Search / william 20ridley

William Macleod after Freeman Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

William Macleay, 1885

Charles Brome after William Owen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

The Right Honourable William Pitt, 1799

Portrait, line engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

William Hodges RA, 1808 (dated 1810)

Portrait, etching on paper

Purchased 2010

William Westall, 1854

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Sir William Gaston Walkley, 1958

William Pidgeon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Caltex Australia Ltd 2008

Study for Portrait of W S Robinson, 1952

Portrait, 24 page brown leather bound album of 119 cartes de visite and 16 cabinet card photographs

Portrait, oil on board

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

Album of cartes de visite and cabinet cards compiled by William St Leonards Robertson, 1860s-c. 1900

Various

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

William Robertson and Martha Mary Robertson

William Robertson and Martha Mary Robertson, 1863

William Edward Kilburn

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

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

The Payne family, 1888-1889

A Flegeltaub

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018

William, Randwick, 1975/2008

William Yang, Melody Cooper

Portrait, inkjet print, black and purple ink on paper

Purchased 2022

William in Scholar's Costume, 1984/2008

William Yang, Yensoon Tsai

Portrait, inkjet print, black and purple ink on paper

Purchased 2022

William at Queensland University, 1968/2008

William Yang, an unknown artist

Portrait, inkjet print, white and purple ink on paper

Gift of the artist 2022. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self Portrait #5, 2008

William Yang, John Fukuda

Portrait, inkjet print, black ink on paper

Purchased 2022

Self Portrait #2, 1947/2007

William Yang, an unknown artist

Portrait, inkjet print, black and purple ink on paper

Purchased 2022

William and Martha Mary Robertson and their children [William St Leonards, Eliza, John, William St Leonards on a horse, Beatrice and Ida]

William and Martha Mary Robertson and their children [William St Leonards, Eliza, John, William St Leonards on a horse, Beatrice and Ida], 1860s-1870s

Various

Portrait, eight carte de visites, hand coloured, contained in a red leather presentation case

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

Miss Robertson of Colac (Dolly), 1885-86

Brothers on farms

Magazine article by Malcolm Robertson, 2011

Malcolm Robertson tells the family history of one of Australia's earliest patrons of the arts, his Scottish born great great great grandfather, William Robertson.

William Evans

Previous exhibition, 2001

The draftsman and engraver William Evans reproduced many of Sir William Beechey’s portraits including that of King George..

3 portraits in the collection

William Yang

Australian Chinese

William Yang's art is about the telling of stories, his work is an intriguing mixture of philosophy, autobiography, social history and documentary imbued with a sense of the artist's own curiosity, humanity and humour

William Mora

William Mora (1953–2023), art dealer and gallerist, was the eldest son of artist Mirka Mora and restauranteur and gallery owner Georges Mora.

1 portrait in the collection

William Robertson Jnr

William Robertson junior studied at Oxford University and is said to have been the first Australian to row in an Oxford eight, his team victorious in the Boat Race of 1861.

5 portraits in the collection

William Fernyhough

William Henry Fernyhough (1809-1849) was a sketcher, silhouette artist, lithographer and draughtsman who immigrated to Sydney in 1836.

13 portraits in the collection

William Lanne

William Lanne (1834-1869), also known as King Billy or William Laney, is said to have been Truganini's third partner.

3 portraits in the collection

William Nicholas

William Nicholas was born near London and is believed to have trained with English printmaker A.M Huffam.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir William Beechey

'Feeling comfortable as a human being'

Sir William Beechey, portrait painter and pupil of Johann Zoffany, was greatly influenced by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

1 portrait in the collection

William Yang

William Yang on his heritage and becoming a photographer in the 70s.

William Johnson

William Johnson was a commercial photographer who operated a studio on the corner of Pitt and Market Streets in Sydney from the 1890s to the 1920s.

4 portraits in the collection

William Ridley

William Ridley, stipple engraver, worked as an illustrator for a variety of magazines.

5 portraits in the collection

Buckley discovering himself to the early settlers

William Buckley

William Buckley (1780-1856), known as 'the wild white man', was transported for life in 1802 for receiving stolen cloth.

1 portrait in the collection

William Hodges

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

3 portraits in the collection

William Dickinson

William Dickinson (1746-1823) was a London-born draughtsman, engraver and print publisher.

1 portrait in the collection

William Walford

Francis William Barnard Walford (1821–1896), businessman and landowner, was born in Hobart, the son of Barnard Walford (1801–1846), a publican and victualler; and the grandson of Barnard Walford senior (c.

1 portrait in the collection

William Burman

William Insull Burman came to Victoria in 1853 and worked as a painter and decorator before establishing his own photography business in Carlton in about 1863.

1 portrait in the collection

William H. Bardwell

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

1 portrait in the collection

William Howitt

William Howitt (1792–1879), author, arrived in Victoria in 1852 having worked as a farmer, druggist, alderman and writer in England.

1 portrait in the collection

William Owen

William Owen moved to London from his native Shropshire in 1786 and was apprenticed for seven years to the coach-painter Charles Catton.

1 portrait in the collection

William P. Dowling

William Paul Dowling (1824–1877) is thought to have studied art in his native Dublin before settling in London, where he worked as a draughtsman while trying to establish himself as a portraitist.

1 portrait in the collection

Rev. William Singleton

The Reverend William Singleton (c. 1804-1875), Anglican clergyman, graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1826 and was ordained in the city’s Christ Church Cathedral in 1841.

1 portrait in the collection

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

William Wentworth

William Wentworth (1790-1872) was a landowner, barrister and statesman.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir William Ashton OBE

Sir William (Will) Ashton OBE (1881-1963) was the son of James Ashton, who founded Adelaide's Norwood Art School in 1885 and its Academy of Arts in 1895.

1 portrait in the collection

William Robinson AO

William Robinson AO (b. 1936) is one of Australia's most distinguished and influential contemporary painters, known for his distinctive and prolific output as landscape painter in particular.

3 portraits in the collection

William Strutt

William Strutt arrived in Melbourne in 1850 having undertaken his training in art in Paris in the late 1830s.

1 portrait in the collection

William B. Latimer

William Latimer (1851-1934) was a portrait photographer who worked in Melbourne in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

1 portrait in the collection

William Daniell

William Daniell (1769-1837) worked mostly as a topographical draftsman and engraver in aquatint.

4 portraits in the collection

William Pidgeon

William Edwin 'Wep' Pidgeon, cartoonist, illustrator and painter was born in Paddington and studied art at the JS Watkins School and East Sydney Technical College.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir William Dargie CBE

Sir William Dargie CBE (1912–2003) studied at the Melbourne Technical College, and then in the studio of AD Colquhoun from 1931 to 1934.

22 portraits in the collection

Sir William Windeyer

Sir William Windeyer (1834-1897) was a politician and judge. One of the first undergraduates to study at the University of Sydney, he developed a particular interest in education and the rights of women - he was responsible for the Married Women's Property Act of 1879, and was Founding Chairman of the university's Women's College.

4 portraits in the collection

Hon. William McLellan

William McLellan (1831–1906), miner and parliamentarian, served on the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1859 to 1877, and again between 1883 and 1897.

1 portrait in the collection

William Griffith

William Griffith (c. 1808-1870) emigrated to Australia around 1840 and moved to Parramatta with his wife, Susan, whom he had married ten days after landing in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

William Howitt

William Howitt, woodcarver and sculptor, began his career in the UK, decorating ships’ interiors and working on ecclesiastical items.

1 portrait in the collection

William Yang

William Yang (b. 1943) is a pre-eminent Australian photographer known for an intensely sustained body of work that examines issues of cultural and sexual identity, and which unflinchingly documents the lives of his friends and community and his own lived experience with curiosity, sensitivity and humour.

15 portraits in the collection

Alfred William Cox

Alfred William Cox (1857–1919), racehorse owner and breeder, was born in Liverpool, England, the son of a successful cotton broker.

1 portrait in the collection

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

William Kelly OAM

William Kelly OAM (b. 1943) was born in Buffalo, New York and was a steelworker before becoming a student at the Philadelphia College of Art.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir William Northam CBE

Sir William Northam CBE (1905-1988), yachtsman, won the gold medal in the 5.5 m class event at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

1 portrait in the collection

William Robertson

William Robertson (1798-1874), pastoralist and entrepreneur, was a key player in the settlement of Victoria in the 1830s.

3 portraits in the collection

Sir William Deane AC KBE KC

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

1 portrait in the collection

William Dakin

William Dakin (1883-1950), zoologist, studied in his native England and, as an Exhibition scholar, in Kiel, Germany.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Dobell OBE

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

10 portraits in the collection

William Macleod

William Macleod, artist and magazine proprietor, attended the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts as a young teenager and saw his first illustration published in 1866.

4 portraits in the collection

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

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman'

William King

William Francis King (1807-1873), aka 'The Flying Pieman', accomplished a series of bizarre athletic feats during the 1840s.

1 portrait in the collection

William Dampier

William Dampier (1651-1715), seafarer and writer, had spent a good deal of time at sea as a buccaneer and merchant sailor before he spent three months in 1688 around King Sound (northern Western Australia) on the Cygnet.

1 portrait in the collection

William Bligh

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

3 portraits in the collection

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Governor of South Australia

Sir William F. Jervois

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois (1821-1897), governor, attended the Royal Military Academy before being commissioned to the Royal Engineers in 1839.

1 portrait in the collection

William Beach

Bill Beach (1850-1935), sculler, came to New South Wales as a young boy with his English parents, who settled at Albion Park, NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

William Pidgeon

Recorded 1965

William Boissevain

Recorded 1965

William Yang

Recorded 2022

William Dargie

Recorded 1960

Sketch for Prime Minister Robert Menzies

William Dobell part two

Recorded 1961

William Dobell part one

Portrait, colour lithograph on paper

Recorded 1961

Lust for life

Magazine article, 2008

Celebrated Sydney-based photographer and performer William Yang was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to produce a new performance work that premiered at the opening of the Gallery's new building.

Self portrait with goose feathers, 2004

William Robinson AO

Purchased 2022

Purchased 2022

Self Portrait #1, 1992/2007

Portrait, inkjet print, black ink on paper

Purchased 2022

My Family in Front of Our Old Home, 1992

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, black ink on paper

Purchased 2022

Equestrian self portrait, 2004

William Robinson AO

Portrait, colour lithograph on paper

Purchased 2022

Self Portrait with Light Meter, 1987/2007

Portrait, inkjet print, white ink on paper

Purchased 2022

Self portrait, late 1930s

Portrait, oil on wood panel

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.

Self portrait, 1870

William H. Bardwell

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2015

Miscellaneous obsessions

Magazine article by William Yang, 2022

William Yang shares the stories behind his autobiographical self portraits that celebrate his cultural heritage and identity.

Horatio Nelson

Sir William Beechey

Will Ashton

Recorded 1960

Arthur William Burman

Arthur William Burman was one of the nine children of photographer William Insull Burman (1814-1890), who came to Victoria in 1853.

