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The Reverend Ralph Sutton, 1935

Gift of Reverend Ralph Sutton's daughters Arlene Howes and Megan Newman in memory of Ralph Sutton and in tribute to his wife Dorothy Sutton 2011

Lauren and Poppy

Ralph Heimans

The exhibition will feature some of the most significant portraits in the artist’s career to date, from early major works such as his painting of HM Queen Mary of Denmark through to his most recent.

Luis and Finn - two scruffy buddies, 2015

Study for HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (compositional study)

Margaret Atwood: The 'abysm of time …" (The Tempest)

Dame Judi Dench

Observation point

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

Gloves off (Tom Uren), 1996

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

The Architecture of Music (Vladimir Ashkenazy), 2011

Gift of Michael Crouch AC and Shanny Crouch 2017

Human encounters

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

The Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd AC

Study for Portrait of a Musician

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby" recto 'Head Study' and verso 'Hand Study', 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Portrait of Professor Derek Freeman, 1996

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Olegas Truchanas, 1971

Purchased 2005

Charles Haddon Chambers, 1921

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO (study)

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG interviews the artist who painted his portrait, Ralph Heimans.

HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

Imagination

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

The painter and the princess

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

Radical Restraint
Justice Michael Kirby, 1998

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Dane reign

Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby bring eloquent context to Ralph Heimans’ portraits of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

General Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales, c. 1840

Purchased 2018

Announcing... Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence.

In March 2024, the National Portrait Gallery will launch a major exhibition of the work of Ralph Heimans AM, the Australian artist who’s painted some of the world’s most recognisable people.

Ralph Kenke and Elmar Trefz win Digital Portraiture Award with Selfie Factory

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce Mr Ralph Kenke and Mr Elmar Trefz are the winners of the Digital Portraiture Award 2017 for their submission Selfie Factory.

Lauren Sutton and Poppy

My name's Lauren and this is Poppy, and this is obviously a self portrait of us taken last year in August when we sort of went into lockdown in Canberra.

Professor Ralph Blacket, 1994

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2017

Selfie Factory, 2017

Winner, DPA 2017
Mixed media installation

Digital Portraiture Award 2017

An annual event to extend traditional notions of portraiture and foster emerging artists with an interest in new technology.

Portrait 60

Ralph Heimans on his portraits, and features on Louis Kahan, Helena Rubinstein, Judy Cassab and Tasmanian convicts.

Headspace 5

Crystal Gazing: Headspace V, the fifth in the National Portrait Gallery's program of secondary student portrait exhibitions, invites students from Canberra and the surrounding regions to explore the possibilities of portraiture

Glorious

Glorious: A Diamond Jubilee portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a collection-based display representing The Queen in the early and late years of her glittering sixty-year reign.

Kate Beynon

Born in Hong Kong, Naarm/Melbourne-based artist Kate Beynon builds from the cultural legacy of her familial ancestry and experience to envision hybrid personas, identities, worlds and mythologies.

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

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

Self portrait at 85, 1990

Gift of the late May Ralph 2019

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

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

Portrait of Dr John Bradfield, c. 1920-1924

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of Dr J J C Bradfield 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Payne family, 1888-1889

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018

The ICONS Syndicate

Annual membership of the ICONS Syndicate is $5,000 and you are invited to join by making a tax-deductible donation to the National Portrait Gallery.

Margel and Tarquin, Canberra, c. 1945

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

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.

Heath Ledger, Prague, 2000 (printed 2009)

Purchased with the assistance of Alan Dodge AM 2009

Cecil Beaton

Accomplished illustrator, painter, writer and diarist, set designer and one of the most distinguished photographers of the twentieth century, Cecil Beaton is renowned for his portraits of well known faces from the worlds of fashion, literature, and film.

Finalists Announced for Digitial Portraiture Award 2017

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to announce nine finalists have been selected from the national call for entries for the Digital Portraiture Award 2017.

Self portrait, 1949

Gift of an anonymous donor 2007

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.

A serious man

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

So Fine

This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.

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.

Judicial portraits

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

Very fine and very like

When did notions of very fine and very like become separate qualities of a portrait? And what happens to 'very like' in the age of photographic portraiture?

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

On active service

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

Australian visit in Denmark

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

In the round

Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.

Portrait Donors

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.

Past directors

Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.

Giving a dam

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

Paper weight

Joanna Gilmour delves into a collection display that celebrates the immediacy and potency of drawing as an art form in its own right.

Little women

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

Suave

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

Stubbs and the horse

One of the chief aims of George Stubbs, 1724–1806, the late Judy Egerton’s great 1984–85 exhibition at the Tate Gallery was to provide an eloquent rebuttal to Josiah Wedgwood’s famous remark of 1780: “Noboby suspects Mr Stubs [sic] of painting anything but horses & lions, or dogs & tigers.”

Duty bound

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of colonial women Lady Ellen Stirling, Eliza Darling, Lady Eliza Arthur, Elizabeth Macquarie and Lady Jane Franklin.

Written in Water

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

No small wonder

Joanna Gilmour describes how artist Sam Leach works on a small scale to grand effect.

A man of superior attainments

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

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.

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

Augustus serendipitous

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

A real Pratt

The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.

Christmas Island

This is my last Trumbology before, in a little more than a week from now, I pass to my successor Karen Quinlan the precious baton of the Directorship of the National Portrait Gallery.