Search / richard larter

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008

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

Self portrait with pin-up, 1965

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and alkyd resin on composition board

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Richard Larter

In their own words

Recorded 1965

Richard Larter, 2004

R. Ian Lloyd

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

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

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

Pat Larter

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

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

Richard Windeyer, c. 1828

Charles Richard Bone

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

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

Now and Then

Richard Tognetti

Magazine article, 2025

Spanning 30 years, these portraits capture a life in music. Violinist, conductor and composer Richard Tognetti AO is Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

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 N (sitting on green chair backwards, 2 faces)

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 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 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

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

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

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

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 Pratt, Cardboard King, n.d.

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Nyadol Nyuon OAM

Richard Butler Bowdon

Magazine article by Graeme Dix, 2016

Portrait of the Gallery

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 #1510, 2018

Louise Hearman

Portrait, oil and ink on canvas

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

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and red ochre on canvas

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

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

Howard Tangye

Portrait, mixed media on cardboard

Gift of the artist 2023

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 Tognetti, c. 1985

Stuart Campbell

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

Richard Pratt, 2003 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Richard Johnson 23 May 2009 3:07PM

Ingvar Kenne

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

Richard Woldendorp AM

Gift of Richard Woldendorp AM 2017

Richard Windeyer, 1840s

Portrait, watercolour on paper

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

Richard Roxburgh, 2014

Nicholas Harding

Portrait, oil on linen

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

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, 2008 (printed 2012)

Jimmy Pozarik OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Richard Frankland, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Richard Bell, 2009

Mike Chavez

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

Richard Woldendorp, Perth, WA, 2004

John Elliott

Portrait, watercolour on paper laid on cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

John Connell, c. 1830

Richard Read Jnr

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

Dr Fiona Wood AM, 2005

Richard Woldendorp AM

Purchased 2005

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.

Miss Elizabeth Roberts, 1830

Richard Read Jnr

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Purchased 2013

Herb and Flan, 2018

Julian Meagher

Portrait, oil on linen

Gift of the artist 2022

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

an unknown artist after William Griffin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2018

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 Henry Horne, mid 1860s

Batchelder & Company Photo

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

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

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

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

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

Portrait, engraving on paper

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

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

an unknown artist, Vanity Fair Magazine

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

William Hodges Esq. RA, 1792

John Thornthwaite, C Forster after Richard Westall

Portrait, engraving on paper

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

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

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

Lord Casey, 1938

Gordon Furlee Brown

Brenda L Croft, Prue Hazelgrove, Richard Crampton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Matilda (Ngambri), 2020

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

Sir Charles Court and Richard Court, 2006-2007

Mary Moore

Portrait, oil on composition board

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2006

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

Arthur Horner

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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

Private virtues public lives

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

Richard and Pat

Art, love, absurdity and exuberance

Passion

Partners in sparkle

Portrait 29

September - November 2008

Magazine

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

A day in the life of Richard Lewer

Martin King

Archived media releases 2013

Richard Avedon People media information

8 August 2013

Press releases and images downloads for media.

Richard Walley OAM honoured in new Portrait Gallery commission

2 September 2015

Archived media releases 2015

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

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

Image downloads

Richard Avedon People

Richard Avedon People media information

Hi-resolution images for media representatives, password required.

Richard Moir, Latrobe River

Carol Jerrems

Learning resource archive

Richard Avedon

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.

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

John Richard Tindale, 1841

Maurice Felton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Sue Walker, 1977

Lewis Morley

Richard Walley OAM, by Julie Dowling

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

Image downloads

Richard Walley OAM honoured in new Portrait Gallery commission

Hi-resolution images for media representatives, password required.

Mr King was once on Countdown, 2010

by Ben Searcy

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on buff board

Annie Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Purchased 2019

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.

Elizabeth Henrietta Fitzgerald (née Rouse), c. 1850

Portrait, hand coloured photograph

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

Francis Lymburner, 1941

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

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.

Martin Sharp, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 2003

Godfrey Miller, 1949

Kerry Dundas

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

Study for the portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

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

Study for portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

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

Study for portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

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

Study for portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

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

Study for the portrait of Peter Elliott, 1964

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

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.

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

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

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

John Bell AO OBE

William Daniell after George Dance

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

3 portraits 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

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

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

Barry Sullivan

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

1 portrait in the collection

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

Freeman Brothers after Edwin Dalton

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

2 portraits 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

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.

Gunther Gorman, 2009

by Peter West

Archived media releases 2021

Australian Love Stories

4 January 2021

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

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

Best of British

Contemporary Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, London

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

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

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

Eleanor Wingate

Archived media releases 2021

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

Harriet Schwarzrock: spaces between movement and stillness

10 February 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.

Mary Hassall (née Rouse), c. 1850

Portrait, hand coloured photograph

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

Padma Menon

Geoffrey Dunn

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

Marilyn Monroe

Carol Jerrems

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

Mary Moore

Previous exhibition, 2024

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

Gallery Two

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

Portrait, lithographic print on paper

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

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

William Ashton, c. 1940s

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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

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

Getting bare

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

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

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.

Antoine Fauchery

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

2 portraits in the collection

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

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

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

Sir Cecil Colville, c. 1965

Sir William Dargie CBE

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Gift of Richard Due 2010

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

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

Self Portraits in Australia

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

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

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

The Reflecting Eye

Portraits of Australian Visual Artists

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.

Polly Borland on Michael Hutchence

In their own words

Recorded 2017

Norman Lindsay, 1921

Harold Cazneaux

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

Werner Baer, 1947

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

William Dobell, 1942

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

Rolf de Heer, Adelaide, SA, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Jasper Knight

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

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

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Heads of the People

Previous exhibition, 2000

For Tom Roberts - Australia's best nineteenth-century portrait painter - neither a proto-national portrait gallery nor more popular collections of portrait heads, were sufficient public celebrations for the notables of Australian history

Sir Cecil Colville

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

1 portrait in the collection

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

Bridget Elliot

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

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)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Purchased 2019

2020 Annual Appeal

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

Rayner Hoff, 1924

Harold Cazneaux

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

Robert Emerson Curtis, 1943

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

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

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

Andrew Mezei

Portrait, ink, charcoal and conté on paper

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

Study for John Bell as King Lear, 1998-2001

Nicholas Harding

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

Arthur Boyd in his studio at Bundanon, 1993

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

Colleen McCullough, 1992-1993 (printed 2005)

Anthony Browell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Tim Winton

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

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

2 portraits in the collection

123 Faces

Magda Keaney examines the 123 Faces project by Simon Obarzanek.

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Previous exhibition, 2019

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

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

Charles Turner after Sir George Hayter

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Bill Henson

In their own words

Recorded 2021

William Lamb, Baron Melbourne, 1832

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

Portrait, engraving on paper

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

Mick Molloy, 2009

Andrew Maccoll

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2009

Marianne Egan

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on studio mount

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

Mary Windeyer, c. 1891

Freeman Brothers

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Noah Taylor, 1994 (printed 2010)

Ross Honeysett

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

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

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

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

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

Portrait, oil and hand-stitching on canvas

Maggie Tabberer AO (1936-2024), designer, writer, editor, publicist and television presenter, is one of Australia's best-known personalities.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

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

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

Portrait, oil on board

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

Steve Kilbey, 1981 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Previous exhibition, 2006

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

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.

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

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

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

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

Previous exhibition, 2024

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG.

Sketch for portrait of Tom Uren, 1972

Clifton Pugh AO

Portrait, oil and enamel on hardboard

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

Jeanne Pratt at home, 2015

Alana Landsberry

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

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)

Lewis Morley

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

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

Bryan Brown, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

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

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

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

William Charles Windeyer, c. 1857

Portrait, daguerreotype

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009

George Spartels

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

1 portrait in the collection

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

June Mendoza AO OBE

June Mendoza AO OBE (1924–2024) was born into a musical family in Melbourne and started sketching portraits while touring with her mother, a composer and pianist.

1 portrait in the collection

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

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

2022 Annual Appeal

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.

George Spartels, early 1970s

Ivan Gaal

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2019

Ross Edwards

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

1 portrait in the collection

Ethel Marian (Maie) Casey AC

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

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.

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

June Mendoza AO OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

J.R. Vickery

Ashtead Potters Limited, Surrey, UK, Percy Metcalfe

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

Portrait jug of Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1925-1928

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Purchased 2006

Oz and beyond

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

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

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Michael Kimmelman

Magazine article by Pamela Gray, 2002

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.

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

William Pidgeon

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

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

Gustavus Brooke, c. 1865

Burman and Son

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Geoffrey R. Robertson AO KC

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2006

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

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.

The National Portrait Gallery building in twilight

On a human scale

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

Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal), 1965

Clif Peir

Portrait, oil on board

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

Archived media releases 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.

Some prime ministers

Previous exhibition, 2020

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

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

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

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.

One-on-one

Upcoming exhibition

On show in Gallery 3, One-on-one showcases portraits of pairs from the collection from the 1800s to today.

Cocky McGrath

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

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

Magna Carta

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

Percy Leason

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

Uncommon Australians

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.

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.

Self Portrait, Stuart Campbell by Stuart Campbell

The essence of you

Magazine article by Lee Tulloch, 2011

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.

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.

"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.

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

Activating the space

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

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

The Writer: Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

by Deidre But-Husaim

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

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

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.

More cash than dash

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.

Gordon Darling Hall, National Portrait Gallery

Architecture

About us

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

Swimming every day

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

Swimming every day

NPPP 2015 exhibition essay

Magazine article by David Thomas AM, 2012

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

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.

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

Myself and Eye

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

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

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.

Face of South Sudan, 2012 by Melanie Faith Dove

NPPP 2013 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

Surface tension

Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.

Anatomist's eye

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2016

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

Sophisticated and glamorous

Magazine article by Amanda Rowell, 2015

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

Full time

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

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

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.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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

Little women

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

Rehearsing Godot (Mullins as Lucky) 4.11.2013 by Nicholas Harding

Waiting for Godot

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

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.

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Deputy Chair Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Sam Meers AO, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC, Nigel Satterley AM and Susan Armitage

Foundation Members

Foundation

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

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.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Profile of a marriage

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.

Costantini's convictions

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

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

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.

What price self?

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

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

The Dissecting Room

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

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

1/2 length self portrait in mirror, wearing pyjama shirt, camera at shoulder height, 1979 Carol Jerrems

Great Experimentations

Magazine article by Rebecca Harkins-Cross, 2025

Rebecca Harkins-Cross considers Carol Jerrems’ portraiture against the backdrop of social change in the 1970s.

The art of dress

Magazine article by Dr Emma Kindred, 2023

Emma Kindred examines fashion as a representation of self and social ritual in 19th-century portraiture.

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.

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 Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

Mugshots

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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.

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.

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.

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

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

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.

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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.

Material culture

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

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

Christmas Island