2 portraits in the collection

Captain William Kinghorne

William Kinghorne (1796-1878) came to the colonies from Scotland some time before 1824.

1 portrait in the collection

Edward William Knox Jnr

Edward William Knox (1847-1933), industrialist, was the second of four surviving sons of Sir Edward Knox, founder of the Colonial Sugar Refining Co, and his wife Martha Rutledge (sister of merchant, banker and settler William Rutlege).

3 portraits in the collection

Sir William John Macleay

Sir William John Macleay (1820-1891), pastoralist, politician, collector and promoter of science, had just begun to study medicine in his native Scotland when family circumstances dictated his migration to New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

The Right Honourable William Pitt

William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) was Tory prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 to 1801, and of United Kingdom from 1804 to 1806.

1 portrait in the collection

William-Wolfe Alais

William Wolfe Alais engraved a number of plates for the journal The World of Fashion.

1 portrait in the collection

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated

Sir William Hillier Onslow

Sir William Hillier Onslow was Governor New Zealand at the Constitutional Convention, Sydney, 1891.

1 portrait in the collection

William Ashton, c. 1940s

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

William Morris Hughes

William Morris Hughes (1862-1952) was Labor and National Party Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923.

5 portraits in the collection

William John Wills

William John Wills (1834-1861) came to Victoria with his brother in early 1853.

3 portraits in the collection

William Dobell, 1943

Gift of Danina Anderson, daughter of Max Dupain 2017.
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

Governor Sir Robert Duff with Lady Duff, Lord Hopetoun and Vice-Regal Party

Sir Robert William Duff

Sir Robert William Duff (1835–1895) was governor of New South Wales from May 1893 until March 1895.

2 portraits in the collection

William Henry Harvey

William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), botanist, formed a boyhood passion for natural history which was encouraged at Ballitore School, County Kildare.

1 portrait in the collection

William Saurin Lyster

William Saurin Lyster (1828–1880) was an Irish operatic impresario who introduced serious opera to the colonies.

2 portraits in the collection

William Jackson Hooker

William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), botanist, was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in which capacity he had significant influence on the study of Australian flora.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Charles Windeyer, 1892

Tom Roberts

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

Sir William John Lyne

Sir William John Lyne (1844-1913), politician, was a Premier of New South Wales and a minister in the first Australian parliament.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Gaston Walkley CBE

Sir William Gaston Walkley CBE, oil company director, served in World War 1 before setting up an accountancy practice in the farming district of Hawera in his native New Zealand.

1 portrait in the collection

William Edward Harney

William Edward (Bill) Harney (1895–1962), bushman and raconteur, spent his childhood in Charters Towers and Cairns and started working as a stockman and boundary rider at the age of twelve.

2 portraits in the collection

William Hardy Wilson

William Hardy Wilson (1881-1955) - or Hardy Wilson, as he styled himself - is regarded as one of the most significant and visionary Australian architects of the twentieth century.

1 portrait in the collection

William Clark Haines

William Clark Haines (1810-1866), first premier of Victoria, was educated at Charterhouse and Caius College Cambridge and practised as a surgeon in England before sailing to Victoria in 1842.

1 portrait in the collection

William Baker Ashton

William Baker Ashton (1800-1854) was the first governor of Adelaide Gaol.

1 portrait in the collection

Mel Gibson, 1982

Purchased 2003

Boardman, Lake Macquarie tribe, 1836

Portrait, lithographic print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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

William Pidgeon

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

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney, 1836

Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Cullabaa, native of Lake George, Five Islands tribe

Cullabaa, native of Lake George, Five Islands tribe, 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Jemmy, Newcastle tribe, 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Mary, Botany Bay tribe, 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Mickie, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle tribe, 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Toby, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Tommy, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

William - Aspendale, 1966 (printed 2015)

Lazar Krum

Gift of the artist 2015

William John Pickett Bedford

William John Pickett Bedford (1805–1869) was the eldest of three children of Anglican clergyman, William Bedford (1781–1852), and his wife, Eleanor, and came to Van Diemen’s Land with his family in 1823 following the appointment of his father to a chaplaincy in the colony.

1 portrait in the collection

William Walford, c. 1873

Portrait, pastel over photographic image on paper on canvas

Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

William Robertson junior, c. 1857

Conway Hart

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Patrick White by William Yang

An interview with photographer William Yang who recalls his encounters with the author Patrick White.

William Robertson jnr, c. 1852

Portrait, 1/6 plate daguerreotype, hand coloured with case

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Robertson, c. 1852

Portrait, 1/6 plate daguerreotype, hand coloured with case

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Bligh

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

The life of William Bligh offers up a handful of the most remarkable episodes in the history of Britain’s eighteenth and early nineteenth-century maritime empire.

William Charles Wentworth, 1854

Thomas Woolner

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (1872-1938), governor, was appointed to the position of Governor of NSW in 1899.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Dargie CBE

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

Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Governor of South Australia, 1881

Solomon Studios

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

In memory of the Rev William Hill, 1869

Charles Wherrett

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

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.

William Saurin Lyster, mid to late 1860s

Davies & Co

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

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman', c. 1869

John Davis

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

William Beach, 1888

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

William Dakin, c. 1943

Gervaise Purcell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Leigh Purcell 2012

William Dobell, Potts Point, Sydney, 1960 (printed 2000)

David Moore

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001.

Sir William Deane 2008, 2008

Merilyn Fairskye

Purchased 2011

William Bligh, c. 1776

John Webber

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2015

TW Edgeworth David and Vilhjalmur Stefansson

Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE

Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE (1858-1934) was an eminent geologist.

2 portraits in the collection

William Birdwood KCMG KCSI KCB DSO

William Birdwood KCMG KCSI KCB DSO, 1st Baron Birdwood of Anzac and Totnes (1865-1951) commanded the Australian Corps for much of the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

William Charles Windeyer, c. 1857

unknown artist after Richard Westall

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009

William Hodges Esq. RA, 1792

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

William Howitt, n.d.

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

William Birdwood

Portrait, glass plate negative

Recorded 1937

William Lanne, 1866 (printed 1890s)

Charles Woolley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

William Robinson, 1994

Greg Weight

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen and pen and ink on paper

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

Sir William Dobell, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Portrait of William Manning, c. 1821

Henry Bone

Portrait, enamel on copper plate

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2017

William Charles Windeyer, 1856

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009

Reverend William Singleton, 1866

George Perry

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Geoffrey Rush, 2006

by William Yang

William Charles Windeyer aged six, 1840

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

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

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot, c. 1870

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959

Gift of the MacMahon family in affectionate memory of Edward MacMahon and William Dobell 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sketch for Prime Minister Robert Menzies, 1960

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on paper

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999

Edward Knox, c. 1927-1929

W B McInnes

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Gift of Mrs Caroline Philippa Parker 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Neilma Gantner, c. 1990

William Kelly OAM

Purchased 2022

Judy Davis, 1981

Purchased 1998

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1983

Purchased 2003

Peter Allen, 1980

Purchased 2003

Patrick White #1, 1980

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Purchased 1998

The house, the horse, the wife and the offspring

Joanna Gilmour writes about the portraiture of the colonial artist William Nicholas.

Sir Hudson Fysh, 1950

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Australian War Memorial in association with the Fysh family 2008

Martin Sharp, 1980

Portrait, pen and ink wash on paper

Purchased 2003

Billy Hughes, n.d.

Will Dyson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Alice Want, 1853

William Nicholas

Portrait, pencil and watercolour on paper

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Albert Namatjira, 1958

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

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

Lord Kitchener, n.d.

William Howitt

Portrait, carved Jarrah

Purchased 2016

Gooseberry, widow of King Bungaree, 1836

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Portrait of William Manning, c.1821 by Henry Bone

Of beef in burgundy

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

Sir Lawrence Wackett, c. 1961

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

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

Admiral Bligh, 1801

John Chapman

Purchased 2010

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

High & Bligh

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Joanna Gilmour explores the 1790 portrait of William Bligh by Robert Dodd.

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

Robert Dodd

Portrait, aquatint engraving on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959 by William Dobell

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

The Changing Face of the Scientist

Magazine article by Elizabeth Finlay, 2003

Scientists tend to conjure up images of men in white coats in labs but this is just one stereotype in an evolving history of how we have perceived scientists, and how their profession has been understood over the years.

Sir Cecil Colville, c. 1965

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard Due 2010

Essington Lewis, 1952

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of BHP Billiton 2003
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

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Bill Worrall, Five Islands tribe, 1836

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Chinese giant Chonkwicsee and companion, 1876

Arthur William Burman

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Henry Lawson, 1915

Purchased 2009

Bill Northam, 1964 (printed 2004)

Robin Smith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

The Billy Book, 1918

David Low

Portrait, book

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Suzie Campbell 2001

Thomas Pennant, c. 1790

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Robert Carter, c. 1910

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on grey cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2012

Sir Arvi Parbo, 1993

Gift of Alcoa World Alumina Australia 2005. 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

Sir Norman Coles, n.d.

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 Kenneth Coles, c. 1979

Gift of Coles Myer Ltd 2002. 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.

At the Pantechnetheca, Exhibition, Eastern Arcade, Dominick Sonsee, the smallest man in the world

At the Pantechnetheca, Exhibition, Eastern Arcade, Dominick Sonsee, the smallest man in the world, c. 1880

William Burman

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Sir Joseph Banks, 1802

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010

Harold Darling, 1951

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

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior of N.S.W.

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior of N.S.W., 1836

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Emily Fairfax, 1870

William Macleod

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Adela Russell Walker, 1864

William P. Dowling

Portrait, albumen print photograph, carte de visite format on paper on card

Purchased 2022

William St Leonards Robertson, c. 1865

J.W. Beattie after Charles Woolley

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Lanne, c. 1866

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by
Allanah Dopson & Nicholas Heyward 2009

William Bligh

by John Webber

Twice rebelled against, and twice vindicated, William Bligh occupies an ambivalent space in Australian history. Angus Trumble, former Director of the National Portrait Gallery, explains.

William St Leonards Robertson and the Oxford boat race crew

William St Leonards Robertson and the Oxford boat race crew, early 1880s

Hills & Saunders

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

William St Leonards Robertson (standing) beside an unidentified man

William St Leonards Robertson (standing) beside an unidentified man, early 1880s

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

William Robertson, 1866

Thomas Adams Hill

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

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

William St. Leonards Robertson, c. 1869

Portrait, watercolour on paper

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

William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Gaol, c. 1849

Henry H. Glover

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

William McMahon, 1973

Victor Greenhalgh

Portrait, ciment fondue

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Paul and Wendy Greenhalgh 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

William John Wills, c. 1861

De Gruchy & Leigh

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

A Goldfields Member "The Dove of Ararat" [The Hon. William McLellan M.L.A], 1874

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

William Lyne, late 1860s

Charles Woolley

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Sir William 'Billy' McMahon, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

David Lloyd Jones, 1944

Gift of David Lloyd Jones, in memory of his father, David Lloyd Jones 2021. Donated through Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Billy Hughes paperweight, n.d.

Portrait, cast iron, painted

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ric Techow and Jenny Techow-Coleman in memory of Roy and Bet Techow 2001

Billy McMahon, 1972

Frank Hinder

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, wash on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Billy Hughes bottle stopper, 1911-1921

Mashman Bros Ltd

Portrait, ceramic and cork

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, 1951

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Clara Crosbie, c. 1885

Arthur William Burman

James Caldwall after William Hodges

Gift of John McPhee 2018

Omai, 1777

Portrait, copper-line engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

George Foletta,

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

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

The bright-eyed Mariner

A new colonial portrait brings a zealous captain near.

Sir Macfarlane Burnet, 1960-1961

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

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.

Captain John Hunter, 1801

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Sir James Forrest, 1978

William Boissevain

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

Captain John Hunter, Governor New South Wales

Captain John Hunter, Governor New South Wales, 1801

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

Willie Edward Harney, aged 18, c. 1913

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Dame Mabel Brookes, c. 1955

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

Willie Edward Harney, aged 18, c. 1913

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand

Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand, 1861

William-Wolfe Alais

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

Sir Edgar Coles, c. 1970

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

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

E. W. Knox, 1933

Lyndon Dadswell CMG

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter and Susan Dadswell 2015

Opera [Mr William Saurin Lyster], 1874

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Harold Cazneaux, Max Dupain OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

William Hardy Wilson at Purulia, Warrawee, 1921 (printed by Max Dupain 1981)

an unknown artist after Thomas Murray

Gift of the Simpson Family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Dampier, c. 1780

Portrait, copper-line engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

William Jackson Hooker, 1851

Thomas Herbert Maguire

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

William Henry Harvey, c. 1850

Thomas Herbert Maguire

an unknown artist after William Griffith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Elizabeth Rouse (copy of drawing by William Griffith)

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

Portrait, pencil and watercolour on paper laid on cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Pamela Glasson 2012
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)

A Politician. "He is a Terror to Dummies' [Sir William Foster Stawell, Chief Justice of Victoria], 1873

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

S Calvert, Gibbs, Shallard and Co after O.R. Campbell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Buckley discovering himself to the early settlers, 1869

Portrait, colour wood engraving on paper

Purchased 2009

Captain W Kinghorne, 1834

Thomas James Lempriere

Charles Turner after Sir George Hayter

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2007

The Right Honourable Lord Viscount Melbourne, 1839

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Sir Joseph Banks, 1811

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Field Marshal the Lord Birdwood, 1938

Barbara Tribe

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated

Gift of the Estate of the late Barbara Tribe 2009

Joseph Banks Esq, 1774

William Dickinson after Sir Joshua Reynolds

William Skelton after J. Wright

Purchased 2008

Lieutenant King, 1789

Purchased 2010

Professor David of Antarctic Expedition, c. 1910

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Alexander Dalrymple, 1809

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper

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

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

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

William Macleod after Newman

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

Alfred Stephen, 1885

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Reverend William Bedford junior, c. 1846

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2013

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 Lamb, Baron Melbourne, 1832

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

J H Barratt & Co Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent

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

Portrait of Mr W.M. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia

Portrait of Mr W.M. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia, 1916

Portrait, photographic image on glazed ceramic tile

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ian Ross 2001

Fetteresso (Sir Robert Duff), 1883

Francois Verheyden, Vanity Fair Magazine

Purchased 2015

TW Edgeworth David and Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 1924

Annie May Moore

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

General Birdwood, the Idol of Anzac, taking a dip in the sea after a hard days work 1915

In the thick of it

Projecting the splendour of the empire, and the resolve of its subjects, the bust of William Birdwood keeps a stiff upper lip in the National Portrait Gallery.

The importance of being bearded

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2012

Joanna Gilmour discovers that the beards of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills were as epic as their expedition to traverse Australia from south to north.

The Right Honourable Viscount Keppel, Admiral of the White Squadron

The Right Honourable Viscount Keppel, Admiral of the White Squadron, 1802

William Ridley, Bunney & Gold after George Romney

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper

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

Aborigines, the last of the race, Tasmania

Aborigines, the last of the race, Tasmania, c. 1866

Henry Frith

Purchased 2006

Sir Joseph Banks, 1810

William Evans, Anthony Cardon after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Portrait, coloured chalk with black ink highlight on artist board

Purchased with funds provided by the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society Canberra 2000

His Royal Highness Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester (Governor General of Australia)

His Royal Highness Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester (Governor General of Australia), 1943-1944

Charles Wheeler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Fairie (A W Cox), 1910

Sir Leslie Ward, Hentschel-Colourtype, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Purchased 2015

The Burke and Wills Monument, 1869

Thomas Foster Chuck

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

New South Wales (Earl Beauchamp), 1899

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

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

Home and away

Sir William Dobell painted the portraits of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Sir Hudson Fysh, who did much to promote the image of Australia in this country and abroad.

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

South-bound and down

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

Captain James Cook, 1837

William Holl, Fisher, Son & Co London after Nathaniel Dance

Francesco Bartolozzi, William Byrne after John Webber

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

The Death of Captain Cook, 1784

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Sir Clive McPherson, early 1950s

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

Governor Sir Robert Duff with Lady Duff, Lord Hopetoun and Vice-Regal Party, 1893

Kerry & Co

H B Hall's Sons, Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co after William Macleod

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Patrick Moran, Bishop of Sydney, c. 1886

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Captain James Cook from the original in the Naval Gallery, Greenwich Hospital

Captain James Cook from the original in the Naval Gallery, Greenwich Hospital, c. 1837

William Holl, Peter Jackson, London & Paris after Nathaniel Dance

Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill

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

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Study for a portrait of Dame Merlyn Myer DBE

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

Thomas Woolnoth, William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London & New York

Gift of the Estate of Marion Orme Page 2016

La Perouse, 1830s

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

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

The First Ministry under Responsible Government in New South Wales

The First Ministry under Responsible Government in New South Wales, 1856

Freeman Brothers

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Edward Knox Jnr and Thomas Forster Knox.

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

Henry Meyer, T Cadell & W Davies after Sir Thomas Lawrence, William Evans

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

The Rt Hon. Henry Robert Stewart, Lord Viscount Castlereagh, MRIA & FRS

The Rt Hon. Henry Robert Stewart, Lord Viscount Castlereagh, MRIA & FRS, 1814

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

Martha Mary Robertson with her child William St Leonards Robertson

Martha Mary Robertson with her child William St Leonards Robertson, c. 1865

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on paper

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Theresa and James Laidley Mort, 1844

William Nicholas

Gift of the Mort family 2009

Reverend Nathaniel Kinsman, c. 1880

William B. Latimer, W B Latimer Photo Art Studio

Francis Holl after Henry William Pickersgill

Purchased 2013

The Right Honourable Henry Goulburn MP, c. 1850

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Walter Reginald Hume, c. 1944

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Hume OAM 2016

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm, 1961

John Thomson after William Derby

Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Captain Sir John Franklin, 1830

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

Lister Lister, n.d.

Crown Studios

Unknown artist Publisher Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, page 2

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Private virtues public lives

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

Paul Kelly, c. 1983

William Kelly OAM

Portrait, screenprint on paper

Purchased 2022

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.

The Catholic Hierarchy of Australia, 1869

Archibald McDonald, Henry Samuel Sadd

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

William Lister Lister

Portrait, brush and ink, pen and ink, stencil cut-out with watercolour highlights on paper

William Lister Lister (1859-1943), who was born in Sydney but taken to England as an eight-year-old, studied at the Bedford School of Art and in France before moving to Glasgow to study mechanical engineering at the College of Science and Mechanics.

1 portrait in the collection

MacKenzie family silhouette, 1846

Samuel Metford

Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, 1882

Portrait, engravings on paper

Purchased 2009

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated, 1891

Portrait, engraving on paper (4 sheets)

Purchased 2009

Sir William Dargie

A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute

Previous exhibition, 2002

As a tribute to Sir William Dargie's singular contribution to Australian art and cultural institutions, and on the occasion of his birthday, The Australian War Memorial, Parliament House and the National Portrait Gallery will mount exhibitions of his work between May and October

A Tribute to William Dobell

Previous exhibition, 1999

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

William, 2015

by Sandra Lamonaca

Richard Rouse (copy of drawing by William Griffith)

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)

William Wilberforce

Sir Thomas Lawrence

William Morris

George Frederic Watts

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

associated with John Taylor

William Shakespeare

Adelaide, Königin von Grossbritranien u Irland

Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg Meiningen

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg Meiningen (1792–1849) was the consort of King William IV of England.

1 portrait in the collection

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

William Barak at work on the drawing ‘Ceremony’ at Coranderrk, 1902

Johannes Heyer

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society 2000

A charming prospect

Nearest & Dearest

Family fortunes

Portrait 29

September - November 2008

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

William Barak

Welcome home, Captain Bligh

Image downloads

William Bligh

Hi-resolution images for media representatives, password required.

Reg, 2013

by Steven William Siewert

William Beckwith McInnes, n.d.

Gordon Furlee Brown

George S Bryant & Co, Boston

Purchased 1999

Album of portraits of family of William Taylor Macpherson

Album of portraits of family of William Taylor Macpherson, c. 1880

Portrait, 39 tintype photographs in an album

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2012

Charles William Vane-Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry

Sir Thomas Lawrence

Elizabeth Walford, c. 1873

Portrait, pastel over photographic image on paper on canvas

Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

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.

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

The Photographic Society of Victoria was formed in 1876 to 'bring photographers together in a friendly spirit, in order to advance the art and science of photography in the colony, without any attempt at binding or dictating to members any special trading rules, such as charges for photographs or hours or days for closing or opening their respective establishments.' At the time of the first annual meeting on 9 March 1877 there were 61 members, five whom were ladies.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac, 1857

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2014

Mashman Bros Ltd

Mashman Bros Ltd was established by William and Henry Mashman in Sydney in 1885.

1 portrait in the collection

Reginald Jerrold-Nathan

Reginald Henry Jerrold-Nathan (1889-1979) arrived in Australia from London in 1924, having studied under John Singer Sargent and William Orpen at the Royal Academy, where he was awarded a medal for portrait painting.

2 portraits in the collection

Elizabeth Walford

1 portrait in the collection

Jakob Ryle Schulz, 2006

by Dirk-Michael Schulz

Portrait 46

Spring/Summer 2013

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

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

Jessie Whyte

Jessie Whyte (née Walker, 1779–1864). Born in Berwickshire, Scotland, Jessie married George Whyte (d.

1 portrait in the collection

Kate

Who are you?

The two portraits that I've chosen to compare and contrast and to bring together a self portrait by John Brack in 1955, and William Yang, Self Portrait #2.

Portrait 27

March - May 2008

September - November 2003

This issue of Portrait Magazine feature Lucian Frued, John Witzig, colonial death portraits, William Kinghorne, Henry Crock, and more.

Portrait 9

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Deborah Mailman, the Presence and Absence exhibition of portrait sculpture, Sir William Dargie and more.

Portrait 32

June - August 2009

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

Dowling family portrait [Selina, Jane, Leura and Elizabeth (Bessie) Dowling]

Dowling family portrait [Selina, Jane, Leura and Elizabeth (Bessie) Dowling], c. 1862

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

W Read

William Read was active in London in the 1820s and 1830s and appears to have worked mainly as an engraver of portraits.

1 portrait in the collection

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]

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.

Portrait of a young man, held to be John Robertson

Portrait of a young man, held to be John Robertson, c. 1852

Portrait, daguerreotype, hand coloured

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

Maria Jane Dowling, c. 1862

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

Leura Dowling, c. 1861

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

Margaret Robertson, c. 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

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

The Hon. James Whyte, c. 1874

John Hubert Newman

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

John Lucas

John Lucas started his career as an apprentice to the engraver Samuel William Reynolds.

1 portrait in the collection

Full-size preparatory study for the portrait of Leo Schofield

Full-size preparatory study for the portrait of Leo Schofield, 2001

Portrait, gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Angela Nevill, Nevill Keating Pictures Ltd, in memory of William Keating 2001

Preparatory study for the portrait of Leo Schofield No. 2

Preparatory study for the portrait of Leo Schofield No. 2, 2001

Portrait, coloured pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Angela Nevill, Nevill Keating Pictures Ltd, in memory of William Keating 2001

Preparatory study for the portrait of Leo Schofield No.1

Preparatory study for the portrait of Leo Schofield No.1, 2001

Portrait, coloured pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Angela Nevill, Nevill Keating Pictures Ltd, in memory of William Keating 2001

Welcome home, Captain Bligh

27 March 2015

Archived media releases 2015

The National Portrait Gallery will, next Tuesday, unveil an exciting new acquisition of irrefutable importance to all Australians. Portrait of William Bligh, in master’s uniform c. 1776, attributed to John Webber, is one of the earliest portraits of the contentious, historical figure, and extends the Gallery’s remarkable collection of early colonial portraits.

Sarah and Ann Jacob, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Thomas Woolner in Australia

Purchased 2018

Missing Persons

Desperately seeking Woolner medallions

James Macarthur, c. 1836-1838

Portrait, black and bronze ink with white bodycolour highlight on buff board

Purchased 2019

Lillie Langtry, c. 1885

W & D Downey

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

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

Dr Arthur Martin a'Beckett

Dr Arthur Martin a’Beckett FRCS (1812-1871) surgeon and New South Wales parliamentarian studied at London University from 1831 before undertaking a residency in Paris, centre for innovation in the practice of hygiene, pathological anatomy and physiopathology.

2 portraits in the collection

Terry Clune

Terry Clune (b. 1932), gallerist, established Terry Clune Galleries with Frank MacDonald at 59 McLeay Street Potts Point in 1957.

1 portrait in the collection

W B McInnes

Previous exhibition, 2022

William Beckwith (Bill) McInnes (1889–1939), artist, was only fourteen when he began studying drawing under Frederick McCubbin at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, before moving to painting.

5 portraits in the collection

Graham Sylvester's crowd, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, 1983 William Yang

From riot to revelry

Nearest & Dearest

Pride, protest, panache

WHO ARE YOU

Australian portraiture

Featuring 130 works across painting, film, photography, screen printing, sculpture, and then some – it explores our inner worlds, outer selves, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and more.

Martha Mary Robertson, 1866

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

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

Elizabeth Fairfax

Elizabeth Fairfax (née Jesson, 1778–1861), colonial free settler, was born in Birmingham and around 1800 married William Fairfax, whose family had previously held estates in Barford, Warwickshire.

1 portrait in the collection

Sonia McMahon

Previous exhibition, 2008

Sonia McMahon (1932-2010) née Hopkins, was the wife of William McMahon, Australian prime minister in 1971-1972.

1 portrait in the collection

My Favourite Australian

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

Dr. Arthur Martin a'Beckett, c. 1840

Portrait, pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Elizabeth Roberts

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

Elizabeth Roberts (1812–1833) was the daughter of Warwickshire-born William Roberts (1754–1819) and his wife, Jane (née Longhurst, c.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook produced portraits for the Gentleman's Magazine and frontispieces for book publishers, as well as a number of single plates in different genres for Boydell.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr. Arthur Martin a'Beckett, 1845

Charles Abraham

Portrait, cast plaster

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Master Molteno, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Previous exhibition, 2016

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

The Popular Pet Show

This exhibition expresses the joy and warmth that many of us derive from our animal companions, and celebrates their trusting, unpretentious ways, with portraits of Australians and their furry, feathered and fluffy friends.

Portrait of Mrs Fairfax, n.d.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Fradelle & Marshall

Fradelle & Marshall was a photographic and miniature-painting partnership between Albert Eugene Fradelle & William Shury Marshall, who maintained two studios in Regent Street, Westminster, London from 1872 to 1876.

1 portrait in the collection

Martha Knox, c. 1855

Freeman Brothers after Edwin Dalton

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

Maria Windeyer, c. 1865-1868

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

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Gustavus Brooke, c. 1865

Burman and Son

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2016

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Old Blighty

Angus Trumble ponders the many faces of William Bligh.

Freeman Brothers

James Freeman, who is credited with bringing the wet-plate photographic process to New South Wales, arrived in Sydney in 1854 to join his brother William, who had arrived the year before.

9 portraits in the collection

Georges Mora

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

Georges Mora (1913-1992) was born Gunter Morawski to a Leipzig Jewish bourgeois family of Polish descent.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Joseph La Trobe, 1853

Thomas Woolner

Purchased 2006

Meg Padgham

Meg Padgham studied at East Sydney Technical College and the Meldrum School.

1 portrait in the collection

200 Years of Portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

To celebrate his family bicentenary, Malcolm Robertson looks at the portraiture legacy left by his ancestors.

King Barak, last of the Yarra Tribe, 1899

Barak, respected elder

Dr Christopher Chapman looks at the life of Wurundjeri elder William Barak through the portrait painted by Victor de Pury in 1899.

Solomon Studios

Saul Solomon (1836–1929) had a studio in Main Road, Ballarat from 1857 to 1862, and worked in partnership with William Bardwell at 29 Sturt Street, Ballarat until 1874.

1 portrait in the collection

Sean Hutton

Sean Hutton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and lives and works in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 67

Winter 2022

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.

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE (1865–1962), poet, journalist and social reformer, was born near Goulburn and had an itinerant childhood as her father moved the family around New South Wales for work.

3 portraits in the collection

Minnie Walton, c. 1874

Fradelle & Marshall

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

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

Thomas Heathfield Carrick

Thomas Heathfield Carrick, miniature painter, grew up in Carlisle, where he trained and traded as a chemist, painting miniatures in his spare time.

1 portrait in the collection

Martha Knox

Previous exhibition, 2003

Martha Knox (née Rutledge, d. 1903), was the sister of merchant, landowner and banker William Rutledge.

1 portrait in the collection

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

The Lady of Shalott, 2019

Colleen Stapleton

Ernest Buckmaster

Ernest Buckmaster grew up in country Victoria, where his facility for art was recognised early on.

1 portrait in the collection

Beruk

Beruk (William Barak) (1824-1903), an elder of the Wurundjeri clan of the Woi-worung, was the most famous Aboriginal person in Victoria in the 1890s.

1 portrait in the collection

Victor Greenhalgh

Victor Greenhalgh (1900-1983) was a sculptor and teacher who greatly influenced tertiary art education; he was one of the first Victorian sculptors to adopt a modern style.

5 portraits in the collection

Robert Dunkarton

Robert Dunkarton, engraver and portrait painter, served his apprenticeship with mezzotint engraver William Pether.

1 portrait in the collection

David Collins

Portrait, oil on paper laid on board

David Collins (1756–1810), lieutenant-governor, began his career in the British Navy, rising to the rank of captain before being returning to dry land and being placed on half-pay in late 1783.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Georges Mora, 1956

Charles Blackman OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Margaret Robertson

Margaret Robertson (née Whyte, 1811–1866) was the daughter of settlers George and Jessie Whyte, who emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land from Scotland in 1832.

4 portraits in the collection

Elizabeth Chong

Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection

For many years Elizabeth Chong has shared her love of Chinese cuisine with Australian audiences.

1 portrait in the collection

Of Kings and men

Previous exhibition, 2011

This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.

Elliott and Fry

Portrait, painted cast iron

Elliott & Fry, a photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, was founded in 1863 at 55-56 Baker Street, London by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry.

2 portraits in the collection

George Reid paperweight, c. 1910

unknown artist

Purchased 2001

George Reid paperweight, c. 1910

unknown artist

Portrait, painted cast iron

Purchased 2006

Charles Woolley

Archived media releases 2018

Charles Alfred Woolley (1834-1922), photographer and sketcher, ran a studio on Macquarie Street in Hobart from 1859 to 1870, producing numerous portraits along with views and stereographs of Hobart and surrounding areas.

6 portraits in the collection

National Portrait Gallery Director's tenure ends in triumph

30 November 2018

National Portrait Gallery Director Angus Trumble is ending his five-year tenure with a flourish, after announcing that Gallery publication Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits 1824-1844 has been awarded the 2018 William MB Berger Prize for British Art History.

First Australian first-class cricket team

The ‘first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America’ was in fact the second Australian cricket side to contest matches internationally (a team of Indigenous players having done so in 1868), but it is considered the first official national representative team to tour overseas.

1 portrait in the collection

N Schiavonetti

Previous exhibition, 2006

Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian reproductive engraver and etcher, studied art for several years before being employed by an engraver named Testolini to execute imitations of Bartolozzi's works, which Testolini passed off as his own.

1 portrait in the collection

Portraits for Posterity

Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.

James Quinn

Magazine article by Hari Ho, 2004

James Quinn was born in Melbourne and trained at the NGV School before studying in Paris from the mid-1890s to 1902.

1 portrait in the collection

Encounter at Kintore

Photographer Hari Ho describes the creation of his portrait of Papunya Tula artist Makinti Napanangka.

William Johnson (1873—1948) by Percy Leason

Recognition

Percy Leason's Aboriginal Portraits

Previous exhibition, 1999

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

Professor Sasha Grishin AM

Sasha Grishin AM (birth date undisclosed) is the Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History at the Australian National University.

1 portrait in the collection

Elizabeth Chong, 2000

Jaime Murcia

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Margaret Robertson, c. 1852

Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rudy Komon

Previous exhibition, 2011

Rudy Komon (1908-1982) was an art dealer and gallery director. After working as a journalist in Czechoslovakia, where he served with the Czech resistance during the war, he emigrated to Sydney and opened an antique store.

