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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

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Sammy Dodd

Sammy Dodd

Sammy Dodd

Sammy Dodd, 2021

Robert Fielding

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

image not online

Bleddyn Butcher

Bleddyn Butcher was born in London and came to Australia when he was six.

5 portraits in the collection

Dave Graney

Dave Graney

Dave Graney

Dave Graney, 1996

Bleddyn Butcher

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Nick Cave

Nick Cave

Nick Cave

Nick Cave, 1994

Bleddyn Butcher

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

David McComb (of The Triffids)

David McComb (of The Triffids)

David McComb (of The Triffids)

David McComb (of The Triffids), 1987

Bleddyn Butcher

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party)

Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party)

Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party)

Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard (of The Birthday Party), 1983

Bleddyn Butcher

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Dave Graney and Clare Moore

Dave Graney and Clare Moore

Dave Graney and Clare Moore

Dave Graney and Clare Moore, 1996

Bleddyn Butcher

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Dave Graney and Clare Moore

'Why would you want to listen to pub rock?'

Dave Graney and Clare Moore discuss music, photography and bandoleros of meat.

Sammy (Samuel Wood)

Sammy (Samuel Wood)

Sammy (Samuel Wood)

Sammy (Samuel Wood), 1892

Henry Seppings-Wright, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2010

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House

Warumpi Band

The Warumpi Band burst onto the Australian music scene in 1984 with the release of their first album Big Name, No Blankets.

2 portraits in the collection

Men of the Day No. 25

Men of the Day No. 25

Men of the Day No. 25

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

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

The Butcher's Daughter, 2013 by Paul Raymond Beutel

The Butcher's Daughter, 2013

by Paul Raymond Beutel

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House, 1984 (printed 2021)

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased 2021

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House

George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga

George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga (1957–2007) was a Yolngu singer, activist and a founding member of the Warumpi Band.

2 portraits in the collection

George Burarrwanga, Warumpi Band

George Burarrwanga, Warumpi Band

George Burarrwanga, Warumpi Band

George Burarrwanga, Warumpi Band, 1984 (printed 2021)

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased 2021

Neil Murray

Neil Murray

Neil Murray (b. 1956), singer/songwriter, grew up in country Victoria, studied art and became a teacher.

2 portraits in the collection

Neil Murray

True fella

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

Michael Desmond profiles the Australian songwriter and performer Neil Murray and his contribution to Australian music.

The cat's out of the bag, 2019 Kalyanii Holden

The cat's out of the bag

Kalyanii Holden

Tony Roche and Ivan Lendl

Tony Roche

Tony Roche, a left-hander with a fine backhand volley who was twice ranked No 2 in the world, was born the son of a Tarcutta butcher in 1945.

2 portraits in the collection

Johnny, 2006 by Sean Hobbs

Johnny, 2006

image not online

Robyn A. Nevin AO

Robin Nevin AO (b. 1942), actor, director and theatre administrator, is the artistic director and chief executive officer of the Sydney Theatre Company.

1 portrait in the collection

Sammy (Samuel Wood)

Samuel Wood

Samuel 'Sammy' Woods (1867-1931), cricketer, is one of only five men to have played Tests for both Australia and England.

1 portrait in the collection

Billy Cook and Pride of Egypt

Billy Cook and Pride of Egypt

Billy Cook and Pride of Egypt

Billy Cook and Pride of Egypt, 1954

Ern McQuillan OAM

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Sir Sidney Kidman

Sir Sidney Kidman

Sir Sidney Kidman, pastoralist (1857-1935), is Australia's 'cattle king'.

2 portraits in the collection

image not online

Robert Campbell Jnr

Robert Campbell Junior, urban Aboriginal artist, was a Ngaku/Dhunghutti man who grew up in Kempsey, New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

John Farnham

Glossy - Faces Magazines Now

Previous exhibition, 1999

Magazines are the portrait galleries of the 90s... Glossy is about magazines. The exhibition presents the work of eight photographers, Australian by birth or long-term residency, who are producing portraits for publication in magazines around the world.

George Tjungurrayi

George Tjungurrayi

George Tjungurrayi (b. c. 1943–1947) is a highly respected senior Pintupi artist.

2 portraits in the collection

The Reverend Ralph Sutton

Ralph Sutton

Ralph Sutton (1908-1967), Methodist minister, trained in Sydney, was ordained in 1935 and began his career in Mosman Methodist Church.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait

William H. Bardwell

William H. Bardwell, photographer, worked at various premises in Ballarat from 1858 until 1895.

1 portrait in the collection

Leah Purcell

Leah Purcell

Leah Purcell

Leah Purcell, c. 2000

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Geoff Cousins

Geoff Cousins

Geoff Cousins

Geoff Cousins, 2017

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of Geoff Cousins AM 2007

Sammy Dodd

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.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940
by Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton

Previous exhibition, 2005

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.

Scrapbook page featuring portraits of Fred Lowry and Frank Gardiner

Frank Gardiner

Francis Gardiner (Christie) (1830-c. 1903), bushranger, came to New South Wales with his family as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

image not online

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

Paul Kelly, 1992 by Wendy McDougall

Paul Kelly and The Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2013

Aspects of singer songwriter Paul Kelly’s performance persona are communicated by portraits selected from a range of artists and leading music photographers in this focus exhibition.

Bessie Lee

Betsy (Bessie) Lee

Betsy (Bessie) Lee Cowie (1860–1950), 'Australia's Temperance Queen', spent the early part of her life in Daylesford, Victoria, one of the five children of Henry Vickery, a butcher and miner, and his wife Emma.

1 portrait in the collection

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist, c. 1870

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2017

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton)

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton)

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton)

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton), c. 1872

Maull & Co Photographers

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Betty Muffler

Unpacked

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

Rebecca Ray reflects on Robert Fielding’s Mayatjara series, honouring songlines and intergenerational knowedge.

Paul Kelly, 1992 by Wendy McDougall

Paul Kelly and The Portraits media information

Archived media releases 2013

Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac

Marianne Egan

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

Paul Kelly 30.11.1980 by Liz Reed

Pop poet

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2013

Dr Anne Sanders previews the works in the new focus exhibition Paul Kelly and The Portraits.

Ken Done, 2016 by Mark Mohell

Ken Done

Explore The Popular Pet Show

With a mum who was married to a tradie, you’d think it a fair chance that the baby Jesus would have grown up with a dog in the house.

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne, c. 1968

Robert Whitaker

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Ned Kelly death mask

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.

Andy Thomas

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.

Rupert Murdoch

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.

Trumble's way

About Face article

At the end of a summer break one is tempted to say that there is nothing much to report. Isn’t one restful holiday very much like another?

Sir Sidney Kidman

The fat of the land

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.

Bee Miles

Good, bad and the ugly

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

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.

Adrian Rawlins

Earth to earth

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.

Sydney city (Patrick White and Tom Uren, Hiroshima Day demonstration), 1984

The activist A-list

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Dr Sarah Engledow examines a number of figures in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery who were pioneers or substantial supporters of the seminal Australian environmental campaigns of the early 1970s and 1980s.

Dave Graney

Naked nostalgia

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

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Portrait Donors

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency