Search / roger benjamin

Fugue in Yellow

Roger Benjamin explores the intriguing union of Lina Bryans and Alex Jelinek.

Ned, 2011

Michael, 2013

Woureddy [Wurati], an Aboriginal Chief of Van Diemen's Land, 1835

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Trucaninny [Trukanini], wife of Woureddy [Wurati], 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Truggernana [Trukanini], a native of southern part of V.D. Land, 1835

Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2009

Woureddy [Wurati], a wild native of Brune Island, 1835

Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2009

Leanne Benjamin, 1999 (printed 2022)

Purchased 2022

Ngarrga Jawandaji Dancing for The Sandridge Band Performing Their Song Ngabaya (Spirit People) at the 2021 Malandarri Festival, Yanyuwa Country 2021

Malcolm Fraser, Randwick Racecourse, 1975 (printed 2002)

Purchased 2012

Carol Jerrems, Paddington, 1976 (printed 2003)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Bewitching

Roger Neill delves into the life of a lesser-known Australian diva, Frances Alda.

Black and white history

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

Wandangula Dancers & the Song People Perform Ngabaya (Spirit People) at the 2014 Malandarri Festival, Yanyuwa Country 2014

Browning Mummery, c. 1925

Gift of Roger Neill 2009

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton), c. 1872

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

H.B.G Larkin, 1928

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Y-erran-gou-la-ga, published 1807

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Cour-rou-bari-gal, 1807

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Ada Crossley, c. 1900

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Roger Neill 2009

Sir Joseph Banks, c. 1788

Purchased 2010

Archbishop Vaughan, c. 1880

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Nouvelle-Hollane: N.lle Galles de Sud. Ourou-Maraé, dit bull-dog par leas Anglais, Jeune guerrier de la Tribu des Gwea-Gal (New Holland: New South Wales. Ouron Marae, called Bull Dog by the English. a young Warrior of the Gwea Gal tribe), c. 1800

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Oui-re-kine, 1807-1817

Purchased 2009

Men of the Day No. 25 "Baronet or butcher" (Sir Roger Doughty Tichborne), 1871

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

The art of conciliation

Gareth Knapman explores the politics and opportunism behind the portraits of Tasmania’s Black War.

Nourou-gal-derri, 1807-1817

Purchased 2009

Queen Victoria, 1901

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

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

Purchased 2009

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

Purchased 2009

Benjamin Horgan and Jake Scourfield

The choices of a modern woman

When opposites attract

Portrait 32

This issue features Vanity Fair, Nancy Bird Walton, William Barak, Sidney Kidman, Benjamin Duterrau's portraits of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania, and more.

Walter Reginald Hume, c. 1944

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Hume OAM 2016

Harold Darling, 1951

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

Sir Norman Coles, n.d.

Gift of Coles Myer Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Clive McPherson, early 1950s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Marion Orme Page 2016

Sir Kenneth Coles, c. 1979

Gift of Coles Myer Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Edgar Coles, c. 1970

Gift of Coles Myer Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir James McNeill, 1980

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

Sir James Balderstone, 1989

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

Margaret Robertson, c. 1863

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

Maria Dowling and her children Leura, Bessie, Selina, Jane, Jack, Ben and Joe Dowling [Selina Dowling, Jane Dowling, Maria Jane Dowling (née Ware), John Ware Dowling, Joseph Dowling, Benjamin Dowling, Elizabeth (Bessie) Dowling, Leura Dowling], c. 1859

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

The boys, 2006

Trukanini, 1866 (printed 1890s)

Purchased 2011

Portrait 67

William Yang on his autobiographical self portraits, David Parker's 1970s and 80s Melbourne music photographs, seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon, and Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis.

Frances Perry, c. 1863

Purchased 2012

Essington Lewis, 1952

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

The Mask of Barry Humphries, c. 1972

Gift of Marlene McCarthy 2006. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Charles Perry, c. 1863

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir Cecil Colville, c. 1965

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Due 2010

Joseph Banks Esq, 1774

Purchased 2008

Garth Porter, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Tony Mitchell, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Alan Sandow, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Clive Shakespeare, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Daryl Braithwaite, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Albert Namatjira, 1958

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC and with the assistance of Philip Bacon Galleries 2000

Sir Arvi Parbo, 1993

Gift of Alcoa World Alumina Australia 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sherbet, 1974

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

Sarah Siddons (née Kemble)

Self portrait, late 1930s

Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG in recognition of Sir William Dargie's role in the establishment of the National Gallery of Australia 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

James T. Donovan, 1892

Purchased 2015

Us being ourselves

Penelope Grist talks to photographer Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis about capturing moments, telling stories and keeping Culture strong.

Patrick McCaughey, 1985

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

Frances Alda, 1918

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Roger Neill 2006

Chester Porter QC, 1997

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

Study for a portrait of Dame Merlyn Myer DBE, 1960s

Gift of the Estate of Marion Orme Page 2016

Yellow portrait (portrait of Alex Jelinek), 1955

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Paul and James Bryans 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Oswald Brierly, c. 1870

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

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

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

Dame Mabel Brookes, c. 1955

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

Sir Arthur Coles, c. 1971

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

Portrait of Leslie Walford, 1970s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sally Hardy 2019

George Foletta,

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Alice Myra Foletta 2006

Cecil Beaton

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

Indecent exposure

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

On the passage and pace of time

In shock it fluctuates and with age, accelerates. Remembering the First World War and the Easter Rising.

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm, 1961

Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Sir Lawrence Wackett, c. 1961

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Arlette Perkins daughter of Sir Lawrence Wackett 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Elegance in exile

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.

Sherbet, 1974 (printed 2002)

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

Sir Macfarlane Burnet, 1960-1961

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Richard Henry Horne, mid 1860s

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

National Portrait Gallery Director announced

The National Portrait Gallery welcomes Angus Trumble

Russell Crowe, 1995 (printed 2016)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

POL

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

William Robertson and Martha Mary Robertson, 1863

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

Charles Summers, late 1860s

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

Sir Henry Barkly, c. 1863

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

15 minutes of frame

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

Lady Barkly, 1863

Purchased 2014

Pushpamala N

Pushpamala N. was born in 1956 in Bangalore. Her early training was in sculpture, but as her practice progressed she brought an early enthusiasm for narrative figuration into her photographic work.

Sideshow Alley

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

Primed

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

To Look Within

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

Queen Victoria

Last Sunday I had the privilege of appearing at the Canberra Writers’ Festival in conversation with Julia Baird. The subject of our session was Julia’s recent biography, Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman who Ruled an Empire.

The first nurse

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

Love my way

Inga Walton delves into the bohemian group of artists and writers who used each other as muses and transformed British culture.

Why do painted portraits still matter?

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

The last word

David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.

Where the wild things are

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

School portraits

Inga Walton sheds light on a portraiture collection usually only seen by students and teachers at Melbourne University.

Top shot that

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

Portrait Donors

Vanity fair

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

Suave

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

Duty bound

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

Enigma

Grace Carroll contemplates the curious case of Christian Waller.

Missionary positions

Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.

Snap decisions

NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.

Eating the seasons

Anne Sanders imbibes Tony Bilson’s gastronomic revolution.

Fits of delicacy and despair

Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.

Embrace your inner nerd

The southern winter has arrived. For people in the northern hemisphere (the majority of humanity) the idea of snow and ice, freezing mist and fog in June, potentially continuing through to August and beyond, encapsulates the topsy-turvidom of our southern continent.

In a good paddock

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

Cultural kaleidoscope

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

Getting a head

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

Starry knight

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

History

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

Demimonde liaisons

Jane Raffan feasts on modernity’s entrée in the Belle Époque theatre of the demimonde.

Unknown drawer

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

A feast of friends

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

Study in scarlet

Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.

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.

Everybody, look serious

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

Faces of war

Lesley Harding, Curator, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne explores Albert Tucker’s experience of World War II, his interests in the intersection between psychology and creativity, and their influence on his portrait making.