3 portraits in the collection

Inner Worlds

Portraits and Psychology

Portraits of Australia’s pioneering psychologists and artworks by artists fascinated by the subconscious mind.

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Previous exhibition, 2003

The Lambert

Beards

Barbering manuals of the turn of the century might describe this style as a ‘Van Dyck’, named after the Dutch painter Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) who is known to have adopted this look.

Australia and the Nobel Prize

This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia

Martha Kermode, c. 1840

Henry Mundy

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

Robert Kermode, c. 1840

Henry Mundy

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

The first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America, 1878

A & G Taylor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Chad Morgan, Sunshine Coast, Qld, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

A & G Taylor

Photographers Andrew Taylor and George Taylor opened their first studio in Cannon Street in east London in 1866.

1 portrait in the collection

H B. Hall

Henry Bryan Hall grew up in England and began his trade as an apprentice to the engravers Benjamin Smith and Henry Meyer.

1 portrait in the collection

W. B. Gould

Liverpool-born William Buelow Gould (1803-1853) had worked as a draftsman for the London printmaker, Rudolph Ackermann, and as a painter for a Staffordshire pottery before being transported to Van Diemen’s Land for theft in 1827.

1 portrait in the collection

Joshua Smith

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

5 portraits in the collection

fresh from the Channel Fleet (Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson)

Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson GCB GCMG

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson GCB GCMG (1843–1910) was appointed governor of New South Wales in January 1902 having distinguished himself in the course of various conflicts as an officer of the Royal Navy.

1 portrait in the collection

The Lord Chamberlain (Earl of Hopetoun John Adrian Louis Hope)

The Lord Chamberlain (Earl of Hopetoun John Adrian Louis Hope), 1900

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

Christina Stead, 1981

Jacqueline Mitelman

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

All together now, 2012

by Clare Thackway

Finalist, iD2012

Mr John Eason, 1838

W. B. Gould

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2013

Madame Praeger

Laura Praeger (née Blundell) was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and was about twelve years old when her father brought his family to Australia, settling in Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry Sullivan, c. 1863

Davies & Co

Purchased 2018

Paul Haefliger, 1974

Judy Cassab AO CBE

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

Studio self-portrait, 2018 Vincent Namatjira OAM

Never let you go

Nearest & Dearest

Country, culture, connection

Isabella Louisa Parry, c. 1826

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Purchased 2014

Dr Edward MacMahon CBE

Edward MacMahon CBE (1904–1987), surgeon, studied medicine at the University of Sydney and completed his residency at the Sydney Hospital.

1 portrait in the collection

Sketch portrait of Sir Alex Onslow, 1896

Tom Roberts

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2006

Sir John Young, c. 1862

Freeman Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Alphonse Pellion

Alphonse Pellion, artist and naval draughtsman, was a midshipman aboard l'Uranie on Louis de Freycinet's three-year scientific and ethnographic expedition around the world in 1817-1820.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir George Young

Sir George Young (1732–1810), naval officer, first went to sea at the age of fourteen and saw action in Europe and India before joining the East India Company’s marine in 1753.

1 portrait in the collection

Johannes Heyer

Previous exhibition, 2009

Johannes Heyer was born at Germantown (Grovedale) near Geelong in Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Wendy drunk 11pm, 1983 by Brett Whiteley

Idle Hours

Idle hours is an exhibition of luxurious beauty. Paintings, prints and drawings represent subjects in quiet moods and situations arranged according to the time of day they depict - reading, drawing, snoozing, bathing, sewing, gardening, sitting, looking, making love and spending tranquil time with companions. Works in the exhibition range from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present.

Decorative portrait – Len Lye, c.1925 by Rayner Hoff (1894-1937)

Presence and Absence

Portrait Sculpture in Australia

Previous exhibition, 2003

This exhibition focuses on exploring national and communal identity through sculptural production in Australia, from the early decades of settlement through to the present day

Samuel Woolf

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Samuel Johnson Woolf, American painter, lithographer and illustrator, was born in New York City and named after the English essayist Samuel Johnson.

1 portrait in the collection

Lucy Escott, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Roderick Shaw

Portrait, pastel and chalk on paper laid down on cotton over Cedar strainer

Roderick Shaw (1915-1992) is perhaps best known for his worker paintings of the social realist school, such as Cable Layers (in the Art Gallery of NSW).

2 portraits in the collection

Jessie Whyte, c. 1840

Thomas Bock

Purchased 2017

R O'Hara Burke, c. 1861

De Gruchy & Leigh

Purchased 2009

Rudy Komon, c. 1970

Lewis Morley

Portrait, oil on primed masonite

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

Self portrait at 85, 1990

Joshua Smith

Gift of the late May Ralph 2019

Dame Mary Gilmore, 1961

Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Anna May Wong

Dorothy Wilding

Portrait, pastel and charcoal on paper

Disillusion self portrait, 1983

Mary MacQueen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Robin MacQueen 2007

Extraordinary airmen make aviation history

Passion

Charles is my wingman

Shirley Smith AO MBE

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

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

1 portrait in the collection

Miss Elizabeth Roberts, 1830

Richard Read Jnr

Purchased 2013

Mungo MacCallum

Mungo MacCallum (1941–2020) was one of Australia's best-known political journalists.

1 portrait in the collection

Nick Mourtzakis

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Nick Mourtzakis (b. 1951) is Melbourne-based artist and teacher. Mourtzajkis migrated to Melbourne with his Greek family in the early 1950s and trained at the Preston Institute of Technology and Mercer House Teachers' College in the early 1970s.

3 portraits in the collection

Round the World (Thomas Brassey), 1877

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

Purchased 2015

Richard Windeyer, c. 1828

Charles Richard Bone

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

Thomas Phillips

Thomas Phillips was born in Dudley, Warwickshire and initially trained as a glass painter before moving to London, aged 20, with a letter of introduction to the painter Benjamin West.

6 portraits in the collection

Charles Darwin

John Collier

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

H. Searle Professional Champion Sculler of the World (Henry Searle)

H. Searle Professional Champion Sculler of the World (Henry Searle), 1889

Purchased 2014

Julian Smith

Julian Smith, surgeon and photographer, came to Australia with his family from England at the age of three.

2 portraits in the collection

Who is Lillie Roberts?

Devotion

Talented wife for a talented husband

The Surgeon (Dr Julian Smith), 1934

Harold Cazneaux

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Yellow portrait (portrait of Alex Jelinek)

The choices of a modern woman

It's Complicated

When opposites attract

Elizabeth Sarah Ellen Carter

Melbourne and Sydney Photographic Co

Elizabeth Sarah Ellen Carter (née Hill, 1845-1927) was one of the eight children born to Sydney cabinetmaker and undertaker John Hill jnr and his wife Elizabeth - the step-daughter of ex-convict boatman, John Cadman.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert O'Hara Burke, c. 1860

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Andrew Bonneau

Tasmanian-born Andrew Bonneau (b. 1981) lives and works in Cairns, Queensland.

2 portraits in the collection

Petite beauty marries gentle giant

Passion

Books, beets and heat

Self portrait, 1948

Klaus Friedeberger

Gift of Julie Friedeberger 2021

Jessie Robertson

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Jessie Robertson (1835–1849) was the eldest of the seven children of pastoralist and businessman, William Robertson (1798–1874), and his wife Margaret (née Whyte, 1811–1866).

1 portrait in the collection

Men of the Day No.14 "A Faithful Friend, an eminent Savant, and the best possible of Presidents" (Sir Roderick Murchison), 1870

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

Purchased 2015

Thomas Pearce, c. 1878

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on card

Purchased 2010

Sarah Siddons (née Kemble)

John Downman

Chad Morgan OAM

Chadwick William Morgan OAM (b.1933) has been performing comic country songs for more than 60 years.

2 portraits in the collection

Louise Forthun

Louise Forthun (b. 1959), artist, works primarily in painting and printmaking and has an aesthetic and conceptual focus on the architectural landscape of Australia's urban environments.

1 portrait in the collection

Queen Victoria

Victoria (1819–1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901.

8 portraits in the collection

George Richmond

George Richmond, son of the miniature painter Thomas Richmond, grew up in London, took early artistic instruction from his father and enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools in 1824.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry H. Glover

English lithographer and watercolourist Henry Heath Glover (c. 1810-1858) emigrated to South Australia in 1848 with his two sons - one of whom, Henry Heath Glover Junior (1828-1904) was also an illustrator and printmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

Centenary of ANZAC

Just now we pause to mark the centenary of ANZAC, the day when, together with British, other imperial and allied forces, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli at the start of the ill-starred Dardanelles campaign.

Rev. Edward Puckle

The Reverend Edward Puckle (c. 1800-1898), Anglican clergyman, took holy orders in Exeter and officiated in Cornwall before sailing on the Randolph to Canterbury, NZ in 1850.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir George Ferguson Bowen, c. 1873

Bardwell's Royal Studio

Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Will Dyson

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on paper

Will (William Henry) Dyson, cartoonist, caricaturist, writer and draughtsman, was born in Alfredtown, near Ballarat, and studied for a short time in Melbourne, where he worked closely with his older brother Ambrose.

11 portraits in the collection

Richard Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Purchased 2019

Sauvages Des Montagnes-Bleues from de Freycinet, Louis - Voyage autour du monde, Paris

Sauvages Des Montagnes-Bleues from de Freycinet, Louis - Voyage autour du monde, Paris, c. 1822

Forget after Alphonse Pellion

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

King Henry VIII

Unknown artist

Barthélemy Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

Oui-re-kine, 1807-1817

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on buff board

Purchased 2009

Annie Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Purchased 2019

Francis Russell Nixon, c. 1845-1855

an unknown artist after George Richmond

Portrait, copperplate engraving, heightened with China white on buff paper

Purchased 2009

Emma Hamilton

George Romney

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Malcolm Fraser, Randwick Racecourse, 1975 (printed 2002)

Roger Scott

Purchased 2012

Henry Squires, c. 1861

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Pre-Raphaelite Profile

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

In 2006 the National Portrait Gallery acquired a splendid portrait of Victoria's first governor, Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe by Thomas Woolner.

Announcing.... In their own words

24 November 2020

Archived media releases 2020

Inspiring Australians tell their own stories in a unique new gallery audio tour, developed in collaboration with the National Library of Australia.

Cook in context

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Robert Oatley's continuing benefaction has helped the National Portrait Gallery acquire works that add another layer to the story of Captain Cook.

Sarah Tuckfield, c. 1854

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Freer Tuckfield family 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Francis Tuckfield, c. 1854

Goupil & Cie after Carl Kahler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Freer Tuckfield family 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day

The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day, c. 1889

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Purchased 2009

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

Louise Hearman

Portrait, oil and ink on canvas

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Donald Cameron

Donald Cameron (1927-2018), Melbourne-born painter and teacher, attended Scotch College before beginning work as an engraver for the Commonwealth Bank in 1943.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Thomas Lawrence

Barthélemy Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) was one of the leading portrait painters of the Georgian era.

