Search / richard court

The Rev. Margaret Court AC MBE (b. 1942) has won more major tennis championships than any other player, having acquired 62 Grand Slam titles between 1960 and 1975.

1 portrait in the collection

Janet Holmes a Court AC

Portrait, offset lithograph on mountboard/card

Janet Holmes à Court AC (b. 1943), businesswoman and philanthropist, graduated in science and worked as a teacher before marrying young Perth lawyer Robert Holmes à Court in 1966.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Holmes a Court, c. 1984

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Richard Windeyer, c. 1828

Charles Richard Bone

Portrait, watercolour on ivory in a gold pendant with a lock of hair and gold thread

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Janet Holmes á Court, 2001 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong, c. 1971

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Richard Windeyer

Richard Windeyer (1806-1847), journalist, barrister and politician, was the eldest of the ten children born to Charles Windeyer and his wife Ann Mary and remained in England when the rest of his family went to New South Wales.

3 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 Larter

Richard Larter (1929-2014) was born in London, where he encountered and was influenced by the new generation of young British Pop artists of the 1950s and early 1960s.

6 portraits in the collection

Richard Walsh

Sydney-born Richard Walsh (b. 1941) is an Australian publisher, journalist, broadcaster, editor, lecturer and company director.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Howe

Richard Howe (1st Earl Howe, 1726–1799), naval commander, served in the Royal Navy for over fifty years, seeing action in the Seven Years War, the American Wars of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Read Jnr

Richard Read junior arrived in Sydney from his native London in November 1819.

2 portraits in the collection

Great stylists: Caruso, Melba, Pavarotti, Bonynge and Sutherland

Richard Bonynge AO CBE

Richard Bonynge AO CBE (b. 1930), conductor, won a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music when he was twelve.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard von Marientreu

Richard von Marientreu was born in Poland and attended military academies in Cracow and Vienna before leaving for Prague, where he studied at the Academy of Painting.

2 portraits 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

Richard Humphry AO

Richard Humphry AO (b. 1939) was the managing director and CEO of Australian Stock Exchange Ltd from 1994 to 2004, during which period, in 1998, the ASX became the first exchange in the world to simultaneously demutualise and list on its own exchange.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Daintree

Failing as a prospector, Richard Daintree (1832-1878) started work as an assistant geologist in 1854, and returned to London to study assaying and metallurgy; while abroad, he became interested in photography.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Richard Owens

Sir Richard Owen (1804–1892), naturalist, anatomist and palaeontologist, was born in Lancaster and apprenticed to surgeon-apothecaries there before completing his studies in medicine in Edinburgh and London.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Rouse

Richard Rouse (1774-1852), grazier and landowner, came to New South Wales in 1801 as a free settler with his wife Elizabeth (née Adams, 1772-1849) and the first two of their nine children.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Nicoll

Richard Nicoll (1977‒2016), fashion designer, was born in London but spent much of his childhood in Perth.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Pratt

Richard Pratt (1934-2009), businessman, came to Australia with his parents, Polish Jews, in 1938.

2 portraits in the collection

Mr Richard Goldsbrough

Richard Goldsbrough (1821–1886) was a butcher’s son from Shipley, Yorkshire, who became a leading Australian woolbroker.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Fitzgerald

Richard Fitzgerald (1772-1840), convict, public servant and settler, spent four years of his seven-year sentence imprisoned (probably on a floating 'hulk') at Portsmouth before arriving in Sydney in 1791, along with his private assets.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Roxburgh

Richard Roxburgh (b. 1962), actor, completed an economics degree at the Australian National University before gaining a place at NIDA on his second attempt.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Richard Divall AO OBE

Frà Professor Richard Divall AO OBE (1945–2017), conductor, composer and scholar, grew up in Manly and was educated at Manly Boys’ High School.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Flanagan

Richard Flanagan (b. 1961) was born in Longford in northern Tasmania, the second youngest of the six children of Archie Flanagan, a primary school principal, and his wife Helen.

1 portrait in the collection

Gav & Ray, 2007

by Richard Walker

Richard Humphry, 1997

Hui Hai Xie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Australian Securities Exchange 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Richard Larter

Magazine article by Richard Ormond, 2015

Recorded 1965

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

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

A feast of friends

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

Richard Edward O'Connor

Richard Edward O'Connor (1851-1912), barrister and judge, was raised and educated in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Henry Horne

Poet Richard Henry Horne (1802–1884) arrived in Melbourne in 1852 hoping to make money on the goldfields but ended up instead in a variety of less remunerative prospects.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Larter, 2004

R. Ian Lloyd

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of R. Ian Lloyd 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Richard Pratt, Cardboard King, n.d.

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Arizona 250 GT Ron Radford and Shiva #1, 2011

Portrait, computer generated image, synthetic polymer paint and gel-glitters on polyester canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013

Portrait of Nell #15, 2009

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint, gesso, binder medium, gel and glitter on canvas

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2014

Portrait of the Gallery

Magazine article by Graeme Dix, 2016

A design diary retrospective.

L.J. Brown, 1955

Richard von Marientreu

Previous exhibition, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Marion McBeath Harper 2019

Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, August 1955 by Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon People

American photographer Richard Avedon produced portrait photographs that defined the twentieth century. Developed in partnership with the Richard Avedon Foundation in New York, the first Australian exhibition of Avedon’s bold portraits reveals the glamour and drama of his iconic artistic work.

Richard Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on paper

Purchased 2019

Richard Neville, 2011

by Graham McCarter

Sir Richard Kingsland, 1982

Gwen Eichler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sir Richard Kingsland AO CBE DFC and Lady Kingsland 2002

Richard Woolcott, 1997

Bill Leak

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard and Birgit Woolcott 2007
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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

Eric Smith

Portrait, pencil and watercolour on paper

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

Richard Fitzgerald, c. 1838

Edmund Edgar

Gift in memory of Richard Kelynack Evans 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Richard Tognetti, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

Portrait, oil and ink on canvas

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

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

Louise Hearman

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Richard Walsh, Editor OZ magazine at the Hunter Street offices, c. 1966 (printed 2021)

Robert McFarlane

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

Richard Johnson 23 May 2009 3:07PM

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and red ochre on canvas

Richard Walley, 2015

Dr Julie Dowling

Commissioned with funds provided by Neil Archibald and Alan R. Dodge AM, Brandon and Angela Munro, Dr Walter Ong and Graeme Marshall 2015

Richard Gardiner Casey KG GCMG CH

Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey of Berwick, Victoria and the City of Westminster KG GCMG CH (1890-1976), politician and statesman, was born in Brisbane and educated in Melbourne and at Cambridge.

3 portraits in the collection

Richard Rouse (copy of drawing by William Griffith), c. 1847

Portrait, pencil, ink and watercolour on paper

Gift of Pamela Glasson 2009
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)

Richard Pratt, 2003 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Portrait of Kathleen O'Connor, 1966 (printed 2017)

Richard Woldendorp AM

Gift of Richard Woldendorp AM 2017

Richard Roxburgh, 2008 (printed 2012)

Jimmy Pozarik OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Richard Windeyer, 1840s

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Richard Bell, 2009

Mike Chavez

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint and spray paint on canvas

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

Richard Frankland, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Richard Windeyer, 1830s

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Richard Roxburgh, 2014

Nicholas Harding

Portrait, mixed media on cardboard

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

Richard N (sitting on green chair backwards, 2 faces), 2000-2010

Howard Tangye

Gift of the artist 2023

John Connell, c. 1830

Richard Read Jnr

Portrait, watercolour on paper laid on cardboard

Gift of Eleanor Thornton 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dr Fiona Wood AM, 2005

Richard Woldendorp AM

Purchased 2005

Arizona 250 GT Major General Liz Cosson, 2013

Portrait, computer generated image, synthetic polymer paint and gel-glitters on polyester canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013

Dora Byrne, 1951

Richard von Marientreu

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

James Baldwin, writer, Harlem, New York 1945 by Richard Avedon

The Avedon effect

Dr Christopher Chapman explores how we can understand Richard Avedon's photographs.

