing his work 'Spy', was the most famous of the stable of caricaturists, including Sir Max Beerbohm and Carlo Pellegrini, who worked for the weekly English magazine Vanity Fair from 1869 to 1914.

31 portraits in the collection

Life and time

Portraits by Rod McNicol

Australian photographer Rod McNicol has consistently analysed the passing of time through the evidence of the photographic portrait. At once confronting and tender, McNicol’s portrait photographs are bold and intimate.

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

From 2015 to 2017 the Acquisition Fund was focussed on Reg Richardson AM by Mitch Cairns, a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2014, and a great example of minimalist portraiture.

Darren McDonald

Darren McDonald gained his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) degree from RMIT in 2000, having completed an associate diploma in painting at the same institution.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Francis Beaurepaire

Sir Francis Beaurepaire (1891-1956), Olympic swimmer, businessman and civic leader, won his first Victorian swimming titles in 1906, following up with three national titles in 1908.

2 portraits in the collection

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.

John Raphael Smith

Previous exhibition, 2014

John Raphael Smith worked in various drapery establishments and painted miniatures before turning to engraving in London.

1 portrait in the collection

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.

Frank Edward Wootton

Previous exhibition, 2018

Francis Edward (Frank) Wootton (1893-1940), jockey, was born into the family of a Sydney horse trainer who is said to have been so determined that his sons would become jockeys that he denied them adequate meals.

1 portrait in the collection

Carte-o-mania!

Drawn from the NPG’s burgeoning collection of cartes de visite, Carte-o-mania! celebrates the wit, style and substance of the pocket-sized portraits that were taken and collected like crazy in post-goldrush Australia.

Indecent exposure

Annette Kellerman

Previous exhibition, 2011

'Diving Venus' and 'the perfect woman' are two of the numerous descriptions applied to Annette Kellerman, who achieved international fame during the early decades of the twentieth century.

Barry Gibb, 1970-1971

Rennie Ellis

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Akira Isogawa

Inside the patterns

Iconic Australian fashion designer, Akira Isogawa discusses the development of his unique style.

Bambi Tuckwell

Portraits by Stuart Campbell

Patricia 'Bambi' Tuckwell (1926-2018) was a leading Australian fashion model as well as a promising violinist.

1 portrait in the collection

Between Light and Shadow

Previous exhibition, 2011

The late Australian photographer Stuart Campbell produced superb photographs of Australian actors of stage and screen.

Real close

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2012

Peter Ciemitis breached regulations when creating the portrait of the polymath environmental scientist George Seddon.

Francis Russell Nixon, c. 1845-1855

George Richmond

Portrait, copperplate engraving on buff paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Danelle Bergstrom

Portrait, ceramic and cork

Danelle Bergstrom (b. 1957) was born in Sydney. She studied art and art education at the Julian Ashton school (1974-1979) and at Alexander Mackie CAE.

2 portraits in the collection

Billy Hughes bottle stopper, 1911-1921

Mashman Bros Ltd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

William Saurin Lyster, mid to late 1860s

Davies & Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Edwin Dalton

Portrait, oil on masonite

Edwin Dalton was an English painter, photographer and lithographer who spent some time in North America before setting up as a portrait painter in Melbourne in 1853.

5 portraits in the collection

Neville Gruzman, 1968

Eric Smith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Portrait of Professors Margaret Gardner and Glyn Davis

Portrait of Professors Margaret Gardner and Glyn Davis, 2017

Jacqueline Mitelman

Magazine article by Peter Brew-Bevan, 2004

Commissioned with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins, Sir Roderick Carnegie AC, Rupert Myer AO and Annabel Myer, Louise and Martyn Myer Foundation, Peter and Ruth McMullin, Diana Carlton, Professor Derek Denton AC, Harold Mitchell AC, Peter Jopling AM QC, Andrew and Liz Mackenzie, Patricia Patten, Tamie Fraser AO, Bruce Parncutt and Robin Campbell, Lauraine Diggins, Steven Skala AO and Lousje Skala 2017

In Sync

Peter Brew-Bevan discusses two experiences where his plans for his portraits produced surprising results.

Self-guiding groups

Temporarily offline content

Self-guided groups led by educators are welcome in the Gallery.

Juliet van Otteren

Juliet van Otteren's first passion were dance and riding her horses bareback across the countryside.

1 portrait in the collection

Supporters

$5,000 - $9,999

Janette Howard

Janette Howard (b. 1943), wife of former prime minister the Hon. John Howard OM AC, was born in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Philip Hunter

Previous exhibition, 2013

Philip Hunter (1958-2017), painter, studied art in Melbourne before holding his first solo exhibition there in 1982.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Kelly and The Portraits

Aspects of singer songwriter Paul Kelly’s performance persona are communicated by portraits selected from a range of artists and leading music photographers in this focus exhibition.

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick, c. 1977

Jozef Vissel

Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015

All that fall

Portrait, montage of gelatin silver photographs

Focussing on the wide-ranging theme of loss and absence, this exhibition provides a moving ‘portrait’ of loss during the First World War on the Australian home front. Powerful symbolic images, including contemporary works, evoke the emotional intensity of loss. All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War is the National Portrait Gallery’s contribution to the Anzac Centenary.

Al Grassby and Penny Dent, Community Relations Commission, Canberra

Al Grassby and Penny Dent, Community Relations Commission, Canberra, 1982

John Williams

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Tom Glover

English-born Thomas Ellis Glover moved to New Zealand as a child and by his early twenties was working as a cartoonist, court reporter and journalist.

10 portraits in the collection

Robert Hobart

Portrait, lithographic print on paper

Robert Hobart, fourth Earl of Buckinghamshire (1760–1816), statesman, was a soldier in the war against the American colonies and served as aide-de-camp to several lord lieutenants of Ireland before becoming Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1789 to 1793.

1 portrait in the collection

Boardman, Lake Macquarie tribe, 1836

William Fernyhough

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

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

Patricia 'Bambi' Tuckwell (Shmith), c. 1952

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Coral Browne

Coral Browne (1913-1991) was an Australian actress who left for England in 1934.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Macfarlane Burnet, late 1960s

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Sir Macfarlane Burnet, late 1970s

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Ross Edwards

Ross Edwards (b. 1943), composer, became determined upon a life of composition as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Mackerras AC KT CBE

Magazine article by Ellie Cole OAM, 2022

Sir (Alan) Charles Mackerras AC CBE (1925-2010) was chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1985.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait Story

For me, swimming was particularly special because it was the only sport that I could participate in as a kid where I could take my prosthetic leg off, jump in the water, and I could be the same as all the other kids.

Robert Earl of Buckinghamshire (Hobart), 1808

Sir Thomas Lawrence, Robert Dunkarton

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Pigeon coup

Glenn McGrath makes a strong impact on the English batsmen and the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

John Marsden

John Marsden (b. 1950), children's writer and social commentator, grew up in country Victoria and Tasmania and then attended the Kings School in Parramatta.

1 portrait in the collection

Tristan Humphries

Tristan Humphries (1962-2000) was an English artist specialising in digital portraiture.

1 portrait in the collection

Philip Hunter, 2004

Julian Kingma

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Bruce Pollard

Bruce Pollard (b. 1936), gallerist, established the Pinocotheca Gallery in a St Kilda mansion in 1967, and relocated it to an old hat factory in Richmond in 1970.

1 portrait in the collection

Robin Smith

Robin Smith grew up in rural New Zealand, and studied arts and fine arts at Canterbury University before beginning to write and illustrate adventure and natural history stories.

1 portrait in the collection

Arnold Haskell

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

2 portraits in the collection

Harry Kewell, 2006

Robin Sellick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Stuart Campbell

Portrait, pastel on paper

Stuart Campbell, born in Ballarat, became interested in photography as a student at Swinburne Technical College in Melbourne.

10 portraits in the collection

Geoffrey Parsons, 1972

Michael Shannon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Les Rowe 1998
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Russell Drysdale

Sir Russell Drysdale AC (1912-1981), painter, developed eye trouble in 1929, and had to leave boarding school for the first of many eye treatments which left him fearful of total blindness.

6 portraits in the collection

Antoine Fauchery

Antoine Fauchery (1823–1861) was a Parisian artist and writer, an occasional collaborator with Henri Murger, author of Scènes de la vie de bohème which was a chief source of the opera La bohème.

2 portraits in the collection

Alex Miller, 1992

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

2021 Annual Appeal

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

Portrait jug of Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1925-1928

, Percy Metcalfe

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Purchased 2006

George Selth Coppin

George Coppin (1819-1906), comedian, entrepreneur and politician, cut his teeth in the world of the English itinerant theatre.

2 portraits in the collection

John Schaeffer AO

John Schaeffer AO (1940–2020), businessman, connoisseur and philanthropist, was a founding benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery.

1 portrait in the collection

Stella Bowen

Stella Bowen, painter and writer, grew up in Adelaide, where she studied with Margaret Preston.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Ian Potter, 1968

Mark Strizic

Purchased with funds provided by Sir Roderick Carnegie 2003

Nick Enright AM

Nick Enright (1950-2003), playwright and screenwriter, attended Sydney University and the New York University School of the Arts before establishing himself as a dramatist with plays such as Summer Rain and Mongrels.

2 portraits in the collection

Nigel Boonham

Nigel Boonham is a British sculptor. He studied under John Ravera from 1973-1977 and later worked in the studio of sculptor Oscar Nemon.

1 portrait in the collection

Chris O'Doherty

Chris O’Doherty (b. 1951), also known as Reg Mombassa, is an artist and musician.

4 portraits in the collection

Study for portrait of Bob Ellis, 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Naseby 2001

Study for portrait of Bob Ellis, 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Naseby 2001

Don Bachardy

Don Bachardy (b. 1935) is a portraitist who chronicles literary, musical, artistic and film personalities associated with Los Angeles.

3 portraits in the collection

Australians in Hollywood

Support your Portrait Gallery

Although perceived to be a recent phenomenon, the 'Aussie invasion' of Hollywood can actually be traced as far back as the early 1900s

Annual Appeal

Supporting contemporary photography. Your support will help us expand our contemporary collection.

Allan Lowe

Portrait, cast bronze on mosaic tile panel

Allan Lowe (1907-2007) is considered to be one of the major ceramic artists of his time particularly in the field of arthenware (lower-fired and more colourful work than stoneware).

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Mackerras, 1983

Arthur Fleischmann

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sir Charles Mackerras 2009

The inside story

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

The photographers reveal the technical side of their work and reflect on changes in their profession. Now everyone has a camera in their pocket, is everyone a photographer? What is it like to sustain a career as a photographer in the entertainment industry? How do you work with celebrity subjects, negotiate the complex logistics of big shoots, and create captivating portraits under pressure?

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Heads of the People

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

Sir Eugene Goossens

Sir (Aynsley) Eugene Goossens (1893-1962) was an English conductor, composer and violinist.

2 portraits in the collection

Patrick Corrigan, 2006

Paul Newton

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2007

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (1970–2017), a man of the Gumatj clan of north east Arnhem Land, was born blind but learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

Lewis Morley

Myself and Eye

Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun

Horace Keats

Horace Keats (1895-1945) came to Australia from his native England in 1915 as accompanist to vaudeville performer Nella Webb.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Dessaix

Robert Dessaix (b. 1944) is a Hobart–based writer, translator and literary critic.

2 portraits in the collection

Current programs

Learn

Explore our range of exciting programs on offer.

Arnold Haskell, 1937

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

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

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.

Samuel Woolf

Photographed by Nathalie Latham

Samuel Johnson Woolf, American painter, lithographer and illustrator, was born in New York City and named after the English essayist Samuel Johnson.

1 portrait in the collection

Steven Bishop, performer by Nathalie Latham

Australia's Creative Diaspora

Previous exhibition, 2007

Paris based Australian photographer and filmmaker Nathalie Latham has an ongoing interest in the creative achievements of other Australian artists living in various locations around the globe.

Russell Crowe, 2001 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

"Dan" (Sir Daniel Cooper) (Image plate from Vanity Fair), 1890s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir George Hayter

Sir George Hayter (1792-1871), English portrait and historical painter, studied briefly at the Royal Academy Schools as a teenager, running away to sea before returning to assist his father, an artist who tutored Princess Charlotte.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Bell

Richard Bell (b. 1953), an artist of Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) and Anglo-Celtic heritage, has described himself as an 'inactivist who kicked the habit'.

1 portrait in the collection

Match made in entertainment heaven

Passion

When the stars align

Dr Alice M. Moyle, 1998

Chris Gentle

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Carolyn and Peter Lowry 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Captain Matthew Flinders

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on card

Matthew Flinders (1774–1814), was one of the world’s most accomplished navigators.

2 portraits in the collection

Ada Crossley, c. 1900

Rotary Photo Company Ltd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Roger Neill 2009

David Collins Esq, 1804

Anthony Cardon after John T. Barber

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

George Moore

François Bonneville after Joseph Jauffret

George Moore (1923-2008), champion jockey, was born in Mackay, Qld and was apprenticed in Brisbane in 1938.

1 portrait in the collection

Nicolas Baudin, Capitaine de Vaisseau. Commandant I'Expedition pour le tour du Monde et Specialement relatif aux Sciences et auz Arts, entreprise en I'An gme, 1800

Nicolas Baudin, Capitaine de Vaisseau. Commandant I'Expedition pour le tour du Monde et Specialement relatif aux Sciences et auz Arts, entreprise en I'An gme, 1800, 1800

Portrait, oil on cedar panel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Portrait of George Selth Coppin, c. 1895-1899

Tom Roberts

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds donated by Mary Isabel Murphy 2004

David Foster OAM

David Foster OAM (b. 1957), champion axeman, is the most successful competitor in the history of the sport of woodchopping.

1 portrait in the collection

Andrew Steiner OAM

Holocaust survivor, sculptor and human rights advocate Andrew Steiner OAM (b.

1 portrait in the collection

Harry Kewell

Harry Kewell (b. 1978), Australia’s greatest ever soccer export, attended Sydney’s Westfields Sports High School and the NSW Soccer Academy before trialling with English club Leeds United in 1995, at the age of 16.

2 portraits in the collection

Anne Boyd AM

Anne Boyd AM (b. 1946), composer and teacher, was born in Sydney and studied composition with Peter Sculthorpe at the University of Sydney before earning a PhD at the University of York.

1 portrait in the collection

A. D. Hope OBE

Archived media releases 2018

AD Hope OBE (1907-2000), poet, literary critic and academic, was educated at Sydney University before winning a scholarship to Oxford.

2 portraits in the collection

National Portrait Gallery unveils twenty new portrait commissions to celebrate twenty years

18 October 2018

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled twenty new portrait commissions of Australian leaders and individualists as part of its twentieth birthday celebrations in a new exhibition, 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Eugene Goossens, c. 1954

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

William Nicholas

William Nicholas was born near London and is believed to have trained with English printmaker A.M Huffam.

2 portraits in the collection

Jack Purtell

Jack Purtell (1921-2017), jockey, had his first ride at the age of fifteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Gamaliel Butler, c. 1810

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Y-erran-gou-la-ga, 1807

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Portrait, engraving, hand coloured on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Angel Street (Adam Cullen), 2010

Darren McDonald

Purchased 2012

Douglas Frew Waterhouse

'A bug in the hand'

Australian entomologist and inventer of the Aerogard insect repellent, Douglas Frew Waterhouse describes the evolution of his career.

John Bell AO OBE

John Bell AO OBE (b. 1940), actor and director, is one of Australia's best-known theatre personalities.

3 portraits in the collection

Nick Enright, c. 1976 (printed 2004)

Robert McFarlane

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Nicholas Baudin

Nicolas Thomas Baudin (1754–1803), cartographic surveyor and naturalist, was sent by the French government to survey the coast of Australia in 1800.

1 portrait in the collection

Balang T E Lewis

Balang T.E. Lewis (1958–2018), a Murrungun man, was an actor, singer, songwriter and cultural leader.

2 portraits in the collection

H Searle Professional Champion Sculler of the World (Henry Searle) (Image plate from Vanity Fair)

H Searle Professional Champion Sculler of the World (Henry Searle) (Image plate from Vanity Fair), 1889

Jean Coutant after Jacques Etienne Victor Arago

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Sir Frank MacFarlane Burnet OM AK KBE

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet OM AK KBE (1899–1985), medical scientist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1960 for his work with Sir Peter Medawar on acquired immunological tolerance, paving the way for successful human organ transplants.

5 portraits in the collection

Axel Poignant

Axel Poignant (1906-1986) photographer, was born in England. His mother was English, his father Swedish.

4 portraits in the collection

Sir Macfarlane Burnet, 1968

Mark Strizic

Purchased with funds provided by Sir Roderick Carnegie 2003

Shane Maloney

Charles Turner after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Shane Maloney (b. 1953) is the creator of the popular 'Murray Whelan' series of six crime novels, beginning with Stiff (1994) and The Brush-Off (1996) and currently ending at Sucked In (2007).

1 portrait in the collection

Phillip Parker King, 1854

Thomas Woolner

Portrait, cast plaster

Purchased 2000

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, 1827

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Portrait School

Current programs

Here’s where your students will discover Australia’s most creative and innovative thinkers and achievers.

Betty Burstall AO

Betty Burstall AO (1926–2013) played a vital role in the development of theatre in Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Billy Cook and Pride of Egypt, 1954

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Bob Barnard AM

Previous exhibition, 2018

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

Collection: Icons

Volume One

When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

Frederick Cato, 1932

W B McInnes

Gift in memory of Frederick John Cato Kumm 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton), c. 1872

Maull & Co Photographers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Henry H. Glover

English lithographer and watercolourist Henry Heath Glover (c. 1810-1858) emigrated to South Australia in 1848 with his two sons - one of whom, Henry Heath Glover Junior (1828-1904) was also an illustrator and printmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

Reg Mombassa aka Chris O'Doherty, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Free Range Cousins, 2015 by Jennifer Stocks

Children of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2016

Learning resource

Learning resources

Senses, movement and imagination in portraits of children from the 2016 Prize. For Year 1 - 3 students.

Dymphna Clark

Dymphna Clark (1916-2000), linguist, translator, chatelaine and matriarch, was born Hilma Dymphna Lodewyckx.

1 portrait in the collection

Elaine Pelot-Syron

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

1 portrait in the collection

Eugene Goossens, c. 1954

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Judy Cassab, 1984

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

Betty Churcher, 2008

Adam Knott

Purchased 2013

Bridget Elliot

Benjamin West, John Raphael Smith

Bridget Elliot (b. 1958), photographer, is acknowledged for her significant portraits of Australian composers and musical performers.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Joseph Banks, c. 1788

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM

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

William Saurin Lyster

William Saurin Lyster (1828–1880) was an Irish operatic impresario who introduced serious opera to the colonies.

2 portraits in the collection

Face the Music

Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry

Geoffrey Shedley

Geoffrey Shedley was a prominent South Australian architect, with a lifelong interest in drawing and sculpture.

1 portrait in the collection

Samuel Wood

Samuel 'Sammy' Woods (1867-1931), cricketer, is one of only five men to have played Tests for both Australia and England.

1 portrait in the collection

Lewis Morley, 2003

Sage

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003

Sketch of Clifton Pugh painting John Perceval

Sketch of Clifton Pugh painting John Perceval, 1985

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2016

2020 Annual Appeal

In 2020 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Sally Robinson's remarkable portrait of author Tim Winton.

Henry Mayer

Previous exhibition, 2020

Henry Mayer (1919-1991) was Professor of Government at Sydney University from the 1960s to 1980s.

2 portraits in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

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.

Martha Sarah Butler

Edward Paine Butler (1811-1849), lawyer, and his wife Martha Sarah Butler (née Asprey, 1811-1864), arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1835.

1 portrait in the collection

Edward Knox, c. 1855

Portrait, daguerreotype

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010

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

George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)

George Henry Stevens Trott

George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott (1866–1917) was the captain of the Australian cricket team which toured England and then to the USA and New Zealand from June to November 1896.

1 portrait in the collection

Gamaliel Butler, c. 1824

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Merv Shearman 2012

Jinx Nolan

Jinx Nolan (b. 1941), artist, is the daughter of writer Cynthia Reed and the adopted daughter of Sidney Nolan, whom Reed married in 1948.

1 portrait in the collection

Lucy Escott

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Henry Squires (1825-1907), tenor, and Lucy Escott (c. 1827-1895), soprano, were members of William Saurin Lyster's touring opera company.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Squires, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Professor A D Hope, Canberra, 1963 (printed 2000)

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.

Self portrait with Spots and Veins, 2003

Chris O'Doherty

Purchased with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2007

Oui-re-kine, 1807-1817

Nicolas-Martin Petit

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

"International Penny Postage" Mr John Henniker Heaton MP (Image plate from Vanity Fair), 1887

Portrait, inkjet print from 35mm film on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ronald Walker 2002

Andrew Steiner, 2020 (printed 2021)

Alex Frayne

Gift of the artist 2021

Susan Wakil AO

Susan Wakil AO (1933–2018), philanthropist, came to Sydney at fifteen from Bessarabia (Moldova/Romania).

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Summers

Charles Summers (1825-1878) was an English born sculptor, who came to Australia in 1852.

2 portraits in the collection

Mr and Mrs Horace Keats in the "Christopher Brennan Cycle", 1945

Dora Toovey

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Anne and Brennan Keats 2009

James Iyuna, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

John Bell, c. 1968

Previous exhibition, 2013

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary

The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.

John Bell, 1962 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Portrait, plasticine maquette

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Jack Purtell, n.d.

John Frith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013

Portrait of Marjorie Cotton, 1969

Jean Isherwood OAM

Portrait, oil and ink on canvas

Gift of Marjorie Cotton Isherwood 2002

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

Louise Hearman

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary)

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Lord Kitchener, n.d.

William Howitt

Portrait, carved Jarrah

Purchased 2016

Jim Paterson

Jim Paterson, painter, printmaker and sculptor, was born in Melbourne and completed his diploma in Fine Arts at Prahran Technical College in 1969.

1 portrait in the collection

Therese Desmond

Therese Desmond (1902–1961), radio and stage actress, was born Mary Long in London and came to Australia as a teenaged orphan at the end of World War 1.

1 portrait in the collection

"Sammy" Samuel Wood (Image plate from Vanity Fair), 1892

Henry Seppings-Wright

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Headspace 4

Facing Memory

Previous exhibition, 2008

Facing Memory: Headspace 4 provides us with valuable insights into the thoughts, creative processes and art-making practices of secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 from sixty-two schools in the Australian Capital Territory, regional New South Wales and Victoria

My Favourite Australian

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

Daniel Thomas, 1987

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Portrait, linocut on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mr Peter Kampfner 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Desert Island, 1967

Eric Thake

Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011

Self portrait among the ant hills, 1950

Eric Thake

Portrait, linocut on paper

Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011

Figure in a rocky landscape, 1965

Eric Thake

Portrait, linocut on paper

Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011

The Story So Far...

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

A reflection on the National Portrait Gallery's first four years.

Greg Weight

Greg Weight is a Sydney-based photographer who grew up in Dee Why. He opened his own studio in 1968, taking advertising and magazine photographs and working with the Australian Opera and the Australian Ballet.

113 portraits in the collection

Hugh Jackman, 2020

Vincent Fantauzzo

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation and Paul Dainty AM and Donna Dainty 2020

William Beach

Bill Beach (1850-1935), sculler, came to New South Wales as a young boy with his English parents, who settled at Albion Park, NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

David Alexander Stewart Campbell

David Alexander Stewart Campbell (1898-1970), wool buyer and journal editor, undertook a woolclassing course in Sydney, worked as a jackeroo, served in the AIF in Egypt and gained further experience with wool in England before he was inducted into the wool trade in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Nude self portrait, 1977

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

Anne Boyd, 1977

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

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

Opera [Mr William Saurin Lyster], 1874

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal, 1807-1817

Nicolas-Martin Petit

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Julie Edgar

Julie Edgar (b. 1951) is a Melbourne artist who studied at RMIT, Monash University and the University of Melbourne.

3 portraits in the collection

Geoffrey Rush, 1997

Montalbetti + Campbell

Purchased 1999

Rose Byrne, 2001 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Purchased 2005

Barry Sullivan

Barry Sullivan (1821-1891), English actor, performed on the Melbourne stage between 1862 and 1866.

1 portrait in the collection

Glenn McGrath, 2003

Sally Robinson

Francesco Bartolozzi after Nathaniel Dance

Gift of the artist 2003

Tribute

Betty Churcher

Magazine article, 2015

Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying art in London.

Omai, A Native of Ulaietea, 1774

Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Of Kings and men

Previous exhibition, 2011

This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.

Sporting Archibald

Previous exhibition, 2000

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

Sir William Dargie

A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute

Previous exhibition, 2002

As a tribute to Sir William Dargie's singular contribution to Australian art and cultural institutions, and on the occasion of his birthday, The Australian War Memorial, Parliament House and the National Portrait Gallery will mount exhibitions of his work between May and October

Browning Mummery

Joseph Browning Mummery (1888-1974), was born in inner suburban Melbourne to a musically-inclined family who fostered his interest in singing.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, 2009

Guido Maestri

Gift of the artist 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Famous

Karin Catt Portraits

Portrait, cast bronze on granite plinth

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

Jack Brabham, 2004

Julie Edgar

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2005

John Schaeffer AO - art collector and philanthropist, 2014

Evert Ploeg

Purchased with funds provided by Harold Mitchell AC

Arianne McNaught

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

I think the most important thing in capturing candid shots is to never take the photo when people are expecting you to press the shutter. The more poignant moments are not the stock standard images of people looking at the camera smiling but after or before when they are really interacting with each other.

George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

H Parker Rolfe

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Portrait 63

Winter 2019

Rod McNicol's method and motivation, 19th century Indigenous peoples, Barrie Cassidy on Bob Hawke, five generations of the Kang family from Korea and more.

Home is where the art is

Tedi Bills on how social media in the age of COVID-19 has fanned the flames of our portrait fascination.

Tamara Tchinarova, 1938

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

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

101 photographic portraits

Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.

Honour board

Support your Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.

James Gillray

James Gillray, caricaturist and printmaker, was born in Chelsea and learned the art of engraving as a youth in London.

1 portrait in the collection

Kenneth Rowell AM

Kenneth Rowell AM (1920–1999), artist and theatre designer, grew up in Melbourne and became intent on a career in the theatre at a young age.

2 portraits in the collection

William Dakin, c. 1943

Gervaise Purcell

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Leigh Purcell 2012

Australians in Hollywood

The exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.

David Rankin OAM

David Rankin OAM (b. 1946) came to Australia with his English parents at the age of two in 1948.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Gibson Millar

Charles Gibson Millar (1839–1900), entrepreneur, was engaged in a number of industrial and agricultural enterprises in Australia during the 1870s, 80s and 90s.

1 portrait in the collection

George Nicholas CBE

Portrait, inkjet print and oil on canvas, mounted with inset axe pendant

George Nicholas CBE (1884-1960), pharmacist and philanthropist, grew up in South Australia and Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

What the tree saw: David Foster, 2018

Jacqui Stockdale

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

Study for portrait of Les Murray, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Naseby 2001

Frank Iredale (Francis Adams Iredale, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)

Frank Adams Iredale

Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945

Francis Adams Iredale (1867–1926), cricketer and journalist, was born in the inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, the son of an ironmonger and his Irish-born wife.

1 portrait in the collection

Mysterious eyes

Previous exhibition, 2016

Boyd’s self-portrait at age 25 is joined by his equally emotive portraits of those around him.

Tim Flannery, 2006

Robert Hannaford AM

Gift of Professor Tim Flannery 2016. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Basil Hetzel AC

Basil Hetzel AC (1922-2017), medical scientist, came to South Australia as a three year old and was educated - like Nobel Prize winners William Lawrence Bragg, Howard Florey and Robin Warren - at St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Pat Painting No 1, 1983

Richard Larter

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008

Portrait of Henry Hopkins, c. 1845

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2013

Portrait of Susan Crennan, 2017

Lewis Miller

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Gift of the Hon. Susan Crennan AC QC 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Masters of Fare

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

Mary Chomley, 1909

Violet Teague

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021

Betty Burstall, 1945

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Purchased 1998

Collette Dinnigan, 2005

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, pen and ink, pencil on paper laid on cardboard

Gift of the artist 2006

Self portrait, n.d.

Ada May Plante

Gift of Dr Penny Olsen, Peter Woollard and Artemis Georgiades 2015

Essington Lewis CH

Essington Lewis CH (1881-1961) was chairman of BHP from 1950 to 1952, having been the company's chief general manager from 1938 to 1950.

1 portrait in the collection

Return (Balang T.E. Lewis), 2016

Philip Myers

Gift of the artist 2019

Nancy Wake - The White Mouse, 2001

Melissa Beowulf

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Shane Warne AO

Shane Warne AO (1969–2022) is the most successful wicket taker in Australia's Test history.

1 portrait in the collection

Judith Wright, 1988 (printed 2021)

Jacqueline Mitelman

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

William Fernyhough

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

Joseph Darling

Joseph Darling (1870–1946) took up cricket in earnest while a student at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide and was fifteen when he set a new record for the highest innings (252) scored in South Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Dan Sultan, 2011

Martin Philbey

Purchased with funds provided by Ruth and Peter McMullin 2013

Senator Bonner, 1990

Robert Campbell Jnr

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2008

Icons

Parliament House

Touring exhibition, 2019

Chang the Chinese giant in European dress with Chinese boy and three European men, one of whom is his manager

Chang the Chinese giant in European dress with Chinese boy and three European men, one of whom is his manager, c. 1871

Archibald McDonald

Purchased 2010

Portraits for Posterity

Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.

Edward Knox Jnr and Thomas Forster Knox.

Edward Knox Jnr and Thomas Forster Knox., c. 1855

Portrait, daguerreotype

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010

Collette Dinnigan AO

Collette Dinnigan AO (b. 1965), designer and company director, was born in South Africa and settled in Australia in 1985 after a period in New Zealand, where she studied fashion design at the Wellington Polytechnic.

1 portrait in the collection

Mitch Cairns

Mitch Cairns (b. 1984), painter and cartoonist, won the 2017 Archibald Prize with a portrait of his partner, artist Agatha Gothe-Snape.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Deane AC KBE QC

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Sir William Deane AC KBE QC (b. 1931), High Court judge, was governor-general of Australia from early 1996 to mid-2001.

1 portrait in the collection

Therese Desmond, 1919-1920

James Burnside

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Madeleine Howell 2013

Drawn from life

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2021

Penelope Grist discovers the rich narratives in Peter Wegner’s series of centenarian portraits.

George Burarrwanga, Warumpi Band, 1984 (printed 2021)

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2021

Martha Knox, c. 1855

Portrait, daguerreotype

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010

David Malouf, 2012

Commissioned with assistance from the Circle of Friends 2012

John Henniker Heaton

Portraits in the Landscape

John Henniker Heaton (1848-1914) worked as a jackaroo upon his arrival in New South Wales in 1864, but soon turned to journalism, writing for the Cumberland Mercury, Goulburn Penny Post and the Sydney based weekly the Town and Country Journal.

1 portrait in the collection

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

Previous exhibition, 2009

In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.

Frederick Cato

Frederick Cato (1858-1935), grocer and philanthropist, was born in a tent at Pleasant Creek (Stawell), to the Scottish wife of an English gold miner.

1 portrait in the collection

Cressida Campbell

Cressida Campbell (b. 1960), artist, has worked for decades in a studio at her home in Bronte, Sydney.

2 portraits in the collection

The eye and the heart

Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.

John Lewin

John Lewin was Australia's first free-settler professional artist. He arrived in Sydney in 1800, intervention from influential patrons having secured him the assurance of rations.

1 portrait in the collection

Bill Collins OAM

Bill Collins OAM (1934-2019), television movie host and critic, was a high school English teacher and lecturer at teachers’ college before beginning a record 55-year stint on Australian television.

1 portrait in the collection

Sarah Simpson, c. 1866

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

William Dakin

William Dakin (1883-1950), zoologist, studied in his native England and, as an Exhibition scholar, in Kiel, Germany.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr Brenda Niall AO

Brenda Niall AO (b. 1930), writer, academic and reviewer, is one of Australia's foremost biographers.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Flannery

Tim Flannery (b. 1956), scientist, explorer and conservationist, grew up in Melbourne, where he completed degrees in English and earth sciences.

1 portrait in the collection

Steve Kilbey, 1981 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Portrait of Patricia Piccinini, 2019

Allissa Oughtred

Gift of an anonymous donor 2019

Sigrid Thornton AO

Sigrid Thornton AO (b. 1959), actor, has been a household name since her performance in the box-office hit The Man from Snowy River in 1981.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson, Sydney-based artist, was part of a circle of urban conceptual artists in the 1970s.

4 portraits in the collection

The Parlour

The Victorian era has been described as one wherein death was a part of everyday experience. People died at home having been nursed in their final illnesses by family members.

"Australia" Sir Edmund Barton (Image plate from Vanity Fair), 1902

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

Basil Hetzel, 2007-2008

Mark Kimber

Commissioned with funds provided by Mrs Diana Ramsay AO 2008

James Oswald Fairfax, c. 1991

Bryan Westwood

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2012

Imagination

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

D.A.S. Campbell (David Alexander Stewart Campbell), 1963

Sir William Dargie CBE

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Mary Newlinds and Sheena Simpson in memory of their father, D.A.S. Campbell, 2014

Frank Iredale (Francis Adams Iredale, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

H Parker Rolfe

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Evonne Goolagong (Cawley) AC MBE

Evonne Goolagong Cawley AC MBE (b. 1951), Wiradjuri tennis champion, was the number one women's tennis player in the world in 1971 and 1976.

3 portraits in the collection

John Dease

Conly John Paget Dease (1906-1979), actor and broadcaster, spent thirty years as one of the signature voices of the ‘Golden Age’ of Australian radio.

1 portrait in the collection

Fred Gruen AO

Professor Fred Gruen (1921-1997) was one of Australia's most influential economists.

1 portrait in the collection

Johann Zoffany

Johann Zoffany, painter of portraits and conversation pieces, grew up in the court of the Prince von Thurn und Taxis in Germany, where his father was employed.

1 portrait in the collection

Harold Parker

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2020

Harold Parker (1873-1962), sculptor, came to Brisbane with his English parents as a three-year old.

1 portrait in the collection

The long game

Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.

David Wenham

David Wenham (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

Judith Wright

Judith Wright (1915–2000), poet, conservationist and Aboriginal land rights campaigner, was born at Thalgaroch Station, near Armidale, NSW, into a pastoralist family whose origins go back to the first settlement in the Hunter Valley in the 1820s.

3 portraits in the collection

The World of Thea Proctor

The World of Thea Proctor is the Portrait Gallery's second major biographical exhibition - that is, the second exhibition to focus exclusively on the life and work of a single individual

Australian Visit

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.

James Houston

Scoring first prize in New South Wales for Art in the 1983 HSC was a signal that a talented creative career lay ahead and this has indeed proven the case.

2 portraits in the collection

Richard Tognetti AO

Richard Tognetti AO (b. 1965), violinist, conductor and composer, trained with William Primrose in Wollongong and Alice Waten in Sydney before undertaking further studies with Igor Ozim in Switzerland.

2 portraits in the collection

Richard Morecroft & Alison Mackay, 2016

Gary Grealy

Previous exhibition, 2019

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2018

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.

Joe Darling (Joseph Darling, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

H Parker Rolfe

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

an unknown artist, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office

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

Mark Strizic

A Journey in Photography

This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.

Self portrait in reflection, 1973

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

Tom E Lewis [Balang T E Lewis], n.d.

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2021

Tracey Holmes

Tracey Holmes (b. 1966), sports broadcaster and journalist, has covered twelve Olympic Games and was the first woman to host an Australian national sports program, Grandstand.

1 portrait in the collection

Bob Ellis, 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Henry Searle

Henry Searle (1886–1889), a sculler known as the ‘Clarence River Comet’, took up rowing as a boy as a means of getting himself and his siblings to and from school.

1 portrait in the collection

Lady Maisie Drysdale

Lady Maisie Drysdale (1915–2001), children's librarian and artists' muse, developed an interest in art as a child, and attended both the University of Melbourne and George Bell's art school.

1 portrait in the collection

Top of their game

Nobel Laureates

Macfarlane Burnet and Patrick White

Glossy 2

Faces, Magazines, Now

Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.

Dr G Yunupingu

Magazine article, 2017

Dr G Yunupingu (1970-2017), a man of the Gumatj clan of north-east Arnhem Land, learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo as a child.

The painter transmogrified and Mrs Smith

Eric Smith

Eric Smith (1919-2017), painter, was born in Brunswick, Melbourne, and trained in commercial art at the Brunswick Technical College before serving in the army during World War 2.

6 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Kenneth Rowell, 1967

David Strachan

Gift of Margaret Olley 2002. Transferred from the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Betty Churcher AO

(Elizabeth) Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying at the Royal College of Art in London.

3 portraits in the collection

Jenny Howard

Jenny Howard née Daisy Blowes (1902-1996), stage performer, made her name in her native England as ‘the poor man’s Gracie Fields’, recording covers of Fields’s songs for a cut-price label and impersonating the star onstage.

1 portrait in the collection

Reinis Zusters

an unknown artist, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office

Reinis Zusters studied art briefly in Germany before arriving in Australia as a Latvian refugee in 1950.

2 portraits in the collection

Captain Matthew Flinders RN, 1814

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Grace Egerton

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint, charcoal, pastel and conté on linen

George Case (life dates unknown) and his wife Grace Egerton (d. 1881), variety performers, evidently made several successful tours of Australia in the 1860s and 1870s, although the precise dates of their visits are unknown.

1 portrait in the collection

Michelle de Kretser, Geography & History

Michelle de Kretser, Geography & History, 2013

Weng-Ho Chong

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Michelle de Kretser 2015
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Greg Chappell AO MBE

Greg Chappell AO MBE (b. 1948), cricketer, captained the Australian team from 1975 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1983, playing in Kerry Packer's breakaway World Series team in between.

1 portrait in the collection

George Moore, 1957

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

George Case

George Case (life dates unknown) and his wife Grace Egerton (d. 1881), variety performers, made several successful tours of Australia in the 1860s and 1870s, although the precise dates of their visits are unknown.

1 portrait in the collection

Dave Tice

Dave Tice (b. 1950) was the lead singer for the trailblazing Australian hard rock band Buffalo.

1 portrait in the collection

Ivy Shore

Ivy Shore (1915–1999), painter, was born in Melbourne, daughter of a South Australian suffragette, Elka, and engineer John Williams.

2 portraits in the collection

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

Tribute

Bob Ellis

Magazine article, 2016

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

Stan Grant

Stan Grant (b. 1963), a proud Wiradjuri man born in Griffith, New South Wales, grew up wanting to be a journalist.

1 portrait in the collection

Alex Miller, 1992

Previous exhibition, 2017

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

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Nicholas Harding: 28 portraits features paintings of Robert Drewe, John Bell and Hugo Weaving alongside gorgeously coloured recent oil portraits, delicate gouaches and bold ink and charcoal drawings.

Omai

Omai (Mai) (c. 1750-1778), the first Polynesian to visit Britain, was a young man of middling social standing who volunteered to sail from Huahine to England with Captain Furneaux on the Adventure (the ship accompanying James Cook's Resolution on Cook's second voyage of discovery (1772-1775).

2 portraits in the collection

Cressida Campbell, 2001

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gamaliel Butler

Gamaliel Butler (1783–1852), lawyer and free settler, emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1824 with his wife, Sarah (née Paine, 1787–1870).

2 portraits in the collection

William Dampier

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

William Dampier (1651-1715), seafarer and writer, had spent a good deal of time at sea as a buccaneer and merchant sailor before he spent three months in 1688 around King Sound (northern Western Australia) on the Cygnet.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

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

Johnny Day

‘The Australian Wonder’, Johnny Day (1856–1885), was an undefeated world-champion juvenile walker.

1 portrait in the collection

Neville Bonner AO

Neville Bonner (1922–1999) was the first Indigenous Australian elected to federal parliament.

2 portraits in the collection

Richard Tognetti, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Uncommon Australians

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

Marjorie Cotton Isherwood

Murray Fredericks, Lisa Giles

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

Matt Moran, 2004

Gift of the artists 2005

The Right Honourable William Pitt

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

Dave Tice, 1978 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased 2018

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.

Patricia Piccinini

Patricia Piccinini (b. 1965) is an artist best known for her mutant life-like creatures rendered in silicone and her iconic hot-air balloons.

1 portrait in the collection

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian, c. 1866

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite

Purchased 2014

Duke of Wellington, 1841

John Lucas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Sir Laurence Hartnett

Sir Lawrence Hartnett (1898-1986), automotive engineer, was born in Woking, Surrey.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Whitaker

Stop in all the byways, playin' rock 'n roll

Robert Whitaker, English photographer, spent three years in Melbourne in the early 1960s, becoming friends with Mirka and Georges Mora, Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer, the Heide crowd and Martin Sharp and Richard Neville.

1 portrait in the collection

Guthugga Pipeline, Christmas Show, upstairs, The (old) Griffin Centre, Civic, 22 December 1979. Crowd, L-R : Ben Donaldson, Anne Redmond, Nick Vollis, Esa Makela, Megan Woodrow (Mohawk), Andy Hall (scarf) 'pling

Capital Cool

Outsiders tend to give Canberra a bad rap: sterile, plagued by politicians, a comatose capital for professionals and academics. Nick Cave once said he didn’t like the city because there were too many punks.

Danila Vassilieff

Danila Vassilieff, born in Russia, arrived in Australia in the early 1920s having served in a Cossack cavalry regiment, been captured by Communist forces and escaped via Persia and India to China.

1 portrait in the collection

Kevin Gilbert

Kevin Gilbert (1933-1993), Indigenous activist, writer and artist, wrote the first play by an Aboriginal person to be publicly performed in Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Tristan Antico, 1993 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased 2018

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

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

Bern Emmerichs

Contributing artists

Born: 1961, Melbourne
Works: Melbourne

Cannonical

Walter Lindrum, world-famous billiards player, was one of Australia's greatest sporting champions.

John Bradfield

Archived media releases 2015

John Bradfield (1867-1943), engineer, was a key figure in the development of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and inner city transport network.

1 portrait in the collection

All that fall

25 March 2015

Focusing on the wide-ranging themes of loss and absence, All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War creates a moving portrait of mourning and sacrifice as experienced on the Australian home front during the First World War.

Study of Archbishop Daniel Mannix, 1962

Clifton Pugh AO

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

George Spartels

George Spartels (b. 1954), actor, composer, musician and presenter, was a host on the ABC television children’s program Play School from 1985 to 1999.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr Sarah Engledow

Dr Sarah Engledow was appointed Historian at the National Portrait Gallery in 1999.

Untitled#15 (Kylie Minogue performs at Tour of Duty concert at Dili Stadium, East Timor, 21 December 1999)

Kylie Minogue AO OBE

Portrait, oil on cardboard

Kylie Minogue AO OBE (b. 1968), the 'Princess of Pop', is Australia's most successful female recording artist of all time, selling more than 80 million albums worldwide, and the first woman to have a UK number one album across five consecutive decades.

5 portraits in the collection

Self portrait, c. 1934

Stella Bowen

Purchased 2003

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC (1897-1985) was a politician, statesman, diplomat and judge.

3 portraits in the collection

Tim Jarvis AM

Tim Jarvis AM (b. 1966), environmental scientist, author and adventurer, was the Australian Geographic Society’s Adventurer of the Year in 2013 and its Conservationist of the Year in 2016 – the only person ever to have received both awards.

1 portrait in the collection

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior

John Piper

Piper (life dates unknown), also known as John Piper, was a Wiradjuri man who acted as a guide to Thomas Mitchell’s surveying expedition along the Murray and Darling Rivers into present-day Victoria in 1836.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Colin Syme, 1970

Judy Cassab AO CBE

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

Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche

Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche (1871–1936), actor, director and producer, was one of Australia’s most successful theatre exports.

2 portraits in the collection

Olegas Truchanas

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Olegas Truchanas (1923-1972) was born in 1923 in Siauliai, Lithuania.

1 portrait in the collection

First Ladies

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Clifton Pugh

Australians

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.

Michael Hutchence, 1997

Harry Borden

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

John Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell KG GCMG PC (1792 –1878) was Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1839 to 1841 and served twice as Prime Minister of Great Britain, in 1846-1852 and 1865-1866.

1 portrait in the collection

Hilary McPhee AO

Hilary McPhee AO (b. 1941), writer and editor, began her career at Meanjin before starting a small magazine, Theatre.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE

Magazine article by Ashleigh Wadman, 2012

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE (1872–1960) has been described as the 'divine angel of mercy' for Australian prisoners of war during the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Vanity fair

Ashleigh Wadman rediscovers the Australian characters represented with a kindly touch by the British portrait artist Leslie Ward for the society magazine Vanity Fair.

Binem Grunstein

Binem (Bill) Grunstein (1921-2013), garment manufacturer and artist, escaped the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941, having seen his parents and most of his family members die of typhus or disappear.

1 portrait in the collection

David Williamson, 1974 (printed 2001)

Gordon Glenn

Purchased 2001

George Spartels, early 1970s

Ivan Gaal

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2019

Annette Kellerman

Magazine article by Rod Kemp, 2003

Annette Kellerman (1886–1975), champion swimmer and entertainer, was among the early twentieth century's most recognisable women.

2 portraits in the collection

A gift for all ages

The then Minister for the Arts and Sport, Rod Kemp, reflects on the value of the Cultural Gifts Program.

Ian Roberts (after Coypel 1709), 2003

Ross Watson

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Mervyn Horton, 1964

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and oil on canvas

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

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster, c. 1780

Jean Francois Rigaud

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family, the Ian Potter Foundation and John Schaeffer AO 2009

Sideshow Alley

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks, c. 1814

Thomas Phillips

Purchased 2011

First Australian first-class cricket team

Magazine article by David Thomas AM, 2012

The ‘first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America’ was in fact the second Australian cricket side to contest matches internationally (a team of Indigenous players having done so in 1868), but it is considered the first official national representative team to tour overseas.

1 portrait in the collection

Video still from Dream Job, 2011 by David M Thomas

My dream job

Artist David M Thomas lists some of the ideas and influences behind his video portraits.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

Australian Athletes in Focus

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

Flash

Introduction The National Portrait Gallery’s photographic exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus explores various interpretations of Australian sporting men and women.

Herbert John Louis Hinkler

Previous exhibition, 2010

Herbert John Louis (Bert) Hinkler (1892-1933), aviator, worked with a photographer and in sugar mills before joining the Queensland Aero club and taking a correspondence course in mechanics.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

Sir Macfarlane Burnet, 1960-1961

Sir William Dargie CBE

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885-86 by
John Singer Sargent

A feast of friends

Magazine article by Richard Ormond, 2015

John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.

hey, Betty (Portrait of Betty Churcher), 1990

Davida Allen

Portrait, oil on plywood

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

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Previous exhibition, 2010

'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.

Stephen Murray-Smith

Self Portraits in Australia

Stephen Murray-Smith (1922-1988), writer and editor, was educated at Geelong Grammar and the University of Melbourne before serving in New Guinea during World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

To Look Within

This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of self-portraits in Australia, from the colonial period to the present

Stephen Murray-Smith, 1980

Fred Williams

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lyn Williams AM 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Hugh Jackman AC

Hugh Jackman AC (b. 1968) is the ultimate triple threat – actor, singer and dancer.

1 portrait in the collection

Brett Whiteley - portrait 1, 1975

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Shane Warne, 2006

Robin Sellick

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

Purchased 2006

Self Portrait with Stetson, 2011 by Darren McDonald

Painting them gently

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

Graeme Murphy, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

Portrait, stereo view gelatin silver photograph on paper

Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Great Suffragette demonstration in London

Great Suffragette demonstration in London, 1911

Rose Stereograph Company

Purchased 2011

Executive

Our team

National Portrait Gallery Acting Director Trent Birkett leads the executive team.

Robert Dessaix, 1998

Robert Hannaford AM

Magazine article by Gideon Haigh, 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Robert Dessaix 2000
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Top shot that

Gideon Haigh discusses portraits of Australian cricketers from the early 20th century

Suave

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Charles Haddon Chambers the Australian-born playboy playwright settled permanently in London in 1880 but never lost his Australian stance when satirising the English.

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

W Sherwin, John Stockdale after Francis Wheatley

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

No Laughing Matter

The biographical exhibition of Barry Humphries was the first display of its kind at the National Portrait Gallery.

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

Announcing Shakespeare to Winehouse

24 November 2021

Media

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.

Hide/Seek

Magazine article by David Ward, 2010

David Ward writes about the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.

Shadows of light

Magazine article by Mark Haworth-Booth, 2002

Mark Haworth-Booth explains why Bill Brandt is one of the most important British photographers of the Twentieth Century.

Pretty in peach

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

It's remarkable that the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond has produced two of Australia's most successful opera singers. Three decades apart, but within a short distance of each other, both Helen Porter Mitchell and Florence Wilson were born.

Self portrait as Sarah Wisse, Transported

Self portrait as Sarah Wisse, Transported, 1996

Margaret Woodward

How can we dance when our earth is turning?

Gift of the Karmel family in memory of Lena and Peter Karmel 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Protest!

Rock’s raw potency made it the ideal medium for fomenting protest. The 1970s, 80s and onwards saw calls for social and environmental justice ring out through song.

The Demon Bowler" Frederick Robert Spofforth (image plate from Vanity Fair), 1878

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

William Charles Wentworth, 1854

Thomas Woolner

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Julia Matthews, c. 1862

Davies & Co

Portrait, albumen silver photograph carte de visite on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

George Selth Coppin, c. 1863

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Magazine article by Lee Tulloch, 2011

Self Portrait, Stuart Campbell by Stuart Campbell

The essence of you

Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.

John Lort Stokes

John Lort Stokes (1812–1885), explorer, naval officer and surveyor, joined the navy at age twelve and age thirteen was assigned to HMS Beagle as a midshipman.

1 portrait in the collection

Harry Kewell, 2011

Julian Kingma

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Lillie Langtry, c. 1885

W & D Downey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil, ca.1753-55

Canadian identities

Magazine article by Lilly Koltun, 2004

An exploration of national identity in the Canadian context drawn from the symposium Face to Face at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2004.

Lucy Escott, c. 1861

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Golden Jubilee

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

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.

Gustavus Brooke, c. 1865

Burman and Son

Archived media releases 2018

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Twenty new portraits marking Portrait Gallery’s twentieth birthday

21 August 2018

To celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s twentieth anniversary as an institution, twenty portraits of outstanding Australian individuals have been commissioned for the permanent collection. This is the largest undertaking for the Gallery’s commissioning program in its twenty-year existence.

Adrian Rawlins

Adrian Rawlins (1939-2001), poet, performer and promoter, grew up in a Jewish household in Caulfield and St Kilda.

1 portrait in the collection

Myles Nelson

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.

Madame Marie Carandini

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Marie Carandini (née Burgess, 1826–1894), aka 'Madame Carandini', was seven years old when her family arrived in Van Diemen's Land as assisted immigrants.

1 portrait in the collection

Mr and Mrs Case, 1864

Alexander Fox and Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

William Shakespeare, c. 1600-1610 associated with John Taylor

Take thy face hence

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour travels through time to explore the National Portrait Gallery London’s masterpieces in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Thomas Pearce, c. 1878

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on card

Purchased 2010

Kylie

Magazine article by Margot Anderson, 2005

The Kylie exhibition celebrated the significant achievements of one of Australia's most internationally recognisable faces and gave the general public a rare glimpse into her glamorous life.

Mr Movies - Bill Collins OAM, 2009

Evert Ploeg

Gift of Joan Collins and the Todd-Wilson family in memory of Bill Collins 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The spirit of the gift

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.

Sir Charles Nicholson

Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006

Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903), statesman, landowner, businessman, connoisseur, scholar and physician, was born illegitimately into unpropitious circumstances in Yorkshire.

2 portraits in the collection

Portrait of an English Woman c. 1532-5 (detail)

A new perspective

An exhibition devoted to Hans Holbein's English commissions shows the portraitist bringing across the Channel new technical developments in art - with a dazzling facility.

Heartfelt

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2006

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

Hearts of Darkness

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

General Birdwood, the Idol of Anzac, taking a dip in the sea after a hard days work 1915

In the thick of it

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Projecting the splendour of the empire, and the resolve of its subjects, the bust of William Birdwood keeps a stiff upper lip in the National Portrait Gallery.

Portrait of Truganini, daughter of the Chief of Bruny Island, Van Diemens Land, c. 1835

Black and white history

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

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

The first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America, 1878

A & G Taylor

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Chang the Chinese Giant with his wife Kin Foo and manager Edward Parlett

Chang the Chinese Giant with his wife Kin Foo and manager Edward Parlett, c. 1871

Archibald McDonald

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite

Purchased 2010

Reflections

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War exhibition co-curators Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman reflect on the evolution of the Gallery’s Anzac Centenary exhibition.

How to be a boy

Christopher Chapman profiles Chris Lilley, actor and creator of Angry Boys.

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.

My father-in-law watering his garden, 1986 by Davida Allen

Lovingly observed

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

Shen Jiawei

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2012

Shen Jiawei was born in China. During the Cultural Revolution he laboured in the Great Northern Wilderness, but even as he worked there, he gained recognition as an artist.

Beguiling impressions

Sarah Engledow is seduced by the portraits and the connections between the artists and their subjects in the exhibition Impressions: Painting light and life.

15 minutes of frame

NPG Wellington, Edinburgh and Canberra, 10th March 2021

Recorded virtual programs

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide, c. 1862

Stephen Edward Nixon

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2018

Portrait of a Modernist

Magazine article by Dimity Goldie, 2003

The National Portrait Gallery acquired the self-portrait by Grace Cossington Smith in 2003.

Portrait of Jawoyn Elder, Margaret Katherine

Portrait of Jawoyn Elder, Margaret Katherine, 2015

John Gollings

Magazine article by Alison Weir, 2011

Gift of the artist 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Icons and imagery

Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.

What the tree saw: David Foster, 2018

by Jacqui Stockdale

Archived media releases 2015

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

L. Gordon Darling AC CMG

31 August 2015

The Chairman, Board, Director and all the Staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Founding Patron, who died peacefully in Melbourne this morning. He was 94.

Australian visit in Denmark

Magazine article by Mette Skougaard, 2006

In April 2006 the National Portrait Gallery showcased Australian portraits at the Fredenksborg Castle in Denmark.

Insightful

Magazine article by Robert McFarlane, 2004

Henri-Cartier-Bresson invented the grammar for photographing life in the 20th century.

Private practice

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

David Smith portrayed Dr Henry Crock without the accoutrements of an orthopaedic surgeon, adding to the National Portrait Gallery's collection of eminent Australian medical practitioners.

Axe Me Biggie

Magazine article by Stephen Dupont, 2008

Australian photojournalist Stephen Dupont's Afghanistan project captures the human experience of a country in reconstruction.

Thomas Mathewson (inset) and his studio on Queen Street, c. 1908 by Thomas Mathewson & Co

Northern exposure

Magazine article by Phil Manning, 2017

Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.

Equation of a life - a portrait of Professor Derek Denton

Equation of a life – a portrait of Derek Denton

9 September 2016

Archived media releases 2016

The National Portrait Gallery, has welcomed the newest portrait commission of Emeritus Professor Derek Denton AC by Evert Ploeg.

Reflection

Magazine article by Michael Rosen, 2013

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

Small worlds

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.

True fella

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

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

Talma Studios, Sydney

NPPP 2012 learning resource

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

1 portrait in the collection

Risk Assessment for groups of students

For your peace of mind

School visit information

Find out about our environment, security checks, potential hazards and more.

John McRae

An interview with the photographer.

The line of fire

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2005

Michelle Fracaro examines the life of World War II nurse Margaret Anderson, whose portrait by Napier Waller is in the NPG collection.

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.

Sharon Zwi

We were in Gaza shooting a documentary and we had heard about the orphanages and wanted to visit and document some of the children who had lost parents during the wars in Gaza.

Selected images

Take a peek at a selection of the portraits you can see in the exhibition.

Rupert Bunny

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (1864–1947) was one of the most celebrated Australian expatriate artists of his generation, achieving a degree of success in Paris in the 1890s and early 1900s that was unmatched by his peers.

3 portraits in the collection

Studio portrait of Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War, 1914 by J Russell & Sons

All the way with K of K

Sarah Engledow bristles at the biographers’ neglect of Kitchener’s antipodean intervention.

20 20

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

The play’s the thing

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

The Good Doctor

Dr Sarah Engledow describes the achievements of internationally renowned burns and trauma surgeon Professor Fiona Wood.

Vintage Cassab

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2006

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

Mental as everything

Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.

Pop poet

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2013

Dr Anne Sanders previews the works in the new focus exhibition Paul Kelly and The Portraits.

A guy from Paris

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

In a good paddock

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Celebrating a new painted portrait of Joseph Banks, Sarah Engledow spins a yarn of the naturalist, the first kangaroo in France and Don, a Spanish ram.

Rev. Victor B. Walls and Mrs. Walls, Trinidad, B.W.I., c.1930

The first nurse

Magazine article by Tamsin Hong, 2016

Tamsin Hong recounts the tale of Marion Smith, the only known Australian Indigenous servicewoman of World War One.

Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia, 1852, 1887 by William Strutt

Strutt your stuff

Magazine article by Matthew Jones, 2016

Matthew Jones on the upshot of a St Kilda Road outrage.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Magazine article by Kylie Scroope, 2011

Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.

Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by H.R.H. The Duke of Cornwall and York, May 9, 1901, 1903 by Tom Roberts

Empire records

Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.

Lyndall Hobbs and Marilyn at the Come as your favourite blonde party, Blitz Club, London, 1979 Robert Rosen

Shiny, happy people

Magazine article by Glynis Jones, 2022

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

Lovers of light

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr Sarah Engledow traces the significant links between Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo and Evelyn Chapman through their portraits.

Why do painted portraits still matter?

Magazine article by Sandy Nairne, 2006

Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.

Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda Courtesy Picnic Productions

Rock star

Magazine article by Jennifer Coombes, 2018

Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film.

Facing Facts

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2005

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers describes the 1922 Self-portrait with Gladioli by George Lambert.

Australian Princess

The full-length portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark by artist Jiawei Shen, has become a destination piece for visitors.

In the mirror: self portrait with Joy Hester

Spring exhibition program

18 August 2020

Archived media releases 2020

The following on-line and physical exhibitions are planned to open at the National Portrait Gallery in coming months. For those who can’t travel at present, selected works from all exhibitions will be included online

Four from the 30s

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2009

Australia's tradition of sculpted portraits stretches back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and continues to sustain a group of dedicated sculptors.

My Favourite Australian

The Australian public was invited in 2008 to vote for their favourite Australian. After the votes were tallied an exhibition of the top-ten Popular Australians and the top-twenty unsung heroes was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

Selfhood transcended

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman, 2018

Anne Sanders and Christopher Chapman bring passionate characterisation to Express Yourself, the Portrait Gallery collection exhibition celebrating iconoclastic Australians.

Thua Tich, South Vietnam, 1969-06 by Christopher Bellis

The jungle look

Magazine article by David Gist, 2019

David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.

Profile of a marriage

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the lives of Sir George Grey and his wife Eliza, the subjects of a pair of wax medallions in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

The inner voice

Dr Christopher Chapman, curator of Inner Worlds: Portraits & Psychology looks at Albert Tucker's Heidelberg military hospital portraits.

The portrait writ large

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Noel McKenna

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

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.

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.

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.

The Changing Face of the Scientist

Magazine article by Elizabeth Finlay, 2003

Scientists tend to conjure up images of men in white coats in labs but this is just one stereotype in an evolving history of how we have perceived scientists, and how their profession has been understood over the years.

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

The more things change...

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Stephen Valambras Graham, 2021

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

Nannultera, a young cricketer of the Natives' Training Institution, Poonindie , 1854 John Michael Crossland

The catechist and the cricketer

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

Support Crew

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.

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.

Me Myself I

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

Andrew Sayers explores the self-portraits created by Australian artist Sidney Nolan.

Boyd to man

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Christopher Chapman looks at influences and insight in the formative years of Arthur Boyd.

Robyn Sweaney

Robyn's parents had two terriers, Wuff and Snuff. In spite of Snuff’s ominous name and a couple of close shaves – once, he jumped out of a moving car, and another time, on a long road trip, he was accidentally left behind at a petrol station – he outlived Wuff.

To the end of the earth

Magazine article by Dr Frances Borzello, 2001

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

Personal Politics

Dr Frances Borzello, British art historian and author discusses the uniqueness of women's self-portraits.

Portfolio of 54 portraits compiled by Queen Victoria, 1859–1861 by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Camille Silvy, Frances Day and William Bambridge

Queen of cartes

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.

Naked ambition

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Joanna Gilmour dives into the life of Australian swimming legend Annette Kellerman.

Moving in creative circles

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Harold Cazneaux's portraits of influential Sydneysiders included Margaret Preston and Ethel Turner, both important figures in the development of ideas about Australian identity and culture.

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

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

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

Exhibition opening speech

Magazine article by Karl James, 2015

Leo Schofield introduces the exhibition, Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores.

Lauded legacy

Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.

Michael Wardell – Country of birth: Ireland 2014 by Jacques van der Merwe

Look who's coming to dinner

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

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

Depth of Field

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2004

The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.

The Philosophy of Teapots and Ducks

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2005

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

Satoshi Tokuhiro at Horai Gorge, Takaruzuka, Hyogo from Young Samurai – Bodybuilders of Japan Photography by Tamotsu Yato

Way of the body

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2019

Christopher Chapman reveals the intersection of iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato.

I'm not there

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Christopher Chapman looks at some contemporary portraits that explore the construction of identity.

Kristin Headlam

Basil grew into a speckled beauty – a long-legged leaper and an exceptionally vocal dog, with a great register of sounds, ascending in shock value from a whimper to a growl to a bark to a yelp that’s a violation of the ears.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.

The story of us

Gallery directors Karen Quinlan and Tony Ellwood talk to Penelope Grist about the NPG and NGV collaborative exhibition, Who Are You: Australian Portraiture.

The Art Lovers - Megan, 2013 by Gary Grealy

Everybody, look serious

NPPP 2014 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2014 Prize.

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

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

Portraits and other stories

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

As the National Portrait Gallery opens its exhibition of portrait and figurative work by veteran photographer Sam Haskins, the artist reflects on the highlights of his fifty-year career so far.

Writing on the Wall, 2019 Dr Christian Thompson AO

To arrive at hope

NPPP 2020 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Penelope Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2020 Prize.

The boy, the bed and the gun

Christopher Chapman contemplates the provocative performance art of Chris Burden.

Oz and beyond

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.

Waterfall in Australia, c. 1830 by Augustus Earle

Augustus serendipitous

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

The London-born son of an American painter, Augustus Earle ended up in Australia by accident in January 1825.

Through blue eyes

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan bring the desert, the misty seashore and the hot Monaro plains to exhibition Open Air: Portraits in the landscape.

Desperately seeking Sonia

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

The fat of the land

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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

The Long Awaited, 2008 by Patricia Piccinini

In the flesh

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits

Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

Listomania

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2019

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Lady Jane Grey, c.1590-1600 (also known as The ‘Streatham’ portrait) Artist unknown

The Royal she

Traversing paint and pixels, Inga Walton examines portraits of select women in Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.

Staffordshire bull terrier belonging to the Rev. John Gower, 1851

Essential portraiture

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

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

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Finest quality

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of Chinese-Australian businessman and philanthropist Quong Tart.

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

South-bound and down

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour recounts the story of ill-fated sea voyages in the early stages of the Antipodean colony.

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.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

The tragic tale of Tom Wills, the ‘inventor’ of Australian Rules Football.

Amy Johnson wearing a woollen suit from the collection of flight clothes designed by Madame Schiaparelli for her solo flight from London to Cape Town, 1938 unknown photographer

Air wear

Magazine article by Esther Agostino, 2015

Aviation carried women’s roles in society to greater heights – fashion followed suit.

Through thick and thin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

Alwin Reamillo

by Christine Clark

Artist essays

Alwin Reamillo was born in Manila, Philippines in 1964. He studied painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, and began his career as a visual art teacher at the Philippine High School for the Arts.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Sandor Ferenczis 50th birthday dinner, Budapest, 1923

Less than six degrees of separation

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2011

Anne Sanders finds connections in Inner Worlds between Hungarian expatriates and the development of psychoanalysis in Australia.

Picture this...

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

This edited version of a speech by Andrew Sayers examines some of the antecedents of the National Portrait Gallery and set out the ideas behind the modern Gallery and its collection.

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) comedian, impresario and entrepreneur, was a driving force of the early Australian theatre.

The Cutmear sisters, Jane and Lucy, c. 1842

A man of superior attainments

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Untitled (girl on chair with red shoes) by Violet Frisby

Finding Mrs Frisby

Magazine article by Robyn Sweaney, 2016

Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.

Giving a dam

True south #1

Magazine article by Kate Fullagar, 2019

Ensconced and meditative in crisp Tasmania, Joanna Gilmour pays tribute to passionate green advocate and photographer Olegas Truchanas.

Rethinking foundational histories

A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.

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.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Karen Quinlan AM, 2021

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

Give me five

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

Worth her salt

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Jerrold Nathan's portrait of Jessie Street shows the elegant side of a many-faceted lady.

Portrait of Elizabeth Gould with a raptor, possibly a red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), painted in her lifetime Artist unknown

Birds of a feather

Magazine article by Annette Twyman, 2021

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

The Window Seat, 1907 by Frances Hodgkins

Kiwi magpie

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2018

Penelope Grist finds inspiration in pioneering New Zealand artist, Frances Hodgkins.

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Magazine article by Grace Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

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.

Their brilliant careers

Magazine article by Jenny Gall, 2017

Jenny Gall delves into Starstruck to celebrate some of Australian cinema’s iconic women.

Reflections on portraiture

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

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.

Confessional conversations

The portraiture of Kristin Headlam

Magazine article by Fiona Gruber, 2015

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

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 mind's eye

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

Christopher Chapman takes a trip through the doors of perception, arriving at the junction of surrealism and psychoanalysis.

Darren McDonald

Magazine article by Tenille Hands, 2018

The wild balancing act of McDonald’s home décor (is that there as a joke? where do I actually sit down? is this ironic or what? what a lovely photo of Darren and Robin in Europe!) is reflected in his own personality.

The life of Bryant

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

Unbuttoning uniforms

Magazine article by Sharon Peoples, 2017

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

‘Untitled’ - Yellow Kangaroo Paw, 2008 by Christian Thompson

The 'I' in Indigenous art

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan examines unique styles of Indigenous portraiture that challenge traditional Western concepts of the artform.

You beauty

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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

The art of Inner Worlds

Lecture, 7 May 2011

Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.

Friends and Acquaintances

Magazine article by Tom Fryer, 2021

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

Face House – Kyoto, Japan Architect: Kazumasa Yamashita

Alter ego

Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.

Home and away

Sir William Dobell painted the portraits of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Sir Hudson Fysh, who did much to promote the image of Australia in this country and abroad.

Earth to earth

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2018

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.

Flesh, figure and rock

Aimee Board traces Judy Cassab’s path to the Australian outback, arriving at the junction of inspiration and abstraction.

Louis XVI giving final instructions to the Comte de La Perouse, c. 1785

Sea legged frogs

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Joanna Gilmour describes some of the stories of the individuals and incidents that define French exploration of Australia and the Pacific.

The Dissecting Room

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture.

Getting a head

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2015

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

Starry knight

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Aircraft designer, pilot and entrepreneur, Sir Lawrence Wackett rejoins friends and colleagues on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

A spectral sentience

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

Anna Culliton

Anna Culliton never had a colouring-in book when she was little. Her parents –Tony, a filmmaker, and Stephanie, a painter – wouldn’t let her have one. Instead, they insisted on her drawing her own pictures to colour-in.

Access and inclusion Action Plan 2018-20

Policies and plans

Our Access and Inclusion Plan has been developed as part of our commitment to best practice ideals, so that the Gallery site, the Collection, exhibitions and public programs are accessible to all.

Mugshots

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.

Seeing stars

Joanna Gilmour explores photographic depictions of Aboriginal sportsmen including Lionel Rose, Dave Sands, Jerry Jerome and Douglas Nicholls.

Nicholas Harding

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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.

Little women

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

A sketch for some portraits

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

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

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham)

Getting bare

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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

Generous Janice

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

Inner Worlds and psychoanalysis

Lecture, 4 June 2011

Inner Worlds evokes a broad view of psychology as a discipline. However, the specific interests of the practitioners whose portraits are included in the exhibition incorporate specialist areas including psychoanalysis.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011