8 portraits in the collection

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

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

Purchased 2009

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE (1907–1989), conservationist and fundraiser, studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Jim Paterson

Charles Fox after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Jim Paterson, painter, printmaker and sculptor, was born in Melbourne and completed his diploma in Fine Arts at Prahran Technical College in 1969.

1 portrait in the collection

Alexander MacLeay, c. 1845

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Jane Windeyer

Jane Windeyer (1865–1950) was the second eldest daughter of politician and judge Sir William Charles Windeyer (1834–1897) and his wife, Mary (née Bolton, 1837–1912), a leading campaigner for women’s rights.

2 portraits in the collection

Lady Knox, c. 1927-1929

W B McInnes

Gift of Mrs Caroline Philippa Parker 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait, 1965

Jean Appleton

Gift of the Estate of Nicolaas van der Waarden 2013

Margaret Olley, 1995

Adam Knott

Portrait, oil on cardboard

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

Self portrait, between 1951 and 1953

Janet Dawson

Gift of the artist 2000

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.

Barry Sullivan

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

1 portrait in the collection

Transience

More about In the flesh

These paintings by Juan Ford and sculptures by Sam Jinks evoke the impermanence of human life.

Klaus Friedeberger

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Klaus Friedeberger (1922-2019) fled Germany for England at the age of sixteen, and the next year found himself on the Dunera bound for internment in Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Hilary McPhee, 2015

Jacqueline Mitelman

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

John Hamilton, 1969

Meg Padgham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Hamilton 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Richard Windeyer

Portrait, pastel on paper laid on canvas

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

Portrait of Mrs Sarah Fairfax, c. 1864

Edwin Dalton

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Australian exploring expedition travelling through scrub (from the Illustrated London News 1879)

The Australian exploring expedition travelling through scrub (from the Illustrated London News 1879), 1876

The Illustrated London News after Jesse Young

Portrait, wood engraving on paper

Purchased 2010

Mary Windeyer, c. 1891

Freeman Brothers

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on studio mount

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Jasperware medallion of Captain James Cook

Jasperware medallion of Captain James Cook, 1779

Wedgwood and Bentley

Portrait, white on blue Jasper Ware in oval shaped wood and gilt frame

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Robert Kermode

an unknown artist after Sir Joshua Reynolds

Robert Quayle Kermode (1812-1870), politician, was born on the Isle of Man and educated at Castletown.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Dr John Hawkesworth, c. 1770

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2018

Portrait of a lady (Sonia McMahon), 1999

Esther Erlich

Gift of an anonymous donor 2014

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

Basil Hetzel AC

Basil Hetzel AC (1922-2017), medical scientist, came to South Australia as a three year old and was educated - like Nobel Prize winners William Lawrence Bragg, Howard Florey and Robin Warren - at St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Abraham

Charles Abraham, son of a London architect, trained at the Royal Academy schools under the sculptor Sierier, and for a further three years in Paris and Rome.

1 portrait in the collection

Very fine and very like

When did notions of very fine and very like become separate qualities of a portrait? And what happens to 'very like' in the age of photographic portraiture?

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

Hon. Les Bury CMG

Hon Les Bury CMG (1913-1986), politician, was member for Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs from 1956 to 1974.

1 portrait in the collection

The Sculling Match at Sydney for the Championship of the World

Edward Trickett

John Young after Gilbert Stuart

Edward 'Ned' Trickett (1851- 916), sculler and hotelier, was the best sculler in New South Wales by 1875.

1 portrait in the collection

Lord Viscount Sydney, c. 1790

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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

Brian T. Loton AC

Brian Thorley Loton AC (1929–2022) was chairman of BHP from 1992 to 1997.

2 portraits in the collection

Thomas Brassey

Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (1836–1918), politician and governor, studied law and modern history at Oxford, but abandoned law for a career in politics two years after being called to the Bar.

1 portrait in the collection

Jane Windeyer, n.d.

Madame Praeger

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012

Sir Alexander C. Onslow

Moses Griffith after John Lewin

Sir Alexander Campbell Onslow (1842-1908), judge, was educated at Cambridge and practised law in England before being appointed attorney general of British Honduras in 1878.

1 portrait in the collection

Yango Mungo ye Yango of Bathurst's Plains

Yango Mungo ye Yango of Bathurst's Plains, 1824

Portrait, copper engraving, hand coloured on paper

Purchased 2011

Portrait of the Seventh Earl of Hopetoun, the Rt Hon. John Hope

Rt Hon John Adrian Louis Hope KT GCMG GCVO PC

Rt Hon John Adrian Louis Hope KT GCMG GCVO PC, 7th Earl of Hopetoun (1860–1908) was the first governor general of Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Francis Tuckfield

Francis Tuckfield (1808-1865), Wesleyan missionary, was eighteen years old when, having worked as a miner and a fisherman, he decided to become a preacher.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Elliott, 1964

Jon Molvig

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

Shirley Hazzard

Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016) writer, spent her childhood in Sydney but left with her parents at the age of sixteen for South East Asia and New Zealand.

1 portrait in the collection

Mirka by Mirka, 2000

Mirka Mora

Purchased with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2021

Frederick E. Du Faur

Frederick Eccleston du Faur (1832–1915), environmentalist, public servant and arts patron, came to Australia from his native London in 1853.

1 portrait in the collection

Chang the Chinese giant in European dress with Chinese boy and three European men, one of whom is his manager

Chang the Chinese giant in European dress with Chinese boy and three European men, one of whom is his manager, c. 1871

Archibald McDonald

Purchased 2010

Margaret Olley, 1998

Lewis Morley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

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

Death mask of George Melville courtesy of National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Old Melbourne Gaol Collection

A colourful story from Sideshow Alley

Self Portraits in Australia

From infamous bushranger to oyster shop display, curator Jo Gilmour explores the life of George Melville.

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.

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

James Alipius Goold

James Alipius Goold (1812-1886), first Catholic bishop and archbishop of Melbourne, volunteered for service in New South Wales having studied in Rome and Perugia.

2 portraits in the collection

Bradley and Rulofson

Bradley & Rulofson was a partnership between photographers Henry W Bradley (1813–1891), a native of North Carolina, and Canadian-born William H Rulofson (1826–1878).

1 portrait in the collection

Ernest Giles

Previous exhibition, 2019

Ernest Giles (1835-1897), explorer, came to Australia at the age of fifteen, settling in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

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

Basil Hetzel, 2007-2008

Mark Kimber

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by Mrs Diana Ramsay AO 2008

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide, c. 1862

Stephen Edward Nixon

Purchased 2018

Leonard Ian Roach

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Leonard Ian Roach (1925-2003), founding chairman of the Australian Stock Exchange, initiated the amalgamation of six stock exchanges, one in each State capital, into an Australian Stock Exchange in the mid-1980s.

1 portrait in the collection

Mungo MacCallum, press gallery cricket, 1973

Frank Hinder

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

Mary Windeyer, 1850s

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

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

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot)

Reveries

Photography and mortality

Previous exhibition, 2007

Featuring works by Australian and New Zealand photographers from the late 1970s up to the present day Reveries focuses on images made in the presence of or consciousness of death.

Sir George Coles, 1935

W B McInnes

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

Julian Ashton CBE

Julian Rossi Ashton CBE (1851-1942), art teacher, artist and critic, trained in art in London and at the Académie Julian in Paris before coming to Australia to work on the Illustrated Australian News in 1878.

4 portraits in the collection

Elaine Haxton

Elaine Haxton (1909-1999), painter, graphic artist and theatre designer, grew up in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

John Eason

John Eason (1799–1858) was a shipwright who worked in Van Diemen’s Land during the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Windeyer

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

Mary Windeyer (née Bolton, 1837-1912), women's rights campaigner, was one of the nine children of Robert Thorley Bolton, a clergyman who emigrated to New South Wales in 1839.

3 portraits in the collection

Brian Loton, BHP,

Joe Greenberg

Gift of the artist 2001

Nigel Butterley AM

Nigel Butterley AM (1935-2022) was one of the foremost Australian composers and pianists of his generation.

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

Peter Wegner

Peter Wegner first participated in a group exhibition in 1977, when he had had no art training.

7 portraits in the collection

Joseph Dalton Hooker, c. 1880s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Brian Loton, 1996

Brian Dunlop

'The photojournalists of their time'

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

Captain Cook

An exploration of the role of artists such as John Webber who, whilst a member of Cook’s crew over many voyages, created paintings and drawings of the situations and people the explorers encountered.

Henry Searle

Henry Searle (1886–1889), a sculler known as the ‘Clarence River Comet’, took up rowing as a boy as a means of getting himself and his siblings to and from school.

1 portrait in the collection

Ben Chifley, n.d.

Previous exhibition, 2005

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Clifton Pugh

Australians

This exhibition offers a comprehensive display of Clifton Pugh's portraits revealing his development and growth from tonal paintings to a unique style that was in demand from politicians, artists, academics and Australian personalities.

Julian Ashton Life Class, 1920

Harold Cazneaux

Previous exhibition, 2017

Purchased 2015

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

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.

Leo Schofield, 2001

Previous exhibition, 2023

Commissioned with funds provided by Angela Nevill, Nevill Keating Pictures Ltd, in memory of William Keating 2001

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

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

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.

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats, 1790

Robert Dodd

Portrait, aquatint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Portrait of Captain Edward Riou, 1801

James Heath after Samuel Shelley

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London

Announcing Shakespeare to Winehouse

24 November 2021

Archived media releases 2021

More than eighty treasures from the National Portrait Gallery London will travel to Canberra for a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from March 2022.

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

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

Pretty in peach

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

It's remarkable that the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond has produced two of Australia's most successful opera singers. Three decades apart, but within a short distance of each other, both Helen Porter Mitchell and Florence Wilson were born.

L. Ian Roach, 1994

Paul Fitzgerald AM

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

Nancy Menetrey

Nancy Menetrey (née Wilkinson) was born in Sydney in 1924. After serving with the Australian Women's Land Army, formed during the Second World War to address labour shortages in the agricultural sector, she travelled overseas in the early 1950s, living and working in London for a number of years.

1 portrait in the collection

Carol Jerrems

Carol Jerrems (1949–1980) was a photographer known for her intimate portraits of friends, lovers and others occupying the progressive social and creative circles in which she moved.

9 portraits in the collection

Small Holdings (The Earl Carrington Baron Charles Robert Carrington)

Charles Robert Wynn-Carrington

Charles Robert Wynn-Carrington (1843–1928), 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire, landowner and Liberal politician, was governor of New South Wales in the late 1880s.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Edward E. Williams

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

1 portrait in the collection

Miriam Hyde AO OBE

Miriam Hyde AO OBE (1913-2005), composer, recitalist, teacher, examiner, poet, lecturer and writer of numerous articles for music journals, studied first with her mother and then with William Silver at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Booth

Peter Booth (b. 1940) grew up in the English steel mill town of Sheffield, bike-riding on the nearby moors.

