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
Gift of Peter Weiss AO 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Sculptor Peter Schipperheyn talks about working with marble and his portrait of Peter Garrett.
Gift of the artist 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Peter Eve is a Darwin-based editorial, industrial and commercial photographer.
1 portrait in the collection
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 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 (1944–1992), singer/songwriter and entertainer, was born Peter Allen Woolnough in Tenterfield, NSW.
1 portrait in the collection
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, photographer, designer and painter, studied at Prahran College in the 1970s.
1 portrait in the collection
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
Peter G. Drewett is a Grafton craftsman. Drewett grew up in difficult economic circumstances in Melbourne.
1 portrait in the collection
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 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 (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
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 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 (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'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 has been one of Australia's foremost commercial photographers over the past 25 years.
1 portrait in the collection
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 (1942-2018), author, was educated at Melbourne High School and the University of Melbourne.
1 portrait in the collection
Peter Porter OAM (1929-2010), poet and critic, moved from Brisbane to London in 1951 at age 22.
2 portraits in the collection
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 (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 (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 (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 (1929-2018), professional golfer, began to play the game at the age of 12.
2 portraits in the collection
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 (b. 1950), is a landscape and portrait painter who lives and works in Maleny, Queensland.
5 portraits in the collection
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 first participated in a group exhibition in 1977, when he had had no art training.
7 portraits in the collection
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 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
Recorded 1970
Recorded 1967
Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.
Legendary Australian composer, Peter Sculthorpe, describes the development of his career.
Australian Nobel Prize winner, Professor Peter Doherty, provides some entertaining insights into his career and the science profession.
Peter Brew-Bevan (b. 1969) is a leading Australian portrait and fashion photographer.
25 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
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, cook, started his career as a freelance cartoonist, working for advertising agencies in Australia and overseas.
1 portrait in the collection
Peter Purves Smith (1912–1949), artist, went to Geelong Grammar with his lifelong friend Russell Drysdale.
2 portraits in the collection
Gift of Richard Elliott 2016. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott 2016
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott 2016
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Elliott
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Eve 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Courtesy of Kev Carmody, Song Cycles Pty Ltd.
Purchased with funds provided by Peronelle Windeyer 2021
Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Nicholson 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Purchased 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
Gift of Mr and Mrs Wilbur van Otteren 2002
Peter Wegner's approach to portraiture could be considered a visual record of the rapport, the dynamic space between artist and subject.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Norman McBeath 2011
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001
Eric Smith describes the agony and finally the ecstasy of winning the 1982 Archibald Prize with the portrait of Peter Sculthorpe.
Gift of the artist 2002
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2021
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Semple Kerr 2004
Gift of the artist 2002
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of BHP Billiton 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Karen McLeod Adair and Anthony Adair 1999
Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Tony Sattler 2016
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2002
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2015
Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021
Gift of the family of Professor Graeme Clark 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2013
Gift of the artist 2021
Gift of the artist 2021
Gift of the artist 2021
Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021
Purchased 2001
Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016
Purchased 2001
Gift of the artist 2004
Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021
Gift of the artist 2005
Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016
Purchased 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Gift of the artist 2002
Gift of the artist 2002
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.
Gift of the artist 2012
Purchased 2011
Purchased 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Cannon and L. Gordon Darling AC CMG 2006
Magda Keaney explores the symbolism in eX de Medici's portrait of Midnight Oil.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017
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
Purchased 2011
Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001
Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Purchased with funds provided by Alan Dodge AM and Neil Archibald 2021
The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.
The National Portrait Gallery has acquired an evocative depiction of soldier Peter Cosgrove by the Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor Rick Amor.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Gift of the artist 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.
Aimee Board ventures within and beyond to consider two remarkable new Gallery acquisitions.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter and Susan Dadswell 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mary Thomson 2017
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
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
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AO and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018.
Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018
The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.
Love versus the law
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
With author and media identity Peter FitzSimons.
Ellie Cole on the freedom of the pool and being photographed by Peter Brew-Bevan.
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter E.B. Mansell 2018
This school holidays, remember to hop (like Peter Rabbit) into our play plot! Inspired by Beatrix Potter’s portrait in our special exhibition, Shakespeare to Winehouse.
This issue of Portrait Magazine features Peter Brew-Bevan, daguerreotypes, the exhibition Depth of Field, Ern McQuillan's photographs of sportspeople and more.
This issue of Portrait Magazine features the Reveries: On Photography and Mortality exhibition, Peter Cosgrove, Martin Sharp, Terence Tao and more.
This issue of Portrait Magazine features portraits by Rick Amor, colonial charicatures, Les Murray, Peter Porter, Helen Garner and more.
This issue of Portrait Magazine features conservationists Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, Michael Leunig, legendary photographer Cecil Beaton and more.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Bequest of Richard Divall AO OBE 2017
Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.
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
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 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.
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.
In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.
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
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
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.
Haskins is known for his poetic combinations of images and this exhibition of 'extended' portraits builds on this approach.
In Western religious art a Pietà, also called a ‘lamentation’, is an image of the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Christ.
Commissioned 2006
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Commissioned 2006
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 (1942-2016) was a journalist, columnist, screenwriter, film director and playwright.
3 portraits in the collection
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.
Hugo Wolfsohn, a Dunera Boy, was Foundation Professor of Politics at Latrobe University.
2 portraits in the collection
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.
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 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
Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.
Iconic Australian fashion designer, Akira Isogawa discusses the development of his unique style.
The late Australian photographer Stuart Campbell produced superb photographs of Australian actors of stage and screen.
Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007
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
Peter Brew-Bevan discusses two experiences where his plans for his portraits produced surprising results.
This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia
Philip Hunter (1958-2017), painter, studied art in Melbourne before holding his first solo exhibition there in 1982.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998
Ross Edwards (b. 1943), composer, became determined upon a life of composition as a child.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
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
Nancy Wake AC (1912–2011) was one of the most-decorated women of the Second World War.
1 portrait in the collection
Stuart Campbell, born in Ballarat, became interested in photography as a student at Swinburne Technical College in Melbourne.
10 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Les Rowe 1998
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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
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 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 (b. 1951), also known as Reg Mombassa, is an artist and musician.
4 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Naseby 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Naseby 2001
Supporting contemporary photography. Your support will help us expand our contemporary collection.
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
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?
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
Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun
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
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
When the stars align
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Carolyn and Peter Lowry 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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
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
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
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.
Purchased 2012
Australian entomologist and inventer of the Aerogard insect repellent, Douglas Frew Waterhouse describes the evolution of his career.
John Bell AO OBE (b. 1940), actor and director, is one of Australia's best-known theatre personalities.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
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.
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
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Norman McBeath 2011
Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.
Bridget Elliot (b. 1958), photographer, is acknowledged for her significant portraits of Australian composers and musical performers.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Sir Roderick Carnegie 2003
Geoffrey Shedley was a prominent South Australian architect, with a lifelong interest in drawing and sculpture.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2016
Henry Mayer (1919-1991) was Professor of Government at Sydney University from the 1960s to 1980s.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010
Gift of the artist 2002
Purchased with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2007
Tamara Tchinarova (1919–2017), dancer, was one of the original 'baby ballerinas' of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo.
2 portraits in the collection
George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga (1957–2007) was a Yolngu singer, activist and a founding member of the Warumpi Band.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Anne and Brennan Keats 2009
Purchased 2005
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015
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
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 is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mr Peter Kampfner 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011
Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011
Gift of Professor Peter Van Sommers 2011
A reflection on the National Portrait Gallery's first four years.
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
Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation and Paul Dainty AM and Donna Dainty 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Although perceived to be a recent phenomenon, the 'Aussie invasion' of Hollywood can actually be traced as far back as the early 1900s
Julie Edgar (b. 1951) is a Melbourne artist who studied at RMIT, Monash University and the University of Melbourne.
3 portraits in the collection
Purchased 1999
Purchased 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.
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
Australian photographer Karin Catt has photographed world leaders, a host of rock stars and Oscar-winning compatriots Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2005
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.
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.
Tedi Bills on how social media in the age of COVID-19 has fanned the flames of our portrait fascination.
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
Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.
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
Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018
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
Jill Neville (1932–1997), writer and critic, grew up in Sydney and attended a Blue Mountains boarding school.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Gift of Dr Penny Olsen, Peter Woollard and Artemis Georgiades 2015
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
Purchased with funds provided by Ruth and Peter McMullin 2013
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.
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010
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 (b. 1931), High Court judge, was governor-general of Australia from early 1996 to mid-2001.
1 portrait in the collection
Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry
Penelope Grist discovers the rich narratives in Peter Wegner’s series of centenarian portraits.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010
Commissioned with assistance from the Circle of Friends 2012
Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.
Cressida Campbell (b. 1960), artist, has worked for decades in a studio at her home in Bronte, Sydney.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018
Gift of an anonymous donor 2019
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, Sydney-based artist, was part of a circle of urban conceptual artists in the 1970s.
4 portraits in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Mrs Diana Ramsay AO 2008
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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
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
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
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 (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
Gift of the artist 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
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 (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
Macfarlane Burnet and Patrick White
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
Gift of Margaret Olley 2002. Transferred from the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Reinis Zusters studied art briefly in Germany before arriving in Australia as a Latvian refugee in 1950.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Michelle de Kretser 2015
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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.
Dave Tice (b. 1950) was the lead singer for the trailblazing Australian hard rock band Buffalo.
1 portrait in the collection
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
Bob Ellis (1942–2016) was a journalist, columnist, screenwriter, film director, playwright, speechwriter and critic.
Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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.
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012
Gift of the artists 2005
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.
Purchased 2018
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
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, 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
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
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
Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Olegas Truchanas (1923-1972) was born in 1923 in Siauliai, Lithuania.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Hilary McPhee AO (b. 1941), writer and editor, began her career at Meanjin before starting a small magazine, Theatre.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2001
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.
The then Minister for the Arts and Sport, Rod Kemp, reflects on the value of the Cultural Gifts Program.
Artist David M Thomas lists some of the ideas and influences behind his video portraits.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.
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.
Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.
Hugh Jackman AC (b. 1968) is the ultimate triple threat – actor, singer and dancer.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.
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.
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Peter Ciemitis breached regulations when creating the portrait of the polymath environmental scientist George Seddon.
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.
David Ward writes about the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.
Gift of the Karmel family in memory of Lena and Peter Karmel 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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 exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.
The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.
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 (1939-2001), poet, performer and promoter, grew up in a Jewish household in Caulfield and St Kilda.
1 portrait in the collection
It was definitely a candid encounter as was the expression on the face. It was constructed insofar as the image was deliberately taken from a distance so as to minimize intrusion and to magnify the effect of the image.
Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.
Christopher Chapman profiles Chris Lilley, actor and creator of Angry Boys.
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.
Purchased 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018
In April 2006 the National Portrait Gallery showcased Australian portraits at the Fredenksborg Castle in Denmark.
Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.
The National Portrait Gallery, has welcomed the newest portrait commission of Emeritus Professor Derek Denton AC by Evert Ploeg.
Michael Desmond profiles the Australian songwriter and performer Neil Murray and his contribution to Australian music.
An interview with the photographer.
Michelle Fracaro examines the life of World War II nurse Margaret Anderson, whose portrait by Napier Waller is in the NPG collection.
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.
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.
Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.
Penelope Grist charts an immersive path through Stuart Spence’s photography.
Dr Sarah Engledow describes the achievements of internationally renowned burns and trauma surgeon Professor Fiona Wood.
Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.
Dr Anne Sanders previews the works in the new focus exhibition Paul Kelly and The Portraits.
Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.
Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.
The biographical exhibition of Barry Humphries was the first display of its kind at the National Portrait Gallery.
Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.
Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.
Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film.
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
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.
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.
Anne Sanders and Christopher Chapman bring passionate characterisation to Express Yourself, the Portrait Gallery collection exhibition celebrating iconoclastic Australians.
David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.
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.
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.
The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.
Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.
Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.
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.
Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.
Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.
The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.
Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.
Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.
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.
Christopher Chapman contemplates the provocative performance art of Chris Burden.
Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.
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.
An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.
Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.
Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.
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.
Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Anne Sanders finds connections in Inner Worlds between Hungarian expatriates and the development of psychoanalysis in Australia.
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.
Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.
Ensconced and meditative in crisp Tasmania, Joanna Gilmour pays tribute to passionate green advocate and photographer Olegas Truchanas.
Jenny Gall delves into Starstruck to celebrate some of Australian cinema’s iconic women.
Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.
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.
Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.
Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.
Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.
Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2014 Prize.
Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.
Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.
Sarah Engledow is seduced by the portraits and the connections between the artists and their subjects in the exhibition Impressions: Painting light and life.
Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.
Aimee Board traces Judy Cassab’s path to the Australian outback, arriving at the junction of inspiration and abstraction.
Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.
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).
Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.
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.
Joanna Gilmour explores photographic depictions of Aboriginal sportsmen including Lionel Rose, Dave Sands, Jerry Jerome and Douglas Nicholls.
Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.
How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.
John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.
Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.
Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.
Sarah Engledow bristles at the biographers’ neglect of Kitchener’s antipodean intervention.
Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.