Chet Baker, singer, New York City, January 16, 1986 by Richard Avedon

The existential lens

Magazine article by Stephen Zagala, 2013

Stephen Zagala discusses Richard Avedon’s work from an Australian perspective.

William Hodges Esq. RA, 1792

unknown artist after Richard Westall

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

Herb and Flan, 2018

Julian Meagher

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Gift of the artist 2022

Miss Elizabeth Roberts, 1830

Richard Read Jnr

Purchased 2013

A Wool Merchant "Colonial John Bull" [Mr Richard Goldsbrough], 1874

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Richard Morecroft & Alison Mackay, 2016

Gary Grealy

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2018

A Low Comedian. "Keep your eye on your Father" [Henry Richard Harwood], 1874

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Lord Casey, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, conté, brush and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Lord Casey, c. 1932

Charles Wheeler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2003

Admiral Earl Howe, n.d.

R Cooper after John Singleton Copley

an unknown artist, Vanity Fair Magazine

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

Men of the Day No. 57 "Old Bones" (Sir Richard Owen), 1873

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2015

William Clark Haines, Premier of Victoria (Plate 12)

William Clark Haines, Premier of Victoria (Plate 12), 1857-1858

Antoine Fauchery, Richard Daintree

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on laid on cardboard

Purchased 2014

Sir Henry Barkly KCB, Governor of the Colony of Victoria (Plate 1)

Sir Henry Barkly KCB, Governor of the Colony of Victoria (Plate 1), 1858

Antoine Fauchery, Richard Daintree

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper laid on cardboard

Purchased 2014

Men of High Degree: Kev Carmody (Bundjalung/Lama Lama Peoples)

Men of High Degree: Kev Carmody (Bundjalung/Lama Lama Peoples), 2023

Brenda L Croft, Prue Hazelgrove, Richard Crampton

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

Purchased 2023

Lord Casey, 1938

Gordon Furlee Brown

Batchelder & Company Photo

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Richard Henry Horne, mid 1860s

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

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

Matilda (Ngambri), 2020

Brenda L Croft, Prue Hazelgrove, Richard Crampton

Portrait, inkjet print (from original tintype, wet plate collodion process) on paper

Purchased with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2020

First High Court of Australia, c. 1903

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Great stylists: Caruso, Melba, Pavarotti, Bonynge and Sutherland, 1983

Arthur Horner

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Eric Harding and Athol Hawke 2002

Pat and Richard Larter, Luddenham, 1970s

Pin-ups

Christopher Chapman describes the art and life of Australian artist Richard Larter.

Private virtues public lives

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

Elegance in exile

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2012

Elegance in exile is an exhibition surveying the work of Richard Read senior, Thomas Bock, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and Charles Rodius: four artists who, though exiled to Australia as convicts, created many of the most significant and elegant portraits of the colonial period.

Portrait of Johnson Pilton Walker, Inside the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 25 Hours 31 minutes, 22-23rd of May 2009

Portrait of Johnson Pilton Walker, Inside the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 25 Hours 31 minutes, 22-23rd of May 2009, 2009 (printed 2010)

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, type C photographs on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2009

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

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

Brenda L Croft, Prue Hazelgrove, Richard Crampton

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

Purchased 2023

Pat Painting No 1, 1983

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008

Richard Woldendorp, Perth, WA, 2004

John Elliott

Art, love, absurdity and exuberance

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Richard and Pat

Passion

Partners in sparkle

Richard Avedon People media information

8 August 2013

Archived media releases 2013

Press releases and images downloads for media.

Henry Louis Bertrand, ca. 1865 photographed by the Milligan Brothers. Collection of the State Library of NSW

A passion eating into your vitals

The ‘Mad Dentist of Wynyard Square’ in court, 18 December 1865

Archived media releases 2015

The salacious and sordid details of Henry Kinder’s death transfixed Sydneysiders with a case combining murder with seduction, mesmerism, blackmail and poisoning.

Richard Walley OAM honoured in new Portrait Gallery commission

2 September 2015

A new commissioned portrait funded by the Gallery’s Foundation will be launched at Murdoch University in Perth tonight, Wednesday 2 September.

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

Richard Avedon People media information

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Marian Anderson, contralto, New York, June 30, 1955 by Richard Avedon

Image downloads

Richard Avedon People

Hi-resolution images for media representatives, password required.

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.

Mary Moore

Mary Moore (b. 1957) is a West Australian portrait artist. She began formal art training in Claremont at the age of fifteen, later attending the Western Australian Institute of Technology and Royal College of Art, London.

4 portraits in the collection

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Men at Work, The Jam Factory, (Colbee Court) Phillip, ACT

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on buff board

Annie Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Purchased 2019

A County Court Judge "Sober as a Judge" [Judge Pohlman], 1874

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

John Richard Tindale, 1841

Maurice Felton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Image downloads

Richard Walley OAM, by Julie Dowling

Richard Walley OAM honoured in new Portrait Gallery commission

Hi-resolution images for media representatives, password required.

Robert W. Pohlman

Robert Williams Pohlman (1811–1877), judge, arrived in Melbourne in 1840 and with his brother acquired a sheep station, Darlington (later Glenhope), near Kyneton.

1 portrait in the collection

Mr King was once on Countdown, 2010

by Ben Searcy

William Charles Windeyer, c. 1857

Portrait, daguerreotype

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009

Sir William Deane AC KBE KC

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

1 portrait in the collection

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Hon Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Hon. Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC (b. 1954) became Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in 2017 and is the first woman to have held the role.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC

The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC (b. 1945) is a leading barrister and former High Court judge.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon. Alex Chernov AC QC, 2019

Anne Middleton

Eddie Mabo

Koiki (Eddie) Mabo (1937-1992) was born and lived in the Torres Strait until 1959 when he moved to the mainland.

1 portrait in the collection

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC, 2018

Yvonne East

Gift of the artist 2019 acknowledging Herbert Smith Freehills for supporting the creation of the portrait

Lionel Murphy QC

Lionel Murphy QC (1922-1986), High Court judge and Labor politician, grew up in Sydney, studied science and law at Sydney University, was admitted to the Bar in 1947, and became a QC in 1960.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon. Alex Chernov AC KC, 2019

Anne Middleton

Gift of twenty members of the Victorian Bar 2020

The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG

Portrait, single channel moving image, colour, sound, 2 minutes, 47 seconds

The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG (b. 1939) was a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1996 to 2009.

16 portraits in the collection

Sir William Deane 2008, 2008

Merilyn Fairskye

Purchased 2011

Malcolm McCusker AC CVO KC, 2022

Vincent Fantauzzo

Gift of Nigel Satterley AM and Denise Satterley 2022

Radical Restraint
Justice Michael Kirby, 1998

Ralph Heimans AM

Pamela Joyce, Australian Tapestry Workshop

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

The Honourable Margaret Lusink AM, 2019

Portrait, wool and cotton tapestry

Gift of The Honourable Margaret Lusink AM 2021

Elizabeth Henrietta Fitzgerald

Elizabeth Henrietta Fitzgerald (née Rouse, 1818–1863) was born at Rouse Hill, New South Wales, the youngest daughter of colonial public servant and landowner Richard Rouse (1774–1852) and his wife Elizabeth (née Adams, 1772–1849), who’d come to Sydney as free settlers in 1801.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 46

Spring/Summer 2013

Magazine

This issue features Richard Avedon, Tracey Moffatt, Indigenous portraiture, William Kentridge, roller derby and more.

Sir Francis Forbes KNt

Sir Francis Forbes (1784–1841) was the first chief justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court.

1 portrait in the collection

Elizabeth Henrietta Fitzgerald (née Rouse), c. 1850

Portrait, hand coloured photograph

Gift of Pamela Glasson 2009
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)

Geoffrey R. Robertson AO KC

Geoffrey Roland Robertson AO KC (b. 1946), barrister, academic and defender of human rights, grew up in Sydney, attending Epping Boys' High and then the University of Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Francis Lymburner, 1941

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon)

Lady Jessie Eyre Williams

Jessie, Lady Eyre Williams (neé Gibbon, 1815-1903), colonial spouse, was the daughter of an Aberdeenshire clergyman.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon), 1833

Claude-Marie Dubufe

Purchased 2009

Robert Fitzgerald, c. 1860s (printed c. 1890s)

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Gift in memory of Richard Kelynack Evans 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait 29

September - November 2008

Magazine

This issue of Portrait Magazine includes William Bligh, Lionel Rose, Richard Larter, Layne Beachley, William Yang and more.

Portrait of Susan Crennan, 2017

Lewis Miller

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

Martin Sharp, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 2003

Location

Plan your visit

We’re on King Edward Terrace in front of the High Court and next to the National Gallery of Australia. We are open every day of the year from 10am to 5pm, except 25 December.

Godfrey Miller, 1949

Kerry Dundas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Alan Goldberg AO QC

Alan Goldberg AO QC (1940-2016), Federal Court judge, was born into a pioneering Jewish Melbourne family and graduated from the University of Melbourne law school in the early 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro)

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

Sir Henry Lee

James Heath

Portrait, oil on galvanised iron

James Heath commenced an apprenticeship with an engraver named Joseph Collyer at the age of fourteen.

2 portraits in the collection

Young Mo (Roy Rene), 1977

Martin Sharp

Gift of Richard Wherrett 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Eddie Mabo (after Mike Kelley's 'Booth's Puddle' 1985, from Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's profile) No.3, 1996

John Citizen

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999

J.H. Roy Rousel, 1915

Appleby Studio

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on brown cardboard presentation mount

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

JH Roy Rousel, 1915

Teslar Studios

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on brown cardboard presentation mount

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Garry Shead and Tom Thompson, 1993

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Garry Shead and Tom Thompson, 1993

Portrait, oil on primed masonite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Self portrait at 85, 1990

Joshua Smith

Gift of the late May Ralph 2019

Sir Percy Spender, 1981

Alex Kolozsy

Portrait, cold cast bronze

Gift of the artist and the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party of Australia 2004

Alan Goldberg, 2014

Jacqueline Mitelman

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

Gustavus Brooke

Gustavus Vaughan Brooke (1818-1866), actor, was a seasoned theatre performer by his early teens; at fourteen, he played Richard III.

1 portrait in the collection

William Hodges

William Hodges (1744-1797) trained from an early age at William Shipley's drawing school at Castle Court in the Strand, and was afterward apprenticed to a landscape painter.

3 portraits in the collection

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

Sir Edward E. Williams

William Daniell after George Dance

Sir Edward Eyre Williams (1813–1880), judge and barrister, arrived in Port Phillip in 1842 having been admitted to the Bar in London nine years earlier.

1 portrait in the collection

An international troupe of two

It's Complicated

Office romance

William Westall, 1854

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Peter, Silverton, NSW, 2012

by Krystal Seigerman

The Rt. Hon Sir Edmund Barton GCMG PC KC

Portrait, pastel on paper

Sir Edmund Barton GCMG PC KC (1849-1920), Australia’s first prime minister, was the youngest of nine children of a well-educated woman.

6 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Dame Roma Mitchell, 1940s

Geoffrey Mainwaring

Gift of friends of Dame Roma Mitchell 2018

Maria Windeyer

Maria Windeyer (née Camfield, 1795–1878), landowner, emigrated to New South Wales in 1835 with her husband Richard, a barrister, and their infant son, William Charles.

2 portraits in the collection

John Bell, 1962 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

John Chapman

Little is known of John Chapman, who engraved fine allegorical subjects after the designs of J Smith and Richard Corbould and worked closely with Thomas Macklin on his Shakespeare series.

2 portraits in the collection

Martin Sharp, c. 1974

Greg Weight

In Galleries Seven, Eight and Nine

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

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Women Make History

Previous exhibition, 2021

Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.

Barry Sullivan

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

1 portrait in the collection

HV (Doc) Evatt, 1935

Arnold Shore

Gift of Elizabeth Evatt and Penelope Seidler 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Elizabeth Rouse

Elizabeth Rouse (née Adams, 1772–1849), colonial spouse, arrived in New South Wales as a free settler in 1801 with her husband, Richard Rouse (1774–1852) and their first two children, one of whom had been born on the voyage out.

1 portrait in the collection

Anthony Cardon

Anthony Cardon, born in Flanders, moved to London as a twenty year old and attended the Royal Academy schools.

2 portraits in the collection

Edith E. Williams

Edith Ellen Williams (nee Horne, (1851–1885) was the first wife of Hartley Williams (1843–1929), a Victorian Supreme Court judge from 1881 until 1903.

1 portrait in the collection

Grant Matthews

Freeman Brothers after Edwin Dalton

In 1997 Grant Matthews successfully sued Consolidated Press for unauthorised reproduction of one of his photographs.

1 portrait in the collection

Maria Windeyer, c. 1865-1868

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on brown paper studio folder

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Australia (Sir Edmund Barton), 1902

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

Sir William Dobell OBE

Sir William Dobell (1899–1970), painter, studied art and was apprentice to an architect in Sydney before leaving Australia for Europe in 1929.

10 portraits in the collection

Malcolm J. McCusker AC CVO KC

Previous exhibition, 2008

Barrister and philanthropist Malcolm James McCusker AC CVO KC was born in Subiaco, Western Australia in 1938.

1 portrait in the collection

My Favourite Australian

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

Previous exhibition, 2017

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.

Martin Sharp

Martin Sharp (1942-2013), printmaker, painter, cartoonist, designer, songwriter and film-maker, is one of Australia's foremost pop artists.

7 portraits in the collection

TERROIR

TERROIR directors Gerard Reinmuth, Scott Balmforth and Richard Blythe believe that the practice of architecture is the production of knowledge.

Pat Larter

Patricia Larter (1936-1996) was born in the UK and arrived in Australia with her artist husband Richard Larter in 1962.

1 portrait in the collection

Gunther Gorman, 2009

by Peter West

Thomas Forster Knox

Contemporary Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, London

The Knox's third son, Thomas Forster Knox (1849-1919) followed his father and older brother into business, and became prominent in the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Richard Branson, 1999 by David Mach (b. 1956)

Best of British

Previous exhibition, 2000

For the first hundred years or so of its existence, The National Portrait Gallery in London had no contemporary collection at all

David McAllister

Lisa Tomasetti

William Westall

William Westall (1781-1850), grew up in London and was taught to draw by his elder half-brother Richard, who was drawing master to Princess Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Rouse

Mary Hassall (nee Rouse), the eldest of Richard and Elizabeth's children, was born in England and made the sea journey to New South Wales as an infant.

2 portraits in the collection

Reclaimed youth, 2019

Sanjeev Singh

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

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

The Hon. Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO QC

The Hon. Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO QC (1913–2000) was the first Australian woman to be a Queen's Counsel, Supreme Court judge, Acting Chief Justice, Deputy University Chancellor, Chancellor and State Governor.

2 portraits in the collection

Eleanor Wingate

Eleanor Wingate (née Rouse, 1813–1898) was the second youngest daughter of colonial public servant and landowner Richard Rouse (1774–1852) and his wife Elizabeth (née Adams, 1772–1849), who’d come to Sydney as free settlers in 1801.

1 portrait in the collection

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

Upcoming exhibition

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

Justice Robin Millhouse, Maslin Beach, South Australia

Justice Robin Millhouse, Maslin Beach, South Australia, 1992-1993 (printed 2019)

Robin Sellick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Sir John Kerr AK KCMG LSt J PC GCVO QC

Sir John Kerr AK KCMG LSt J PC GCVO QC (1914-1991) was the eighteenth Governor-General of Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Mary Hassall (née Rouse), c. 1850

Portrait, hand coloured photograph

Gift of Pamela Glasson 2009
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)

Sir James Dowling

Sir James Dowling (1787-1844), judge, worked as a parliamentary reporter before he was called to the Bar in London in May 1815.