1 portrait in the collection

Hardtmuth Lahm

Hardtmuth Lahm (1912-1981), commercial artist and cartoonist, came to Australia from Estonia as a sixteen-year-old.

1 portrait in the collection

Sketch of Clifton Pugh painting John Perceval

Clifton Pugh AO

Chefs, winemakers, providores

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

11 portraits in the collection

Masters of Fare

Previous exhibition, 2004

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

Richard Tognetti, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

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

Janet Dawson

Janet Dawson (b. 1935), painter, printer, teacher and stage designer, is known for her contribution to abstract art in Australia.

10 portraits in the collection

Jean Appleton

Previous exhibition, 2006

Jean Appleton (1911–2003), painter and art teacher, studied at the East Sydney Technical College, completing a diploma in drawing and illustration in 1932.

5 portraits in the collection

Australian Visit

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.

Prince William of Wales, by Mario Testino, 2003 publ. September 2003.
Credit: Mario Testino

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

Previous exhibition, 2009

Vanity Fair Portraits traces the birth and evolution of photographic portraiture through the archives of Vanity Fair magazine.

Queen Victoria, 1901

The Illustrated London News after Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Alexander Macleay

Magazine article by Sarah Hill, 2001

Alexander McLeay (aka Macleay) (1767-1848), public servant and entomologist, acquired an interest in insects while working as a clerk in London.

1 portrait in the collection

The Wonder Years

Sarah Hill introduces the portrait busts of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm by Enid Fleming.

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary

Previous exhibition, 2013

The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.

Lloyd Rees at the Rock in 1975, 1984

Roderick Shaw

Portrait, oil and oil pastel on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Sir Frank Packer

Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer KBE (1906-1974), media proprietor, grew up in Sydney and became a cadet journalist on the Daily Guardian, owned by his father RC Packer, in 1923.

2 portraits in the collection

Michelle Garnaut AO

Michelle Garnaut AO studied at Monash University before travelling widely in the early 1980s, returning to Melbourne to complete catering qualifications at William Angliss College.

1 portrait in the collection

George Perry

George William Perry (1824–1900) was born in London and arrived in Victoria via South Africa around 1852.

2 portraits in the collection

Study of Archbishop Daniel Mannix, 1962

Clifton Pugh AO

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Making Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2004

The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery

The Australian Cricket Team 1882

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir James Dowling

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Jenny Sages

Jenny Sages (b. 1933), artist, was born to Russian Jewish parents in Shanghai and came to Australia with her family in 1948.

34 portraits in the collection

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2022

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-c. 1848) went to school and university in Germany but the range of his interests was such that he never actually graduated (he was later called Dr Leichhardt in recognition of his broad scholarship).

1 portrait in the collection

Unheroic Materialism: little harmless fragments of memory and association: a portrait of Angus Trumble, 2019 Evert Ploeg

The last word

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

Hilary McPhee AO

Hilary McPhee AO (b. 1941), writer and editor, began her career at Meanjin before starting a small magazine, Theatre.

1 portrait in the collection

Tom Roberts

Tom Roberts (1856–1931), artist, came to Australia from England at the age of 13, but returned eight years later to study art in London.

9 portraits in the collection

John Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell KG GCMG PC (1792 –1878) was Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1839 to 1841 and served twice as Prime Minister of Great Britain, in 1846-1852 and 1865-1866.

1 portrait in the collection

George Mealmaker

George Mealmaker (1768–1808), convict and activist, became involved in radical politics in his native Dundee in the 1780s.

1 portrait in the collection

Rachel Roxburgh

Magazine article by Rod Kemp, 2003

Rachel Roxburgh (1915–1991), artist, conservationist and architectural historian, grew up in Sydney's eastern suburbs and studied art at East Sydney Technical College and the Adelaide Perry Art School in the 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

A gift for all ages

The then Minister for the Arts and Sport, Rod Kemp, reflects on the value of the Cultural Gifts Program.

R. M. Williams AO CMG

RM (Reginald Murray) Williams AO CBE (1908-2003), saddlery, boot and clothing manufacturer, miner and author, moved to Adelaide from his birthplace near the Flinders Rangers when he was 10.

1 portrait in the collection

Angus Trumble with Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks by Thomas Phillips

Banksia and grevillea

Portraits can render honour to remarkable men and women, but there are other ways.

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.

Dr Helen Caldicott

Dr Helen Caldicott (b. 1938), physician, author and activist, was born Helen Broinowski in Melbourne and gained her degree in Medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1961.

1 portrait in the collection

David Mitchell

David Mitchell (1829-1916), builder, contractor and businessman, arrived in Melbourne in mid-1852 in the Anna.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Edwards

Henry (Harry) Edwards (1827–1891), actor and entomologist, arrived in Melbourne in 1853 after a short-lived attempt at studying for a career in law.

1 portrait in the collection

Right Rev Dr Lawrence Bonaventure Sheil OSF

Right Rev Dr Lawrence Bonaventure Sheil OSF, c. 1872

Bardwell's Royal Studio

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Desperately seeking Sonia

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by H.R.H. The Duke of Cornwall and York, May 9, 1901, 1903 by Tom Roberts

Empire records

Magazine article by Kylie Scroope, 2011

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

Dora Byrne, 1951

Richard von Marientreu

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

John Dunn

John Dunn (1802-1894), flour miller and philanthropist, eked out a mean living as a mill manager in England before migrating to South Australia with his wife and son in 1840.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

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

4 portraits in the collection

David Unaipon

David Unaipon (1872-1967) writer, public speaker and inventor, was a Ngarrindjeri man, fourth of nine children of the evangelist James Ngunaitponi and his wife Nymbulda, both of whom were Yaraldi speakers.

1 portrait in the collection

Talking heads

In their own words lead researcher Louise Maher on the novel project that lets the Gallery’s portraits speak for themselves.

James Macpherson Grant, c. 1870s

Paterson Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018

Ellen Stirling, c. 1828

Thomas Phillips

Portrait, pencil, chalk and gouache on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008

Jessie Robertson, c. 1849

Thomas Bock

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013

Julia Matthews, c. 1862

Davies & Co

Portrait, albumen silver photograph carte de visite on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill

Archived media releases 2016

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Pets of all types take over the National Portrait Gallery

3 November 2016

It is not every day that a national gallery turns its walls over to the animal companions that bring unconditional love and joy to their owners but this summer we have opened the doors to 15 contemporary artists with very different ways of depicting our furry, feathered and scaled pets.

Showing character

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

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

Christian Waller

A bushranger meets his maker, 6 January 1826

Christian Waller (née Yandell, 1894–1954), printmaker, muralist and stained-glass artist, was born in Castlemaine, Victoria and commenced studying art at the Castlemaine School of Mines in 1905.

1 portrait in the collection

The consolations of religion

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

James McCabe provides proof that hanging wasn’t necessarily a fate reserved for the perpetrators of murder and other deeds of darkest hue.

Paper weight

Joanna Gilmour delves into a collection display that celebrates the immediacy and potency of drawing as an art form in its own right.

Percy, Reginald, Monty and George Faithfull, undated by Henry Dorner. Image courtesy the National Museum of Australia.

An affray which deserves particular mention

Ben Hall and his gang outdone, 6 February 1865

Fredrick Charles Burman after John Cochran

Bushranger Ben Hall and his cronies held around 40 people hostage in a pub north-west of Goulburn, telling their captives ‘don’t be alarmed; we only came here for a bit of fun’.

Reverend Daniel Draper, c. 1866

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

Purchased 2010

Giving and getting

The exhibition Portraits for Posterity celebrates gifts to the Gallery, of purchases made with donated funds, and testifies to the generosity and community spirit of Australians.

Edward Hammond Hargraves

Edward Hammond Hargraves (1816–1891), adventurer and speculator, claimed credit for the discovery of payable goldfields in New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Jemima Bellette

George Billett (also Bellett, Bellette and Billet, 1812–1885) was a farmer and landowner, an early settler of Sorell in Tasmania, and the son of two ex-convicts.

1 portrait in the collection

Georg von Neumayer, c. 1860

Johnstone & Co

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

Angus Trumble

12 October 2022

Media

Members of the Board, Foundation and staff of the National Portrait Gallery are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Angus Trumble.

Archbishop James Goold, c. 1870

Archibald McDonald

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Thomas Woolner

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Thomas Woolner, sculptor, studied first with the brothers Henry and William Behnes, painter and sculptor respectively, and later at the Royal Academy, at which he was to become professor of sculpture in his fifties.

5 portraits in the collection

Poison pen

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

Henry Baynton Somer Gullett AM MC

Henry Baynton Somer ‘Jo’ Gullett AM MC (1914-1999), soldier, politician, ambassador, farmer and author, was the son of Sir Henry Gullett, who was one of the Australian official historians of the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1962

Victor Greenhalgh

Portrait, cast bronze

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Bunting in honour of Sir John Bunting and the Menzies Foundation 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Fairfax Gift

This article examines the portraits gifted to the National Portrait Gallery by Fairfax Holdings in 2003.

The spirit of the gift

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.

2020 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

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

George Bellette

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2010

George Billett (also Bellett, Bellette and Billet, 1812–1885) was a farmer and landowner, an early settler of Sorell in Tasmania, and the son of two ex-convicts.

1 portrait in the collection

Celebrity cutpurse

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

Observation point

Magazine article by Tim Storrier, 2013

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

Cocky McGrath

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

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Percy Leason

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

Wicked but Virtuous

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite

Faith Stellmaker shares pioneering artist and restaurateur Mirka Mora’s lasting legacy on Melbourne’s art, dining and culture.

Chang the Chinese Giant with his wife Kin Foo and manager Edward Parlett

Chang the Chinese Giant with his wife Kin Foo and manager Edward Parlett, c. 1871

Archibald McDonald

Purchased 2010

Edward Riou

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

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

2 portraits in the collection

101 photographic portraits

Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.

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

Lady Isabella Louisa Parry

Captain Moonlite et al on trial for murder

Isabella Louisa Parry (née Stanley, 1801–1839), amateur artist, community worker and collector, was the daughter of Sir John Stanley, first Baron Stanley of Alderley, a Whig politician and member of the Royal Society.

1 portrait in the collection

Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, c.1879 attributed to Charles Nettleton

Diseased curiosity

Just after 10.00 o'clock on 3 December 1879, four prisoners were brought from their cells at Darlinghurst Gaol and placed in the dock of a courtroom heaving with agitated spectators

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

by Andrew Bonneau

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

School portraits

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

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

Painting mates

Michael Desmond discusses Fred Williams' portraits of friends, artist Clifton Pugh, David Aspden and writer Stephen Murray-Smith, and the stylistic connections between his portraits and landscapes.

Krystal Seigerman

Finalist interviews

The photograph was a brief, candid moment, which unfolded into a portrait. Peter and I were in Silverton, NSW, chatting as our students explored the town. The weak afternoon light suddenly became dramatic and defined, so I asked Peter if I could take his portrait.

Sketches and sermons

Magazine article by Jessica Smith, 2009

Jessica Smith looks at the 'fetching' portrait of Tasmania's first Anglican Bishop, Francis Russell Nixon by George Richmond

Richard Flanagan

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2010

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

Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
of Brunswick, 1804

Around the grounds

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

Installation of ‘Face to Face: The New Normal’ at Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery, 2021 Vic McEwan

Facing the feeling

Magazine article by Susi Muddiman, 2017

Penelope Grist explores the interplay between medicine and portraiture in Vic McEwan’s Face to Face: The New Normal.

In bloom

Susi Muddiman delights in Michael Zavros’ stunning portrait of the honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO.

A nose by any other name

Magazine article by Jane Kinsman, 2013

In the exhibition William Kentridge: Drawn from Africa at the National Gallery of Australia, the artist marries Gogol's Tsarist Russia, with that of Stalin and the damaging history of his homeland, South Africa.

Figurative foundation

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and art of the Australian artist Janet Dawson.

Alternative virtue

Magazine article by Tedi Bills, 2016

Joanna Gilmour presents John Kay’s portraits of a more infamous side of Edinburgh.

It's a Mora!

Select extracts from Mirka Mora's autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous, provide rich accompaniment to recent Gallery acquisitions.

Portrait of a patron

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

A new painting by Jiawei Shen captures the vision and resolve of the Gallery's founder, L. Gordon Darling AC CMG.

Selected images

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

Lustre, held by a Groom, ca. 1762 by George Stubbs

Stubbs and the horse

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

One of the chief aims of George Stubbs, 1724–1806, the late Judy Egerton’s great 1984–85 exhibition at the Tate Gallery was to provide an eloquent rebuttal to Josiah Wedgwood’s famous remark of 1780: “Noboby suspects Mr Stubs [sic] of painting anything but horses & lions, or dogs & tigers.”

Fits of delicacy and despair

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

The shipwright's arms

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

Courage, Self-analysis and Skill

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2002

The story behind George Lambert's Self-portrait with Gladioli.

Past directors

History

Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

In the galleries

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

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

The Royal she

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2019

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

The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2012

Imagination

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.

Portrait of Lady Eyre Williams (Jessie Gibbon)

Chance encounter

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of one of Melbourne's early socialites, Jessie Eyre Williams.

The elegant thinker

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2020

Sarah Engledow pens a fond farewell to acclaimed science historian Ann Moyal.

A guy from Paris

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

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.

Alison Rehfisch

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Alison Baily Rehfisch (1900–1975) was born Alison Green in Woollahra, New South Wales, to parents who 'were very interested in painting – in all the arts: music, literature, everything'.

2 portraits in the collection

Benny (42nd Street Series), 1979–80 by Larry Clark

City boys

Christopher Chapman immerses himself in Larry Clark’s field of vision.

Study for Aunty Mary King, 2010 by Mathew Lynn

The animating signature

Magazine article by Tamsin Hong, 2016

Joanna Gilmore delights in the affecting drawings of Mathew Lynn.

Rev. Victor B. Walls and Mrs. Walls, Trinidad, B.W.I., c.1930

The first nurse

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

Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia, 1852, 1887 by William Strutt

Strutt your stuff

Magazine article by Matthew Jones, 2016

Matthew Jones on the upshot of a St Kilda Road outrage.

Rethinking foundational histories

Magazine article by Kate Fullagar, 2019

A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.

Inditchenous beestes of New Olland

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

Facing Facts

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2017

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers describes the 1922 Self-portrait with Gladioli by George Lambert.

Jim Cobb at Chroma factory Mt Kuring-gai, NSW, 2017 by Mark Mohell

The alchemist’s profile

John Zubrzycki meets Australian paint pioneer Jim Cobb.

In the round

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2009

Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.

What price self?

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

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

Louise Whelan

Finalist interviews

I met Kaloti Parmjit the day I took the photo. I first visited the Sikh temple in the suburb of Glenwood to take photos as part of a social documentary project I'm undertaking for the State Library of NSW.

My Favourite Australian

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2009

The Australian public was invited in 2008 to vote for their favourite Australian. After the votes were tallied an exhibition of the top-ten Popular Australians and the top-twenty unsung heroes was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

Portfolio of 54 portraits compiled by Queen Victoria, 1859–1861 by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Camille Silvy, Frances Day and William Bambridge

Queen of cartes

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Sir Thomas Gore-Browne, 1864

J Walch & Sons

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Mrs Cameron and the V&A

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

In March 2003 Magda Keaney travelled to London to join the photography section of the Victoria & Albert Museum for three months.

Sydney Cove medallion, 1789 by Josiah Wedgwood

The medallion

The portraiture of Kristin Headlam

In recent years I have become fascinated by the so-called Sydney Cove Medallion (1789), a work of art that bridges the 10,000-mile gap between the newly established penal settlement at Port Jackson and the beating heart of Enlightenment England.

Confessional conversations

Magazine article by Fiona Gruber, 2015

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Studio portrait of Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War, 1914 by J Russell & Sons

All the way with K of K

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow bristles at the biographers’ neglect of Kitchener’s antipodean intervention.

M H Wednesday 11.15am from the series Self-harm, 2004

Big it up

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2005

Former National Portrait Gallery Curator Magda Keaney was a member of the selection panel of the Schwepes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004 at the National Portrait Gallery London.

Where the wild things are

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

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

Life class

Magazine article by Leonie Hellmers, 2004

Barbara Blackman reflects on her experiences as a life model.

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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

Helen Blaxland judging flower arrangements, c. 1940s photographer unknown

Petal to the mettle

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

A potpourri of portraits

Magazine article by Natalie Wilson, 2023

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

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

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.

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster

To the end of the earth

The portrait of Dr. Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster from 1780, is one of the oldest in the NPG's collection.

Anatomist's eye

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2016

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

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.

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

Portrait of an English Woman c. 1532-5 (detail)

A new perspective

Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006

An exhibition devoted to Hans Holbein's English commissions shows the portraitist bringing across the Channel new technical developments in art - with a dazzling facility.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2005

The tragic tale of Tom Wills, the ‘inventor’ of Australian Rules Football.

The Philosophy of Teapots and Ducks

Cartoonist Michael Leunig's insights into the human condition and current affairs have become famous Australia-wide.

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

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

Expect the unexpected

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Joanna Gilmour revels in accidental artist Charles Rodius’ nineteenth century renderings of Indigenous peoples.

I'm not there

Christopher Chapman looks at some contemporary portraits that explore the construction of identity.

Reflections

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2020

All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War exhibition co-curators Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman reflect on the evolution of the Gallery’s Anzac Centenary exhibition.

Peripheral vision

Aimee Board chats to emerging photographer Charles Dennington.

The Dissecting Room

Magazine article by Helen Ennis, 2007

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

Reveries

The exhibition Reveries: Photography and mortality is a powerful display which brings together images that depict the last phase of people's lives.

Be bold

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007

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

Melbourne experience

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Diana Warnes explores the lives of Hal and Katherine 'Kate' Hattam through their portraits painted by Fred Williams and Clifton Pugh.

History

About us

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

Seduce, Amuse, Entertain

NPPP 2007 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2022

Michael Desmond, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2007 Prize.

Virginia Woolf, 1902 George Charles Beresford

Love my way

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

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond profiles a handful of the entrants in first National Photographic Portrait Prize and notes emerging themes and categories.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Phil Manning, 2017

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

Thomas Mathewson (inset) and his studio on Queen Street, c. 1908 by Thomas Mathewson & Co

Northern exposure

Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.

The artist and her family, c. 1854 by Martha Berkeley

Presence and absence

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.

Meeting by Murder

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

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

Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist

Of plague and portraits

Corinna Cullen on the symbolic power of pandemic-related imagery over the ages.

Little women

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

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

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

Vanity fair

Magazine article by Ashleigh Wadman, 2012

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

Suave

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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

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

A feast of friends

Magazine article by Richard Ormond, 2015

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

Snap chat

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2019

2019 National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Anne O’Hehir looks beneath the surface of this year’s entries.

Through thick and thin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

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

Cachasunghia, Osage Warrior 1804–06 by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin

Political profiles

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

Joanna Gilmour examines the prolific output of Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, and discovers the risk of taking a portrait at face value.

Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Beyond the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, a number of other notable anniversaries converge this year. Waterloo deserves a little focussed consideration, for in the decades following 1815 numerous Waterloo and Peninsular War veterans came to Australia.

A surface against which we can move, 2014 by Sam Leach

No small wonder

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

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

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

The right note

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

Tiny Trace of a Colonial Giant

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

At just 7.8 x 6.2 cm, the daguerreotype of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa is one of the smallest works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Good, bad and the ugly

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.

The Cutmear sisters, Jane and Lucy, c. 1842

A man of superior attainments

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Christian Waller with Baldur, Undine and Siren at Fairy Hills, 1932 by Napier Waller

Enigma

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll contemplates the curious case of Christian Waller.

Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil, ca.1753-55

Canadian identities

Magazine article by Lilly Koltun, 2004

An exploration of national identity in the Canadian context drawn from the symposium Face to Face at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2004.

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

The Window Seat, 1907 by Frances Hodgkins

Kiwi magpie

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2018

Penelope Grist finds inspiration in pioneering New Zealand artist, Frances Hodgkins.

Thua Tich, South Vietnam, 1969-06 by Christopher Bellis

The jungle look

Magazine article by David Gist, 2019

David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.

Take thy face hence

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour travels through time to explore the National Portrait Gallery London’s masterpieces in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

The portrait writ large

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

The mind's eye

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

Christopher Chapman takes a trip through the doors of perception, arriving at the junction of surrealism and psychoanalysis.

Christmas Island

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

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.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Magazine article by Sharon Peoples, 2017

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

In good company

Magazine article by Karl James, 2015

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

Lauded legacy

Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.

My father-in-law watering his garden, 1986 by Davida Allen

Lovingly observed

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

In a good paddock

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

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.

Kristin Headlam

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Basil grew into a speckled beauty – a long-legged leaper and an exceptionally vocal dog, with a great register of sounds, ascending in shock value from a whimper to a growl to a bark to a yelp that’s a violation of the ears.

Getting a head

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2015

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

More cash than dash

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

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

Starry knight

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

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

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

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

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

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.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

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

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

The Long Awaited, 2008 by Patricia Piccinini

In the flesh

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

A sketch for some portraits

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

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

Getting bare

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

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

Louise Lovely feeding gulls in a park, 1969 Unknown photographer

Jewelled nights

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2017

Anne Sanders celebrates the cinematic union of two pioneering australian women.

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Study in scarlet

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2018

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

Painting writing

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

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

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

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

Inner Worlds and psychoanalysis

Lecture, 4 June 2011

Inner Worlds evokes a broad view of psychology as a discipline. However, the specific interests of the practitioners whose portraits are included in the exhibition incorporate specialist areas including psychoanalysis.

The art of Inner Worlds

Lecture, 7 May 2011

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

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits