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John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, c. 1774

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Peta, 2011

Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, 1983

Gift of the Estate of Harold Thornton 2009

Self portrait in green hues, c. 1962

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Philip Bacon AM 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Len Green, 2007

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

Gift of the artist 2023

Study for self portrait, c. 1965

Gift of Elisabeth Green 2023

Study for self portrait, c. 1965

Gift of Elisabeth Green 2023

Study for self portrait, c. 1965

Gift of Elisabeth Green 2023

Peter Weir, 1974 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Headspace 3

The self-portrait enables students to explore emerging and changing aspects of their own identity, their sense of self, their place in the world, their experience of being human

The night watcher, 2015

'New home new life' Arwin, 2017

Self-portrait of a girl I used to know, 2016

Mia at home, 2019

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2022

Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘identity’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.

Friends' Farewell, 2006

How we talk about undressedness

The rise and fall of terminology around clothing and its lack.

Peter Singer, 2002

Gift of Mr and Mrs Wilbur van Otteren 2002

Kim, 2006

Self portrait, 1999/2005

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AM 2013

Barry McDonald, 1997

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999

Reg Richardson AM, 2014

Purchased with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2015

Joan Croll, 1976

Gift of Frank Croll and Dr Joan Croll AO 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jack Mundey, 1997

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Study for portrait of Joan Croll, 1976

Gift of Dr Joan Croll AO 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait, 1965

Gift of the Estate of Nicolaas van der Waarden 2013

Mem Fox, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by Peronelle Windeyer 2021

Jack Mundey, 1985

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Study for portrait of Les Murray, 1995

Gift of the artist 2001

Steve Waugh, 2001

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Robbie McEwen, 2008

Commissioned 2008

Mark Webber

Recorded 2017

Jacob Nash, 2017

Gift of the artist 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait

Reflection

British novelist and poet, Michael Rosen, weaves a tale about his early encounters with creativity and the self-portrait of a childhood friend.

Ngarranggarni

The third row of paintings come from Ngarranggarni (Dreaming).

Basking in light

Pieter Roelofs, Head of Painting and Sculpture at Rijksmuseum and co-curator of Vermeer, delves into the largest-ever exhibition of the master artist.

Depth of Field

Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.

Where the wild things are

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

Shirley Purdie

Born: 1947, Gilbun – Mabel Downs Station, WA
Works: Warmun, WA

Kerry Walker, c. 1979

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

Observation point

Australian artist and Archibald Prize winner, Jenny Sages reflects on her work.

Graeme Murphy, n.d.

Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

So Fine

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

Recognition

Originally conceived as an anthropological record, Percy Leason’s powerful 1934 portraits of Victorian Aboriginal people are today considered to be a highlight of 20th century Australian portraiture

Winning in technicolor

Alistair McGhie writes about the portraits of three of Australia's top professional cyclists: Cadel Evans, Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen painted by Matthys Gerber.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

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.

Kate Beynon’s transcultural life and art

Phoebe Lupton profiles artist Kate Beynon, whose contemplative self portrait features in Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize.

Rock star

Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film. 

Ellyse Perry, 2016

Purchased 2017

Paul Capsis, 2004

Gift of the artist 2017

Australians in Hollywood

Although perceived to be a recent phenomenon, the 'Aussie invasion' of Hollywood can actually be traced as far back as the early 1900s

Anna Meares, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by King & Wood Mallesons 2018

Prime number

Diana Warnes discusses the portrait of the Australian mathematician Terence Tao.

Start Your Engines...

The bronze sculpture by Julie Edgar reflects through both the material and representation the determined and straight-forward nature of Brabham. 

Observation point

Tim Storrier describes the influences on the development of his artistic style.

Nusra Latif Qureshi

Nusra Latif Qureshi was born in Pakistan in 1973 and originally trained in the traditional art of Mughal miniature (musaviri) paintings.

Catherine Livingstone, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2018

Nicholas Harding

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.

Humdinger

At a meeting by teleconference of the National Portrait Gallery Foundation last week, I found myself reporting that our forthcoming exhibition So Fine is going to be “a humdinger,” whereupon Tim Fairfax chuckled and said that he hadn’t heard that expression for years.

The activist A-list

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.

To Look Within

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

Observation point

Zhong Chen's paintings of boys on Chinese zodiac animals and kung fu images reflect his identity as a Chinese-Australian artist.

To arrive at hope

Penelope Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2020 Prize.

Jude Rae

Jude Rae’s high reputation rests on her austere, cerebral still lifes of gas canisters, electric jugs and jars, which she groups and rearranges for paintings that catch their difficult curves and reflections. Her self-portrait’s likewise thoughtfully composed.

Australian of the Year

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

William Robinson

Unique in the world, perhaps, is a bronze sculpture that fuses the age-old human portrait bronze tradition, and the later genre of the bronze pug figurine: that’d be William Robinson’s Self-portrait with pug.

Time is precious

Headspace5: Crystal Gazing highlighted the diversity of materials and techniques that young people use for self expression. David Sequeira presents a personal view of three works in the exhibition.

A quiet moment

As Bryan Westwood’s portrait of Brian Dunlop hangs adjacent to Brian Dunlop’s portrait of the philanthropist Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, we see the artist of one work as the subject of the other. 

Observation point

Artist Kate Beynon reflects on the place of portraiture in her artistic career.

The Writer: Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

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

Natural, artistic and unselfconscious

Angus Trumble gazes at the once bright star of photographer Ruth Hollick.

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne, c. 1968

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

The stately lotus

I spent much of my summer holiday at D’Omah, on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. Lotus and waterlilies sprout in extraordinary profusion in artful ponds amid palms and deep scarlet ginger flowers.

About grace

Penelope Grist finds philanthropy and fashion underpin the story of Susan Wakil AO.

Grande dames

Eva Respini focuses on the ‘society portraits’ in MOMA’s Cindy Sherman retrospective.

Goods and chattels

I have been reading systematically through the ads in the earliest issues of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, such a rich vein of information about certain aspects of daily life in Regency Sydney.

Space in between

Rebecca Ray goes backstage with Bangarra’s Head of Design and photographer Jacob Nash.

Giving a dam

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

Inditchenous beestes of New Olland

A remarkable undated drawing by Edward Lear (1812–88) blends natural history and whimsy.

Sure thing

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.

Graeme Drendel

I like talking about Drendel’s pictures as if they expressed dreams of my own.

Citizen Kenne

April Thompson explores an exhibition of Ingvar Kenne’s global portrait project.

20 20

Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

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.

Women make history

Jennifer Higgie uncovers the intriguing stories behind portraits of women by women in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

Boyd to man

Christopher Chapman looks at influences and insight in the formative years of Arthur Boyd.

Depth of Field

The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.

Way of the body

Christopher Chapman reveals the intersection of iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato.

Two painters

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

Full time

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

Hyperversity

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.

A spectral sentience

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

A.I.

Christopher Chapman ponders our digital identity and selfhood.

Trumble's way

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?

Arcadia: Sound of the sea

One night in the spring of 1970 in an old house in Whale Beach, north of Sydney, John Witzig, Albe Falzon and David Elfick put together the first issue of Tracks, playing Neil Young’s album Harvest over and over again as they pasted up galleys of type.

Donated duo

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the gift of two striking paintings by the Australian artist Ken Done AM.

Through thick and thin

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

Thrown together

Shipmates for years, James Cook and Joseph Banks each kept a journal but neither man shed light on their relationship.

Written in Water

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

No small wonder

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

Picture this...

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.

Twin chics

Joanna Gilmour on the exuberant union of fashion pioneers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, captured in luminescent splendour by artist Carla Fletcher.

No Laughing Matter

The biographical exhibition of Barry Humphries was the first display of its kind at the National Portrait Gallery.

Painting them gently

Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.

Diamond Doll

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

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

Birds of a feather

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

Of ice and men

Frank Hurley's celebrated images document the heroism and minutiae of Australian exploration in Antarctica.

Back in black

Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Confessional conversations

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

Heartfelt

The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.

Darren McDonald

The wild balancing act of McDonald’s home décor (is that there as a joke? where do I actually sit down? is this ironic or what? what a lovely photo of Darren and Robin in Europe!) is reflected in his own personality.

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.

Hard truths

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

In good company

Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.

Staying home

Joanna Gilmour brings a mindful Douglas Mawson’s perspective to bear on the concept of isolation.

You beauty

Joanna Gilmour explores the fact and fictions surrounding the legendary life of Irish-born dancer Lola Montez.

Friends and Acquaintances

Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.

Kristin Headlam

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.

Fiona McMonagle

Fiona aims to create a dangerous situation with a flood of water on the paper, forcing each work to the point where it can fail, and then rescuing it. 

Lucy Culliton

Most well-regarded pictures of chickens show them dead. A reliable way to tell if a chicken in a painting is dead is to check if it’s hanging upside down, because unlike, say, cockatoos, chickens don’t practise inversion for enjoyment in life.

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

European painters always enjoyed a good deal of latitude in the representation of angels, those asexual, bodiless, celestial regiments of God, so long as they were young and beautiful.

Man of war

Tedi Bills talks to George Gittoes about canvassing conflict.

Seeing stars

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

Study in scarlet

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

Painting writing

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

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.

Petal to the mettle

Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.

The art of Inner Worlds

Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.

Christmas Island

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