1 portrait in the collection

John Young

John Young, mezzotint engraver, studied under Valentine Green then worked with several of the painters who collaborated with Green, notably Benjamin West, John Hoppner and Johann Gerhard Huck.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Visiting the gallery

How to get here

Plan your visit

Maps and public transport information for your visit.

Jim Anderson

Jim Anderson was born in England, his family moving to Australia when he was one year old.

1 portrait in the collection

Gary Grealy

Gary Grealy (b. 1950) has established himself over many years as one of Sydney’s leading commercial and portrait photographers with work commissioned by leading advertising agencies and major national and international clients.

11 portraits in the collection

Eleanor Wingate (née Rouse), c. 1850

Portrait, hand coloured photograph

Gift of Pamela Glasson 2009
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)

Martin Sharp, 1986

Garry Shead

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

Bassano Ltd

The Bassano studios operated from 1850, when photographer Alexander Bassano (1829-1913) opened premises in Regent Street, London.

2 portraits in the collection

Samuel Shelley

Samuel Shelley entered the Royal Academy Schools as a seventeen year-old in 1774 and exhibited at the Academy regularly from this time until 1804.

2 portraits in the collection

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

James McClelland

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2006

Jim McClelland (1915-1999) was a lawyer, politician (senator for NSW 1971-1978), judge and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald (1986).

1 portrait in the collection

The National Portrait Gallery building in twilight

On a human scale

The design concepts behind the new National Portrait Gallery building in Canberra.

Fans at an Easybeats concert, Sydney Stadium, 1965 Bob King

Oz Origins

A little bit louder now

Australia’s passion for rock ‘n roll was kindled by American and British acts in the 1950s and 60s. The novel genre’s driving, licentious rhythms and voices captured imaginations and libidos, not to mention aspiring young musicians.

Noah Taylor

Noah Taylor (b. 1969) left school at 16 to join Melbourne's St Martin's Youth Theatre.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Hartley Williams

Sir Hartley Williams (1843–1929), judge, was the third child and second son of Edward Eyre Williams and his wife, Jessie.

1 portrait in the collection

Candidate for Chelsea (9th Earl of Kintore)

Algernon Hawkins Thomond Keith-Falconer

Portrait, lithographic print on paper

Algernon Hawkins Thomond Keith-Falconer, 9th Earl of Kintore (1852–1930) was governor of South Australia from 1889 to 1895.

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

Edmund Barton, c. 1903

Crown Studios

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

John Knatchbull

John Knatchbull (c. 1792-1844), naval captain and convict, served in the British navy before being convicted of stealing and transported to New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

William Ashton, c. 1940s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Gamaliel Butler, c. 1810

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Purchased 2015

Claude Spurgeon Charlick

Claude Spurgeon Charlick (1893-1974), businessman, was managing director of the Adelaide firm Charlick Ltd for nearly forty years.

1 portrait in the collection

Hon. Alfred Deakin

Alfred Deakin (1856-1919), Australia's second, fifth and seventh Prime Minister, was central to the Federation movement.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr HV Evatt, Albert Namatjira and Dame Mary Gilmore having a meal

Herbert Vere Evatt

Herbert Vere Evatt (1894–1965) was a Labor politician, judge, historian and statesman.

2 portraits in the collection

John Kerr, 1976

Frank Hinder

A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute

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

Sir William Dargie

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

Mick Molloy

Portrait, wood engraving on paper

Mick Molloy (b. 1966) is an actor, writer and producer who has maintained a high profile in Australian commercial television and radio since the late 1980s.

1 portrait in the collection

The Jester (self portrait), 1923

Lionel Lindsay

Gift of Sir Richard Kingsland AO CBE DFC 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Joshua Smith

Joshua Smith studied sculpture with Rayner Hoff and took classes in drawing and painting at Julian Ashton's Sydney Art School.

5 portraits in the collection

Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel

Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Tom Hughes AO KC

Hon Thomas Hughes AO KC (b. 1923), lawyer and former politician, was born in Sydney and educated at Riverview before serving in the RAAF during World War 2.

3 portraits in the collection

Antoine Fauchery

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

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

Australia (The Hon. Alfred Deakin), 1908

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rolf de Heer

Rolf de Heer (b. 1951) was born in Heemskerk, Holland, and migrated to Australia with his family in 1959.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Haefliger, 1974

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Charles Rodius, Hiberian Printing Office

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

John Knatchbull, Murderer of Mrs Ellen Jamieson, 1844

Gift of Leo Schofield AM 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ern McQuillan OAM

Ern McQuillan OAM (1926–2018), photographer, was born in Sydney and grew up in the inner western suburbs.

24 portraits in the collection

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), acknowledged as one of the world's great portraitists, was master of portraits in the 'Grand Manner', replete with moral and heroic symbolism.

3 portraits in the collection

Ethel Turner, 1928

Harold Cazneaux

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Barry Sullivan, c. 1863

Davies & Co

Purchased 2018

John Kaldor AO

William Daniell after George Dance

John Kaldor, textile designer and manufacturer, was born in Hungary. He came to Australia with his family in 1948.

1 portrait in the collection

William Hodges RA, 1808 (dated 1810)

Portrait, etching on paper

Purchased 2010

Judicial portraits

Magazine article by Leslie Moran, 2007

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

Richard Morecroft & Alison Mackay, 2016 by Gary Grealy

Gary Grealy wins National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

31 March 2017

Archived media releases 2017

After months of anticipation, the winner for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 has been announced with renowned Sydney portrait photographer Gary Grealy taking out the award. George Fetting, guest judge for the 2017 Prize, was entranced with the evocative nature of the winning portrait Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay.

Adrian Feint, 1939

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Sir Cecil Colville, c. 1965

Sir William Dargie CBE

Portraits of Australian Visual Artists

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Due 2010

William Barak at work on the drawing ‘Ceremony’ at Coranderrk

The Reflecting Eye

Touring exhibition, 1996

As the first National Portrait Gallery travelling exhibition, The reflecting eye: portraits of Australian visual artists represents an important milestone in the history of Australia's National Portrait Gallery.

Peter Dombrovskis, 1996

Liz Dombrovskis

Portrait, duo-tone print on photographic paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Henry Reynolds

Henry Reynolds (b. 1938), historian, studied at the University of Tasmania before taking up a lectureship at Townsville University College (later James Cook University) in 1965.

1 portrait in the collection

Sketch for portrait of Bart Cummings, 1986

Bryan Westwood

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
of Brunswick, 1804

Around the grounds

Anne Sanders writes about the exhibitions Victoria & Albert: Art & Love on display at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace and the retrospective of Sir Thomas Lawrence at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin)

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin) (1912-1996), Kija visual artist, spent much of his life in and around his country near Bedford Downs station in WA.

1 portrait in the collection

Polly Borland on Michael Hutchence

Recorded 2017

Ada E. Evans

Ada Emily Evans (1872–1947) was the first Australian woman to attain a law degree and the first woman admitted to the Bar in New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG

Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG (b. 1978), former Australian Army soldier, is the recipient of the Medal for Gallantry in 2006, the Victoria Cross in 2011 and the Commendation for Distinguished Service in 2013.In 2017, Roberts-Smith’s military service came under scrutiny as a result of an inquiry – commonly known as the Brereton Report – into questions of unlawful conduct on the part of Australian military personnel in Afghanistan.

1 portrait in the collection

Ron Castan AM QC

Ron Castan AM QC (1939–1999), barrister, played a leading role in some of the most significant Australian litigation involving the rights of Indigenous people.

2 portraits in the collection

Norman Lindsay, 1921

Harold Cazneaux

Previous exhibition, 2002

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Contemporary Australian Portraits

Contemporary Australian Portraits is a cross section, a sampling, of some of the present-day directions in Australian portrait practice

Werner Baer, 1947

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and King James II

Sir Peter Lely

William Dobell, 1942

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Shirley Smith AO MBE

Shirley 'Mum Shirl' Smith AO OBE (1921–1998), humanitarian, was a Wiradjuri woman.

1 portrait in the collection

George Rose

George Rose, joint Secretary of the British Treasury at the time of the First Fleet, joined the civil service after leaving the Royal Navy in 1762.

1 portrait in the collection

Oliver Cromwell

Robert Walker

Rolf de Heer, Adelaide, SA, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Polly Borland on Germaine Greer

Recorded 2017

Jasper Knight

Jasper Knight (b. 1978) is a Sydney-based artist known for his bright, brash colours and distinctive graphic approach, using materials such as spray paint, masonite, pegboard and salvaged signage.

2 portraits in the collection

Jack Purtell

associated with John Taylor

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

1 portrait in the collection

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

Louis Antoine de Bougainville

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811), explorer, was an outstanding soldier, sailor and navigator who was gifted, too, in many intellectual spheres.

2 portraits in the collection

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

John Newcombe and family, 1973

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

Sir Cecil Colville

Sir Cecil Colville (1891-1984), medical practitioner, was the first president of the Australian Medical Association.

1 portrait in the collection

Rover Thomas

Rover Thomas (1926-1998), Kukatja-Wangkajunga artist, was born in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia and worked as a stockman and fencer before losing his employment upon the introduction of equal pay for indigenous workers in 1975.

1 portrait in the collection

King Charles I

Gerrit van Honthorst

Ben Roberts-Smith, 2017

Julian Kingma

Commissioned in 2018 with funds raised through the 2020 project

Colleen McCullough

Previous exhibition, 2003

The novelist Colleen McCullough (1937–2015) was born in Wellington, New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

George Rose, 1811

Giovanni Vendramini, T Cadell & W Davies after William Evans, Sir William Beechey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Barry Humphries, 1971 (printed 2010)

Bill McAuley

Purchased 2010

Henry Reynolds, 2012

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Bridget Elliot

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

1 portrait in the collection

Ada Bird Petyarre

Ada Bird Petyarre (c. 1930–2009), painter and printmaker, was an Anmatyerre woman from the Northern Territory, and one of seven sisters who all became notable artists.

1 portrait in the collection

Bill Leak

Bill Leak (1956-2017), portrait painter and caricaturist, trained at the Julian Ashton art school in the mid-1970s, and began his career painting landscapes.

7 portraits in the collection

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.

Darby McCarthy, c. 1969 (printed 2019)

Purchased 2019

Study for commissioned portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (profile head study), 2005

Jiawei Shen

Commissioned with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy 2005

2020 Annual Appeal

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

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

Rayner Hoff, 1924

Harold Cazneaux

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gamaliel Butler, c. 1824

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Merv Shearman 2012

Robert Emerson Curtis, 1943

Portrait, oil and egg tempera on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Portrait of Jill Neville, 1967 (completed 1997)

Reginald Gray

Gift of the artist 2002

Dame Roma Mitchell, 1998

Jessica Hromas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Hammond Care Group 1999

Frances Saville, 1903

Reutlinger Studios

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

The Right Honourable Lord Viscount Melbourne

William Lamb

William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848), statesman, was Prime Minister of Britain in 1834 and from 1835 to 1841.

2 portraits in the collection

Lleyton Hewitt, 1998

Robin Sellick

Gift of the artist 2004

Yami Lester speaks at Uluru Handback Ceremony

Yami Lester OAM

A Yankunytjatjara man, Yami Lester OAM (1941–2017) was born at Walyatjata in the north of South Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Andrew Mezei

Portrait, plasticine maquette

Andrew Mezei (b. 1963), artist, was born to Hungarian refugee parents in Melbourne and grew up in their leather-goods workshop, observing their adherence to a tradition of fine European craftsmanship.

1 portrait in the collection

Jack Purtell, n.d.

John Frith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013

Study for John Bell as King Lear, 1998-2001

Nicholas Harding

Portrait, ink, charcoal and conté on paper

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

Ralph Heimans AM

Sydney-based painter Ralph Heimans AM (b. 1970) is one of the world's foremost contemporary portraitists, having created a body of work that has expanded and redefined the possibilities of what is sometimes perceived as an inflexibly traditional genre.

19 portraits in the collection

Ginger Riley at the Limmen River, Northern Territory

Ginger Riley at the Limmen River, Northern Territory, 1992 (printed 2013)

Helga Leunig

Gift of Helga Leunig 2013

Sue Walker, 1977

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

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

Ron Castan AM QC, 1995

Kate Gollings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Arthur Boyd in his studio at Bundanon, 1993

John Noone after William Strutt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851, 1883

Portrait, photolithograph on paper

Purchased 2013

Edward John Eyre, Late Governor of Jamaica

Edward John Eyre, Late Governor of Jamaica, 1867

John Brown

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Karen McLeod Adair and Anthony Adair 2003

Colleen McCullough, 1992-1993 (printed 2005)

Anthony Browell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Jenny Munro

Jenny Munro (b. 1956) is a Wiradjuri elder and prominent activist for Aboriginal rights and sovereignty.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Winton

Tim Winton (b. 1960) is the author of 29 books, with his work translated into 28 languages.

2 portraits in the collection

Barry Humphries, 1962

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

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

123 Faces

Magda Keaney examines the 123 Faces project by Simon Obarzanek.

Self portrait, c. 1982

Bea Maddock AM

Portrait, photo screenprint with ballpoint pen framing lines on paper

Gift of David Archer 2016

Paddy Jaminji, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Purchased 2005

The Hon. John Howard OM AC

Charles Turner after Sir George Hayter

The Hon. John Howard OM AC (b. 1939) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

Café and Store

Plan your visit

The café is open 8:30am-4:30pm on weekdays and 9:00am-4:30pm on weekends. The shop is open 10:00am to 5:00pm every day.

The Right Honourable Lord Viscount Melbourne, 1839

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Bill Henson

Recorded 2021

Evonne Goolagong, 1973

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Sir Hartley Williams, c. 1871

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Edith Ellen Williams, c. 1871

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

William Lamb, Baron Melbourne, 1832

Samuel Freeman, Fisher, Son & Co London after Sir Thomas Lawrence

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

Ross Watson

Ross Watson specialises in interpolating representations of lithe semi-naked men into copies of paintings by masters such as Vermeer, Ter Borsch, David and Bronzino.

2 portraits in the collection

Shahleena Musk

Shahleena Musk is Larrakia lawyer from Darwin. She was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from the Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University) and to be admitted to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane

Batchelder & Company Photo

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane (1773-1860) was born into an aristocratic Scottish family and entered the army at the age of 16.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, c. 1870

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

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

Turia Pitt

Turia Pitt (b. 1987), author, businesswoman, motivational speaker and athlete, grew up in Ulladulla, New South Wales and studied engineering and science at the University of NSW, graduating in 2010.

1 portrait in the collection

Mum Shirl (Mrs Shirley Smith), 1988

Juno Gemes

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

James Gillray

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

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

Sir James Gobbo, 1983

Paul Fitzgerald AM

Gift of Mercy Health and Aged Care 2006

Mick Molloy, 2009

Andrew Maccoll

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2009

Chester Porter QC

From the age of thirteen Chester Porter QC (1926–2021) knew he wanted to be a barrister.

1 portrait in the collection

Marianne Egan

Previous exhibition, 1999

Mary Anne Egan (also Marianne or Marian, née Cheers, 1818–1857), was born in Sydney, the daughter of ex-convicts.

1 portrait in the collection

The Possibilities of Portraiture

What does 'portraiture mean at the end of the 20th century? At the outset of building a national portrait collection it seems an appropriate question to investigate.

Chester Porter QC, 1997

Graeme Inson

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

Gift of Jean Porter and family 2021. Donated through the Australia Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.

Mary Windeyer, c. 1891

Freeman Brothers

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on studio mount

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Shahleena Musk, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

Rosie Batty, 2017

Nikki Toole

Commissioned with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2017

Noah Taylor, 1994 (printed 2010)

Ross Honeysett

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Hong Fu

Hong Fu was born in China in 1946 and held his first solo exhibition at the National Art Gallery, Beijing, in 1988.

1 portrait in the collection

Bart Cummings AM

James Bartholomew (Bart) Cummings OAM (1927-2015) was Australia's most successful thoroughbred racehorse trainer.

1 portrait in the collection

Antonia Blaxland

Antonia Blaxland (1929-1989), photographer, was the great-great granddaughter of Gregory Blaxland, leader of the successful Blue Mountains expedition in 1813.

1 portrait in the collection

Jill Neville

James Faed, W Wilding after John Watson Gordon

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

1 portrait in the collection

General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1850 (published)

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Walter Preston

Walter Preston, engraver and convict, came to New South Wales aboard the Guildford in 1812.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Windeyer on the verandah at Tomago, NSW

Mary Windeyer on the verandah at Tomago, NSW, c. 1880s

Portrait, glass plate negative

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012

Gough and John, 1981

Peter van der Veer

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

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

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Portrait, daguerreotype

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

The Federal Leader Edmund Barton, c. 1900

Nelson Illingworth

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

Polly Borland

Polly Borland, born in Melbourne in 1959, began her photographic career in Australia before moving to London in 1989.

23 portraits in the collection

Maggie Tabberer AO

Maggie Tabberer AO (b. 1936), designer, writer, editor, publicist and television presenter, is one of Australia's best-known personalities.

1 portrait in the collection

Martha Knox, c. 1855

Portrait, oil and hand-stitching on canvas

Portrait, daguerreotype

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

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

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.

Lan Wang, Xini, Jiawei Shen and Billy, 2010

Greg Weight

Purchased 2012

Peter Elliott, 1964

Portrait, oil on masonite

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

Elaine Haxton, c. 1940s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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

Walking in tall grass, Viktor, 2005 by Jan Nelson

Transition

More about In the flesh

We fix adolescence as the time of inner turmoil, private worlds and secret refuges, doubt and imagination, protest and liberation. The human mind and body never really leaves this state of transition.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Julian Burnside AO KC

Julian Burnside AO (b. 1949), barrister, grew up in Melbourne, attending Melbourne Grammar and studying economics and law at Monash in the late 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Lleyton Hewitt AM

At twenty years old, Lleyton Hewitt AM (b. 1981) was the youngest male tennis player ever to be ranked world number one.

1 portrait in the collection

Gordon Darling Hall, National Portrait Gallery

Architecture

About us

Natural light and human proportions – the design by Johnson Pilton Walker

Turia Pitt, 2017 (printed 2021)

Peter Brew-Bevan

Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection

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

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

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra, 1982 (printed 2000)

David Moore

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

Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE

Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE (1926–2010) was one of the world's greatest operatic divas.

3 portraits in the collection

Dame Joan Sutherland, c. 1977

Robert Hannaford AM

Gift of William Bowmore AO OBE 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ken Rosewall AM MBE

Ken Rosewall AM MBE (b. 1934), champion tennis player, won the Australian Open in 1953 and again nineteen years later in 1972 (he remains both the youngest, and oldest, person to win the title).

1 portrait in the collection

Tony Bilson OAM

Previous exhibition, 2006

Tony Bilson, OAM (1944-2020), chef, grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Melbourne Grammar school before opening his first restaurant, La Pomme d'Or, in Camberwell in 1971.

1 portrait in the collection

Famous

Karin Catt Portraits

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

Steve Kilbey, 1981 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Barton and Watson, 1902

G. H. Dancey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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

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

Mary Windeyer, 1850s

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

Previous exhibition, 1999

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.

A Tribute to William Dobell

Adapted from A Tribute to William Dobell an exhibition presented by the Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, The National Gallery of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial. Dobell is of course, celebrated for his achievements in portraiture, winning the Archibald prize (1943, 1948 and 1959), the Wynne Prize (1948), and representing Australia at the 1954 Venice Biennale. Curator Mary Eagle concludes her essay in the catalogue of the exhibition thus, "Overall I see a dissonance in Dobell’s art and life

Dame Mabel Brookes, c. 1955

Sir William Dargie CBE

Gift of Rodney Davidson AO OBE 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

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

Ginger Riley

Ginger Riley Munduwalawala (c. 1937-2002), stockman and artist, was born in south-eastern Arnhem Land, in the coastal salt-water country of the Mara people.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior, c. 1836

William Fernyhough

Portrait, oil and enamel on hardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Sketch for portrait of Tom Uren, 1972

Clifton Pugh AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Tom Uren's family 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Jan Senbergs AM

Jan Senbergs AM (1939-2024) came to Australia from Latvia in 1950. He studied at the Melbourne School of Printing and Graphic Arts, where he was influenced by Leonard French.

2 portraits in the collection

Betty Churcher AO

Previous exhibition, 2019

(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

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.

Jeanne Pratt at home, 2015

Alana Landsberry

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Alana Landsberry and Bauer Media Australia 2019

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Philippe Mora

Philippe Mora (b. 1949), filmmaker, artist and writer, is the eldest son of artist Mirka Mora and restauranteur and gallery owner Georges Mora.

1 portrait in the collection

Joan Sutherland, n.d. (printed 1992)

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

Geoffrey Dyer

Geoff Dyer (1947-2020) was renowned landscape and portrait painter whose practice depicted Tasmania and its people.

1 portrait in the collection

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

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

Sketch of Clifton Pugh painting John Perceval

Clifton Pugh AO

Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006

Clifton Pugh AO was one of Australia’s best-known artists of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and one of its leading advocates for the arts.

11 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.

William Bligh

William Bligh (1754-1817), naval officer, was born in Plymouth and first went to sea at around the age of eight.

3 portraits in the collection

Jan Senbergs, 2015

Jacqueline Mitelman

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

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick

The Rt. Hon Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

The Rt Hon Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC (1903–1997) was Chief Justice of Australia from 27 April 1964 to 11 February 1981 – the longest serving Chief Justice of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Activating the space

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

Jan Senbergs, 1976

Keith Looby

Previous exhibition, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Padraic McGuinness 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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.

Darby McCarthy OAM

Richard 'Darby' McCarthy OAM (1945–2020), former jockey who rode in three Melbourne Cups and won more than 1000 races, is a proud descendant of the Mithaka and Goongurri people of south-west and central Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

George Pell AC

George Pell AC (1941–2023), former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, was born and educated in Ballarat, Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry Humphries, 1958

Clifton Pugh AO

Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Bryan Brown, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE (c. 1871- 1944), shipping administrator, came to Australia from England and joined the office of the Australian Steam Navigation Company.

1 portrait in the collection

Dame Margaret Scott AC DBE

Dame Margaret Scott AC DBE (1922-2019) ballerina and teacher, was scarred by her education in a Johannesburg convent boarding school and left her home on a Swaziland farm in 1939.

1 portrait in the collection

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery

Visual Stories

Access support for a general visit to the Gallery.

Bea Maddock AM

Bea Maddock AM (1934–2016) studied at the Hobart Technical College in the early 1950s before travelling to London, where she attended the Slade School from 1959 to 1961.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Whitaker

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

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE (1931-2020), horn soloist, conductor, teacher and author spent his early years in Melbourne, where he learned a variety of instruments including piano and violin.

1 portrait in the collection

Masters of Fare

Previous exhibition, 2004

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.

George Spartels

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

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

First Ladies

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Cardinal George Pell, 2007 (printed 2012)

David Roberts

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Peter Goldsworthy AM

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

2 portraits in the collection

Rod Laver,

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Past directors

History

Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.

Jeanne Pratt AC

Jeanne Pratt AC (b. c. 1936), born to Jewish parents in Poland before the war, came to Australia as a three year old.

1 portrait in the collection

La Milo in Lady Godiva procession, Coventry, 1907

Pansy Montague

Pansy Montague, ‘La Milo’ (c. 1885-unknown) appeared as a chorus girl and actress in Melbourne from about 1898, and in 1901 understudied Nellie Stewart in Sydney.

10 portraits in the collection

Julian Meagher

Julian Meagher was born in Sydney in 1978 and studied part time at the Julian Ashton Art School before undertaking a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at the University of New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC

Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC (1916-2014) was prime minister from the end of 1972 to the end of 1975.

12 portraits in the collection

2022 Annual Appeal

Previous exhibition, 2023

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

The Hon E.G. Whitlam AC QC, 1980

Graeme Inson

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on masonite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

George Spartels, early 1970s

Ivan Gaal

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2019

All you can eat

In February 2003 the National Portrait Gallery Circle of Friends brought Sir Robert Strong to Australia to present a series of lectures entitled The Artists & The Banquet- A History of Dining, which focused on the links between gardens and table decoration from the Renaissance to the Victorian Era.

Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1842

Frederick Bromley after Robert Frain

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Ross Edwards

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

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

1 portrait in the collection

Adam Scott: at Sanctuary Cove Golf Course

Celebrities on the field

Robin Sellick's portraits of Australian sportspeople include Harry Kewell, Adam Scott, Shane Warne, Mark Webber and John Newcombe.

Ethel Marian (Maie) Casey AC

Ethel Marian (Maie) Casey AC, Baroness Casey (1892-1983), chatelaine, artist, pilot and author, was born in Melbourne, the daughter of the Surgeon General, Sir Charles Ryan.

1 portrait in the collection

Beyond the bow tie

Self Portraits in Australia

Nathan Faiman delves into the rich life story and legacy of Alan Goldberg.

To Look Within

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

Previous exhibition, 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.

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) is one of the most intriguing and talented figures in colonial Australian art.

4 portraits in the collection

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

June Mendoza

Ned Kelly & co at Euroa, 9 and 10 December 1878

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

Prison photograph of Ned Kelly c.1873, image courtesy National Museum of Australia.

The outlaws coolly disported themselves

'Each man arrayed himself in a new rig from head to foot, and even such luxuries as soaps and perfumery were not despised'

Shane Warne, 2006

Robin Sellick

Purchased 2006

Miss Frances Samuel, 1840

Maurice Felton

Purchased 2011

Discussion between Bob Hawke and Yunupingu, Burunga Festival, Northern Territory

Discussion between Bob Hawke and Yunupingu, Burunga Festival, Northern Territory, 1988 (printed 2015)

Sue Ford

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

Purchased 2015

The Dissecting Room

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

Hon Tom Hughes KC, 2001

Jiawei Shen

Previous exhibition, 2013

Commissioned with funds provided by Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull 2003

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.

J.R. Vickery

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

James Richard Vickery OBE (1902-1997), food scientist, saw the field of his life’s research grow from non-existence to world recognition.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Dargie CBE

Sir William Dargie, painter and eight times winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture, died in Melbourne on July 26, 2003, aged 91.

Portrait jug of Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1925-1928

Ashtead Potters Limited, Surrey, UK, Percy Metcalfe

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Purchased 2006

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Previous exhibition, 2015

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.

Dr B Marika AO

Portrait, oil on composition board

Dr B Marika AO (1954–2021), Yolgnu leader, printmaker, arts administrator, environmentalist and cultural activist, was a member of the renowned Marika family of artists and activists.

2 portraits in the collection

James McClelland, 1946

Nancy Borlase AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gillian Appleton (McClelland) 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Oz and beyond

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

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

Horatio S. Wills

Magazine article by Pamela Gray, 2002

Horatio Spencer Howe Wills (1811–1861), pastoralist, politician and newspaper proprietor, was born in Sydney, several months after the death of his father, Edward Spencer Wills, a merchant and shipowner who'd arrived in New South Wales under a life sentence for highway robbery in 1799.

2 portraits in the collection

Michael Kimmelman

Michael Kimmelman, Chief Art Critic of The New York Times and author of Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere, presented the National Portrait Gallery Third Anniversary Lecture on 2 March 2002. He was generously brought to Australia by the Gordon Darling Foundation and Qantas.

Country man

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Angus Trumble’s tribute to the late Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser.

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

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

Dr J.R. Vickery, O.B.E., 1967

William Pidgeon

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the CSIRO Agriculture and Food Division 2017

Full time

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

Gustavus Brooke, c. 1865

Burman and Son

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Admiral Bligh, 1801

John Chapman

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Purchased 2010

Study for Portrait of W S Robinson, 1952

Sir William Dobell OBE

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2002

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2003

Little treasures

The acquisition of the ivory miniatures of Mortimer and Mrs Lewis.

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

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham), 2009

Ross Watson

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper

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

Edward John Eyre, 1867

Julia Margaret Cameron

Presented by Sir Roy Strong and the late Dr Julia Trevelyan Oman in memory of their friendship with Gordon Darling and Marilyn Darling 2006

Myles Nelson

Finalist interviews

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.

Edmond John Hogan

Previous exhibition, 2005

Edmond John (Ned) Hogan (1883-1964), farmer and premier, left school early and engaged in road-making, timber-cutting, farm-labouring and rabbiting in addition to farm chores at home.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal), 1965

Clif Peir

Archived media releases 2018

Gift of Richard Brian Close, Githabul people, Woodenbong 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

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.

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2017

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.

Where the wild things are

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Previous exhibition, 2015

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.

Sarah and Ann Jacob, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2018

Celebrity cutpurse

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2010

Grace Carroll discusses the portrait of the late-eighteenth century gentleman pickpocket George Barrington.

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Cocky McGrath

The long life and few words of a vice-regal cockatoo

Magna Carta

On this day eight hundred years ago at Runnymede near Windsor, King John signed Magna Carta.

Percy Leason

Archived media releases 2021

Percy Leason, artist, illustrator and cartoonist, grew up in Victoria's Wimmera region and trained in the rudiments of art in Nhill.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian Love Stories

4 January 2021

A major new exhibition celebrating love in all its guises. Opening 20 March 2021.

Edward Riou

Magazine article by Lee Tulloch, 2011

Edward Riou (1762-1801), naval officer, began his career with the Royal Navy at the age of twelve.

2 portraits in the collection

Self Portrait, Stuart Campbell by Stuart Campbell

The essence of you

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

Form and reality

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

A photographic portrait by Kerry Dundas captures the contemplative mind of visionary painter Godfrey Miller.

Venetia, Lady Digby, circa 1633-1634 by Sir Anthony van Dyck

Love in the extreme

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2020

Joanna Gilmour reveals love’s more intense manifestations in the tale of Lord Kenelm and Venetia Digby.

Portrait of Kang Sehwang, 1783 by Yi Myeonggi

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Magazine article by Kwon Hyeeun, 2019

Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.

Mexico from the Palace painted by ‘Maximilian Emperor'

Empirical art

Several years ago I came across this curious painting on the racks in a distant, dusty corner of the store room in the basement of the Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa. Since then the mystery surrounding it has never been far from my mind.

Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, 1983

Harold Thornton

Portrait, aquatint engraving on paper

Gift of the Estate of Harold Thornton 2009

The Mutineers turning Lieut Bligh and part of the Officers and Crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship the Bounty

The Mutineers turning Lieut Bligh and part of the Officers and Crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship the Bounty, 1790

Robert Dodd

Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008

Andrew Gaze, 2018

by George Fetting

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

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.

"Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?", 1956

Pop goes the preconception

Magazine article by Paul Moorhouse, 2007

A National Portrait Gallery, London exhibition redefines portraiture, shifting the focus towards a new perspective on Pop Art.

An Intimate Portrait of an Australian Artist in 1930

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

Lauren Dalla examines the life of Australian painter Roy de Maistre and his portrait by Jean Shepeard.

Harriet Schwarzrock: spaces between movement and stillness

10 February 2021

Archived media releases 2021

To celebrate the new exhibition Australian Love Stories, renowned Australian glass artist Harriet Schwarzrock has been commissioned to make a large-scale installation reflecting on the role the heart plays as our emotional centre.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

The personal and the historical

Where do we draw a line between the personal and the historical? Although she died in Melbourne in 1975, when I was not quite eleven years old, I have the vividest memories of my maternal grandmother Helen Borthwick.

Relaxed mornings

Visual Stories

Access support for a visiting the Gallery before the general 10:00am opening time.

The Writer: Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

by Deidre But-Husaim

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

Mary, Queen of Scots by unknown artist, National Portrait Gallery of London

Portrait dendrochronology

Angus's latest Trumbology is accompanied by the following caveat: 'This one is reeeeeeally geeky.'

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.

Selected images

Magazine article by Alison Weir, 2011

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

Sharon Zwi

Finalist interviews

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.

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.

Australia’s great internationalists

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist explores the United Nations stories in the Gallery’s collection.

Heart of Darkness

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

Magda Keaney talks with Bill Leak about his bold new portrait of Robert Hughes in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

More cash than dash

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Joanna Gilmour describes how colonial portraitists found the perfect market among social status seeking Sydneysiders.

Desert Island Discs

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2015

I agonized over the choice of four songs to take with me to the ABC Studios for Alex Sloan’s Canberra 666 afternoon program, a sort of iteration of the old BBC Desert Island Discs.

Swimming every day

National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Christopher Chapman connects this year’s entries to iconic contemporary american photographers.

Virtually yours

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2022

Gill Raymond on creating thought-provoking, interactive content to connect to our online community through portraiture.

Swimming every day

NPPP 2015 exhibition essay

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2015 Prize.

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

Jozef Vissel

Magazine article by David Thomas AM, 2012

Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015

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.

9 lives of Karin Catt

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.

Reflections on castles

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

Andrew Sayers describes the unique characteristics of the international band of portrait galleries.

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

Magazine article by Kylie Scroope, 2011

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

Australian Princess

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2005

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

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

The Royal she

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2019

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

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

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.

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 1824 by James Thomson

Audacity, audacity, audacity

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

Angus delves into the biographies of two ambitious characters; Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir John Pope-Hennessy.

Myself and Eye

Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.

The portrait writ large

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Conduct becoming

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2017

Penelope Grist speaks to Bill Henson and Simone Young to discover the origins of the artist’s stunning photographic triptych.

Showing character

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

Joanna Gilmour on Tom Durkin playing with Melbourne's manhood.

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.

Some prime ministers

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

Face of South Sudan, 2012 by Melanie Faith Dove

NPPP 2013 exhibition essay

Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2013 Prize.

Surface tension

Magazine article by Keith Christiansen, 2012

Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.

Emblems of beauty

Keith Christiansen introduces the exhibition The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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.

Corporate Characters

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2005

A collection of thirty-seven caricatures by the artist Joe Greenberg capture the heroes and villians of Australian business in the 1980s.

Anatomist's eye

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2016

Robert Hannaford has completed around 400 portraits over the span of his career.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

Forest Creek, Mount Alexander Diggings, 1852 by S. T. Gill

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Some years ago my colleague Andrea Wolk Rager and I spent several days in the darkened basement of a Rothschild Bank, inspecting every one of the nearly 700 autochromes created immediately before World War I by the youthful Lionel de Rothschild.

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.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Magazine article by Amanda Rowell, 2015

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2010

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

Two painters

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2007

Chris Chapman explains how Matthys Gerber bridges the gap between abstraction and portraiture.

Indexing, the art of

Magazine article by Raimond Gaita, 2015

The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.

Have you forgotten yet? 2014 by Lee Grant

All that fall

Raimond Gaita comments on war and truth in the context of the First World War.

Alexander Pearce
executed for murder
July 19th 1824

Public hanging

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.

Sunset in the drawing room at Chesney Wold by Hablot Knight Brown

Portraiture in a Bleak House

It may seem an odd thing to do at one’s leisure on a beautiful tropical island, but I spent much of my midwinter break a few weeks ago re-reading Bleak House.

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

At first glance, this small watercolour group portrait of her two sons and four daughters by Maria Caroline Brownrigg (d. 1880) may seem prosaic, even hesitant

Brooke Lockett, Heidi Martin, Karen Nanasca, Halaina Hills; New York, 2012 Lisa Tomasetti

Dance like everyone’s watching

Magazine article by Emeritus Professor Jaynie Anderson AM, 2015

Penelope Grist’s spirits soar with Lisa Tomasetti’s Dancers in the Streets series.

Sitter still

Jaynie Anderson reflects on her experience as sitter for Reshid Bey’s 1962 portrait.

The news from Washington

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2006

Australia's former Cultural Attache to the USA, Ron Ramsey, describes the mood at the opening week of the revitalised American National Portrait Gallery.

Be bold

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007

The name of Florence Broadhurst, one of Australia’s most significant wallpaper and textile designers, is now firmly cemented in the canon of Australian art and design.

Desperately seeking Sonia

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

The more things change

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

National Photographic Portrait Prize curator, Sarah Engledow, finds reward in a difficult task and ultimately uncovers the essence of portraiture.

Meeting by Murder

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Poison pen

Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Vanity fair

Magazine article by Ashleigh Wadman, 2012

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

Little women

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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

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

South-bound and down

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

Queen Alexandra and Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia, Hvidore, circa 1908 by Mary Steen

The cost of living luxuriously

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

In 1904, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia purchased as a gift for her sister, Queen Alexandra, a fan composed of two-color gold, guilloché enamel, mother-of-pearl, blond tortoiseshell, gold sequins, silk, cabochon rubies, and rose diamonds from the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg.

Rehearsing Godot (Mullins as Lucky) 4.11.2013 by Nicholas Harding

Waiting for Godot

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

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.

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.

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

The Thyssen Art Macabre

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

Books seldom make me angry but this one did. At first, I was powerfully struck by the uncanny parallels that existed between the Mellons of Pittsburgh and the Thyssens of the Ruhr through the same period, essentially the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM

Foundation Members

Foundation

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.

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

Written in Water

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

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

Picture this...

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

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.

Good, bad and the ugly

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

Ms Anna Burke MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives 2015 by Jude Rae

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Magazine article by Jude Rae, 2016

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

Portrait of William Manning, c.1821 by Henry Bone

Of beef in burgundy

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

Angus Trumble reveals the complex technical mastery behind a striking recent acquisition, Henry Bone’s enamel portrait of William Manning.

Fine and dandy

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Whether the result of misadventure or misdemeanour, many accomplished artists were transported to Australia where they ultimately left a positive mark on the history of art in this country.

Diamond Doll

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2016

Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.

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.

Christmas Island

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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.

Worth her salt

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

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-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.

Profile of a marriage

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

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

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.

Anangu landscape learning

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.

Costantini's convictions

Jo Gilmour uncovers endearing authenticity in the art of a twice-transported Tasmanian.

A potpourri of portraits

Magazine article by Natalie Wilson, 2023

Archie 100 curator (and detective) Natalie Wilson’s nationwide search for Archibald portraits unearthed the fascinating stories behind some long-lost treasures.

Murray frees himself from straightjacket in public, 1928 by Sam Hood

Risky business

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

Hard truths

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Jennifer Higgie reveals how Alice Neel reinvigorated 20th century portraiture with her honest and perceptive depictions of the human experience.

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.

Naked ambition

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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

First-Class Marksman, 1946 by Sidney Nolan

Money for Myth

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Kristin Headlam

Explore The Popular Pet Show

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.

What price self?

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Sibly irresistible

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2019

Alexandra Roginski reveals a forceful feminist figure in the colonial period’s slippery science, phrenology.

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.

A spectral sentience

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

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

History

About us

How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be

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.

Seeing stars

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Mugshots

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

Nicholas Harding

Explore The Popular Pet Show

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

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.

Portrait of a Pioneer , 1917
Violet Teague

Off her own bat

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.

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.

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.

A real Pratt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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.

The shipwright's arms

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of convict-turned-artist William Buelow Gould.

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

The more things change...

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

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

Poise and Carats

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.

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.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay