Search / yvonne east

Yvonne East was born in Meningie in regional South Australia and studied art at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, and the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Doug from Eden, 2018

Yvonne East

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC, 2018

Yvonne East

Portrait, oil on linen

Gift of the artist 2019 acknowledging Herbert Smith Freehills for supporting the creation of the portrait

Yvonne Audette AM

The artist Yvonne Audette was born in Sydney in 1930 She lived for many years in Europe and America, where she developed her interest in abstract expressionism, working and living among some of the seminal artists of the 20th century..

2 portraits in the collection

Yvonne D. Kenny AM

Australian soprano Yvonne Kenny AM (b. 1950) studied science at the University of Sydney before deciding to pursue an opera career instead.

1 portrait in the collection

Yvonne Audette, Vaucluse, Sydney, 1968 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
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

Yvonne Denise Kenny, 1999 (printed 2022)

Polly Borland

Portrait, oil on composition board

Purchased 2022

Portrait of Robert Klippel, 1980

Yvonne Audette AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

A bond of friendship

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

Australia's major abstract painter Yvonne Audette discusses her portrait of sculptor Robert Kippel.

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.

Arthur and Yvonne, 1993

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

Yvonne Alexander, Bar Maid, Sydney, 2022

Ingvar Kenne

General Cosgrove, Dili, East Timor 1999, 2006

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Cannon and L. Gordon Darling AC CMG 2006

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999)

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999), 1999

Matthew Sleeth

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait of a Manchu Noblewoman, 18th-19th C.

Facing East

Magazine article, 2007

An exhibition at the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington DC showcases the art of portraiture in Asia over two thousand years.

Untitled #15 (Kylie Minogue performs at Tour of Duty concert at Dili Stadium, East Timor, 21 December 1999)

Untitled #15 (Kylie Minogue performs at Tour of Duty concert at Dili Stadium, East Timor, 21 December 1999), 1999-2000

Matthew Sleeth

International News Photos Inc

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Charles Kingsford Smith and crew of the Southern Cross before the east-west crossing of the Atlantic, June 1930

Charles Kingsford Smith and crew of the Southern Cross before the east-west crossing of the Atlantic, June 1930, 1930

Purchased 2019

Tim Burstall

Tim Burstall (1927-2004) set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.

2 portraits in the collection

Purchased 2002

Amanda King

Amanda King is a Sydney-based visual artist and producer and director of film documentaries.

1 portrait in the collection

Carol sewing, 2008

by Greg Weight

Alexander Dalrymple

Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808), hydrographer and writer, began work with the East India Company in Madras in 1752.

1 portrait in the collection

Rammey Ramsey, 2009

by Michelle Newton

Previous exhibition, 2020

Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Shirley Purdie

Using ochres collected on her country in Western Australia’s East Kimberley, Shirley Purdie’s self-portrait is a kaleidoscope of traditional Gija stories and Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) passed down to her.

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

Perry, Kemp & Co

Kemp, Perry & Co. operated from 81 Bourke Street East, Melbourne, between 1873 and 1875.

1 portrait in the collection

Frank Hurley OBE

Frank Hurley (1885-1962), photographer, first made his name on Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14.

2 portraits in the collection

Antonio van Diemen, Gouverneur Generaal van Nederlands Indiën

Anthony van Diemen

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on cardboard

Anthony van Diemen (1593–1645) was governor-general of the Dutch East Indies from 1636 until 1645.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Brian Dunlop, c. 1972

Bryan Westwood

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Brian Dunlop

Brian Dunlop studied at East Sydney Technical College and won the Le Gay Brereton Prize for Drawing while still a student.

7 portraits in the collection

Rachel Roxburgh

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

David Carter, London, 2009

by Dave Tacon

Tokyo, 2010

by Lisa Tomasetti

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

Arthur Boyd in his studio at Bundanon, 1993

Adam Knott

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

Boyca dharraka mayung ngurr gartji. Lardum ratjuk gurr (Boyca at Mayung Creek, Gartji. Hunting for barramundi)

Cassandra Scott-Finn

Meg Padgham

Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945

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

1 portrait in the collection

Mysterious eyes

Previous exhibition, 2016

Boyd’s self-portrait at age 25 is joined by his equally emotive portraits of those around him.

Pride

Christopher Hopkins

Fifteen, 2016

by Fiona Morris

Sir Rupert Hamer AC KCMG ED

Sir Rupert ‘Dick’ Hamer AC KCMG (1916-2004) was premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981.

1 portrait in the collection

A moment, 2016

by Millie Brown

Rong Rong

Featured Artists

Born Li Zhirong 1968, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province. Lives and works in Beijing.

Peter Rushforth AO

Peter Rushforth AO (1920-2015), ceramic artist, was born in Sydney and studied art at the Royal Melbourne Technical College after World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

Frank Hinder

Francis Henry Critchley Hinder (1906-1992) was a pioneer of abstract art in Australia.

18 portraits in the collection

Arthur Boyd, 1962

Axel Poignant

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Bruce Pascoe, 2008

by Kim Batterham

Dr G Yunupingu

Magazine article, 2017

Dr G Yunupingu (1970-2017), a man of the Gumatj clan of north-east Arnhem Land, learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo as a child.

Hon. Sir John Forrest GCMG

Sir John Forrest (1847-1918), explorer and politician, trained as a surveyor and led an 1869 expedition in search of Ludwig Leichhardt.

2 portraits in the collection

Fostin outside his mum's, Kings Park, Melbourne, 2015

by Nicola Dracoulis

Enid Fleming

Enid Fleming was a pupil of Rayner Hoff's at the East Sydney Technical College at the time these works were made (Hoff and several of his other students were working on the Anzac Memorial at the time).

2 portraits in the collection

Hetti Perkins

Hetti Perkins (b. 1965), Arrernte and Kalkadoon curator, cultural adviser, writer and activist, began her career at the Sydney gallery of Aboriginal Arts Australia before joining the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative as a curator.

1 portrait in the collection

Wendy Sharpe, 2000

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

Paul Boston

Paul Boston (b. 1952), an abstract artist, graduated from art school in Melbourne in 1972.

1 portrait in the collection

Yuge, 2019

Kathrin Longhurst

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

Wendy Sharpe

Previous exhibition, 2002

Wendy Sharpe undertook art studies in Sydney between 1978 and 1984 and held her first solo exhibition at the Nicholson Street Gallery in 1985.

3 portraits in the collection

Bill Brandt

A Retrospective

From Brandt's early work that documents fixed social contrasts of pre-World War II life in Britain to his later experimentation with a surreal style, this exhibition spans 50 years of Brandt's far reaching career in an extensive assemblage of 155 vintage gelatin silver prints from the Bill Brandt Archive in London.

Emma Lee – flight

Mike Rutherford

Paul Worstead

Paul Worstead (b. 1950) is a conceptual artist, poster maker, T-shirt and fabric designer.

2 portraits in the collection

Nathaniel Kinsman

Nathaniel Kinsman (1823–1898), lay preacher, came to Victoria in the late 1840s and set up in business in Fitzroy as a dealer in second-hand furniture.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, 1949

Frank Hinder

Gift of an anonymous donor 2007

Juliet van Otteren

Juliet van Otteren's first passion were dance and riding her horses bareback across the countryside.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Fiona Foley

Fiona Foley (b.1964), Badtjala artist, activist, curator and writer, grew up on Fraser Island and in nearby Hervey Bay before moving south to study art at the East Sydney Technical College.

2 portraits in the collection

Godfrey Miller

Godfrey Miller (1893-1964) arrived in Australia from his native New Zealand in 1919.

1 portrait in the collection

Douglas Dundas

Douglas Dundas (1900-1981), painter, trained at the Sydney Art School with Julian Ashton.

2 portraits in the collection

Junie Morosi

Junie Morosi (b. 1933) was born in Shanghai and educated at the International School in Manila and the University of East Philippines.

2 portraits in the collection

Lieutenant John Watts

Magazine article by Sam Bowker, 2007

Lieutenant John Watts (1755-1801) joined the Navy in 1770 and embarked with James Cook in 1776 on the fatal voyage of the Resolution.

1 portrait in the collection

On active service

The National Portrait Gallery has acquired an evocative depiction of soldier Peter Cosgrove by the Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor Rick Amor.

Peter Travis AM

Peter Travis AM (1929-2016), ceramic artist, designer and teacher, was born in the beachside Sydney suburb of Manly.

1 portrait 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

Paul Boston, 1995

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rick Amor and Meg Williams 2015
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Herman Mishkin

Herman Mishkin (1871–1948) was the pre-eminent photographer of opera stars of the 'Golden Age'.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Travis, 1971 (printed 2009)

Douglas Thompson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

A & G Taylor

Francesco Bartolozzi after John Webber

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

1 portrait in the collection

Captain James Cook, engraving after John Webber

Captain James Cook, engraving after John Webber, 1784

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

Douglas Carnegie

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2011

Douglas Carnegie, scion of a family whose fortune derived from a piano manufacturing company.

1 portrait in the collection

For the boys

The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.

Boxer, Blake Travers, 2017

by Patrick Bell

Archived media releases 2020

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

The National Portrait Prizes

29 January 2020

The National Portrait Gallery today announced finalists for the inaugural Darling Portrait Prize, a national new $75,000 prize for Australian portrait painting, and released selected images from the final prize pool for the popular National Photography Portrait Prize.

Jacques Etienne Victor Arago

Jacques Etienne Victor Arago (1790-1855), author, artist and explorer, travelled with Louis-Claude de Saulces de Freycinet on his 1817 voyage around the world on the Uranie.

3 portraits in the collection

Philip Gidley King

Philip Gidley King (1758-1808), naval officer and governor, joined the navy in late 1770 and served in the East Indies and American waters.

1 portrait in the collection

Antoine Fauchery

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper on card

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

2 portraits in the collection

Christine Audrey Pecket painting 'Self Portrait in a Brown Coat at the Sydney Technical College'

Christine Audrey Pecket painting 'Self Portrait in a Brown Coat at the Sydney Technical College', 1937

an unknown artist

Gift of Suzanne Playfoot 2023

Self portrait with glove, 1939

Herbert Badham

Portrait, oil on canvas board

Purchased 1999

Colin Lanceley

Colin Lanceley (b. 1938), painter, printmaker and sculptor, arrived in Australia from New Zealand as a baby.

2 portraits in the collection

Junie Morosi, 1975

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

Norman McBeath

Norman McBeath, Edinburgh-based photographer and printmaker, has fifty portraits in the National Portrait Galleries of London and Edinburgh.

2 portraits in the collection

Susie Porter

Newcastle-born Susie Porter (b. 1971) always knew she wanted to be an actor.

1 portrait in the collection

Angus and the late Peter C. Trumble, 1965, still then a firm advocate of the detachable collar.

Dementia and the arts

That principle of equity of access has ever since been a noble aspiration for all public art museums, as it is for us here at the National Portrait Gallery.

Fiona Foley in her studio at Hervey Bay, 1994

Juno Gemes

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Ina Gregory

Georgina ‘Ina’ Gregory (1874-1964) grew up with her sister Ada at Rosedale, her family home in East St Kilda.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Klippel, 1993

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

John Schank

John Schank (1740–1823), naval officer, joined the Royal Navy at age 17, having served in the merchant service as a boy.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (1970–2017), a man of the Gumatj clan of north east Arnhem Land, was born blind but learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

Ken Done, 1987

Rennie Ellis

Purchased 2006

Hearts and craft

Passion

The long game

Alice Giles AM

Alice Rosemary Giles AM, was born in Adelaide in 1961. Giles is an internationally celebrated Australian classical harp soloist.

1 portrait in the collection

Sahlan Hayes

Born in the United Kingdom, Sahlan Hayes lived with his family in the USA, New Zealand and the United Kingdom before settling in Australia.

9 portraits in the collection

Lord Casey, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Roderick Shaw

Portrait, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas

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

Me, 1992

Ken Done

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

Witzel Studios

William Skelton after J. Wright

Witzel Studios was founded in Los Angeles by photographer Albert Walter Witzel (1879–1929) in 1909 and within a few years had become one of the city’s foremost portrait studios.

1 portrait in the collection

Lieutenant King, 1789

Purchased 2010

Gino Zardo

Portrait, pastel on paper

Gino Zardo (b. 1968) is a Queanbeyan-born photographer who moved to New York in the 1990s, where he lived and worked for twenty years.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Klippel, c. 1990

Rosemary Madigan

Purchased 2020

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin)

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin) (1912-1996), Kija visual artist, spent much of his life in and around his country near Bedford Downs station in WA.

1 portrait in the collection

Thanacoupie

Thanacoupie AO (1937–2011), ceramic artist, community worker, elder, and spokesperson, grew up as Gloria Fletcher in North Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Jim Rolon

Portrait, oil on primed masonite

New Jersey-born Jim Rolon (b. 1956) began working as a photographer for a family portrait company in his twenties.

6 portraits in the collection

Self portrait at 85, 1990

Joshua Smith

Gift of the late May Ralph 2019

Junie Morosi, 1975 (printed 2002)

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

Captain Cook's Tablet at Cape Solander, Botany Bay, New South Wales

Captain James Cook RN

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated on wooden base

James Cook (1728-1779), maritime explorer, surveyed and claimed the east coast of Australia on the first of his three great voyages of discovery in the Pacific.

12 portraits in the collection

Alfred Hill, 1936

Rayner Hoff

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000

Jemima Bellette

Portrait, cold cast bronze

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

Sir Percy Spender, 1981

Alex Kolozsy

Gift of the artist and the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party of Australia 2004

Jean Bellette, 1937

Adrian Lawlor

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Douglas Carnegie, 1968

Mark Strizic

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Sir Roderick Carnegie 2003

Jean Bellette

Jean Bellette (1908-1991), painter, studied in her native Hobart before moving to Sydney to train with Julian Ashton.

1 portrait in the collection

Ada Bird Petyarre, 1990

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

Phyllis Shillito

Previous exhibition, 2014

Phyllis Shillito (1895-1980), designer and teacher, grew up in Yorkshire and trained and taught at Halifax Technical School before moving to teach design, craft and principles of art at Winchester School of Art and Liverpool City School of Art.

1 portrait in the collection

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.

Charles Hewitt

Born in Lincolnshire, Charles Hewitt (1837–1912) had begun working in Melbourne by 1860 and was one of the founding members of the Photographic Society of Victoria.

3 portraits in the collection

The Legend of Ruby and Archie

Devotion

A bond in song

Ninette Dutton OAM

Ninette Dutton OAM (1923-2007), artist, broadcaster and author, was born in Adelaide and educated at Creveen and Woodlands before studying Social Science at the University of Adelaide.

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

Michael Leunig

Michael Leunig (b. 1945), cartoonist, was born in working-class East Melbourne, and studied briefly at university before dropping out to follow the career path of his father, who worked as a slaughterman.

3 portraits in the collection

Queenie McKenzie Nakara

Queenie McKenzie (c. 1930–1998) was a prominent Gija artist in the East Kimberley painting movement.

1 portrait in the collection

She saved his life. He showed her painting.

Nearest & Dearest

Leaders, painters, friends

Betty Burstall AM

Betty Burstall AM (1926–2013) played a vital role in the development of theatre in Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Artist lovers re-united across the seas

Devotion

Exile burnishes love’s bond

Sir Ivor Hele

Sir Ivor Hele (1912–1993) was born in Adelaide and studied art at Prince Alfred College and the South Australian School of Arts and, later, in Paris and Munich.

3 portraits in the collection

Self Portrait in a Brown Coat, 1936

Christine A. Pecket

Purchased 2020

Peter Rushforth, 1971 (printed 2009)

Douglas Thompson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Rayner Hoff, 1924

Harold Cazneaux

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

Ada Bird Petyarre

Ada Bird Petyarre (c. 1930–2009), painter and printmaker, was an Anmatyerre woman from the Northern Territory, and one of seven sisters who all became notable artists.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Warman Roberts

Charles Warman Roberts (1821–1894), publican, was born in Sydney, the eldest son of free settler parents who emigrated to Australia in 1821.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Mrs Tom Roberts, 1910

Tom Roberts

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2013

Rosemary Madigan, 1992

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

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis (1950-2020) was born in Maryland, USA, and came to Australia in 1951.

3 portraits in the collection

George Bellette

Portrait, watercolour on paper

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

Klaus Friedeberger, 1942

Erwin Fabian

Gift of Julie Friedeberger 2021

Sir Saul Samuel, c. 1870

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2014

Mirka and Philippe - 9 Collins Street, c. 1966 (printed 2015)

Lazar Krum

Gift of the artist 2015

Hon. Edward Cohen

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Edward Aaron Cohen (1822–1877), merchant, politician and community leader, came to Australia with his mother and nine siblings in 1833, his father, Henry, having been transported to New South Wales that year.

1 portrait in the collection

Thanacoupie, 1981

Juno Gemes

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

John Bell, c. 1968

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

Charles Blackman OBE

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Charles Blackman OBE (1928–2018), artist, studied at East Sydney Technical College and worked as a press artist for the Sun newspaper before moving to Melbourne, where he came to the attention of arts patron John Reed.

9 portraits in the collection

Victor and Loti Smorgon, 1995 (printed 2001)

Kate Gollings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Francois Peron

François Péron (1775-1810), naturalist and explorer, served as a soldier from 1792 to 1794, in which period he was imprisoned and lost the sight of one eye.

6 portraits in the collection

Ken Done

Barthélemy Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

Ken Done (b. 1940), painter, studied at East Sydney Tech before becoming an advertising graphic designer.

3 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

Jon Muir OAM

Jon Muir OAM (b. 1961) is an adventurer and sustainability advocate. Raised in Wollongong, he started climbing full-time as a teenager.

1 portrait in the collection

Jean Isherwood OAM

Jean Coutant after Jacques Etienne Victor Arago

Jean Isherwood OAM (1911–2006), artist, was born in Marrickville and won a scholarship to the National Art School at East Sydney Technical College at the age of fourteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Nlle. Holland Port Jackson: Sauvages des environs de Sydney: Nani, Taran, Abinghou, Broten, Timbere

Nlle. Holland Port Jackson: Sauvages des environs de Sydney: Nani, Taran, Abinghou, Broten, Timbere, 1825

Portrait, line engraving on paper

Purchased 2015

Wolfgang Franz Otto Blass

Wolfgang Franz Otto Blass was born in East Germany in 1934 and at 15 began an apprenticeship in wine making and viticulture in his grandfather’s vineyard.

1 portrait in the collection

Colin Friels

Portrait, oil on canvas board

Colin Friels (b. 1952) arrived in Australia as an adolescent with his Scottish parents, both blue-collar workers.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of an Artist (Self portrait), 1944

David Strachan

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Christine Manfield, 1997

Selina Snow

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999

Jacques Arago, c. 1830s

Nicolas Maurin, Alexandre Sixdeniers

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Wesley Stacey

Wesley Stacey (1941–2023), photographer, was an apprentice silk screener and studied drawing and design at East Sydney Technical College in the early 1960s before working as a graphic designer and photographer in Sydney and London.

3 portraits in the collection

Margaret Olley AC

Portrait, oil on masonite

Margaret Olley AC (1923-2011), painter, studied art at East Sydney Technical College and the Grande Chaumière in Paris.

6 portraits in the collection

Self portrait, 1965

Jean Appleton

Gift of the Estate of Nicolaas van der Waarden 2013

Julie Gough

Artists and Collectives

Artist, curator and writer Julie Gough, Trawlwoolway through her maternal family, recover and re-presents unsettling and conflicting histories in Lutruwita/Tasmania, where her traditional homeland is Tebrikunna, in the north-east.

Margaret Olley, 1995

Adam Knott

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

Christine A. Pecket

Christine Audrey Pecket (1908–1996), artist, was three years old when her family emigrated to Sydney from Yorkshire.

2 portraits in the collection

Norman Hetherington OAM (and friends), 2008

Kate Rae

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist, Kate Rae and Mosman Art Gallery with the encouragement of the Hetherington family 2015

Paddy Jaminji, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

Rachel Roxburgh, 1939

Adelaide Perry

Portrait, oil on paperboard

Purchased 2018

Henry Wade, c. 1841

an unknown artist

Gift of the Wade and Hannah families 2013

Portrait of Captain James Cook RN, 1782

John Webber

Purchased by the Commonwealth Government with the generous assistance of Robert Oatley AO and John Schaeffer AO 2000

Mirka - 9 Collins Street, c. 1966 (printed 2015)

Lazar Krum

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of the artist 2015

Jimmy Barnes, 1986

Jim Rolon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2012

Klaus Friedeberger

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

Trumble and Borthwick families (Mum front right, Angus smallest), ca. 1968

Humdinger

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

Robert Klippel AO

Robert Klippel AO (1920–2001) is considered by some to be the most significant sculptor Australia has yet produced.

5 portraits in the collection

John Hamilton, 1969

Meg Padgham

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

The sculptor (George Lambert and Arthur Murch)

The sculptor (George Lambert and Arthur Murch), c. 1929

Harold Cazneaux

Conrad Westermayr after Jean Henri Cless

Purchased 2015

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, 2009

Guido Maestri

Portrait, oil on linen

Gift of the artist 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

François Péron, c. 1805

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Portrait of Jawoyn Elder, Margaret Katherine

Portrait of Jawoyn Elder, Margaret Katherine, 2015

John Gollings

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

Amrita Hepi

Artists and Collectives

Bundjulung/Ngapuhi woman Amrita Hepi’s work considers the body’s relationship to personal histories and archive, and investigates dance as social function.

After Ophelia: Fiona Foley at Lake Mackenzie, Fraser Island (Referencing Ophelia by John Everett Millais), 1994

Juno Gemes

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

A Commissioner of Customs "Faithful to Francis" [The Hon. Edward Cohen M.L.A.], 1874

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe, 2018

Shirley Purdie

Portrait, natural ochre and pigments on canvas (36 parts)

Purchased 2019

Self portrait, 2005

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait, 1999

Portrait, drypoint on paper

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

Jimmy Barnes AO

Jimmy Barnes AO (b. 1956), singer/songwriter, is a solo performer and the former lead singer of the quintessential Australian pub band, Cold Chisel.

3 portraits in the collection

Jack Thompson, 2019 (printed 2021)

Peter Brew-Bevan

John Young after Gilbert Stuart

Gift of the artist 2021

Lord Viscount Sydney, c. 1790

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Nancy Borlase and Laurie Short, 1991

Jenny Sages

Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 1998

Rayner Hoff

A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute

George Rayner Hoff (1894-1937), sculptor, was born in England and trained at the Royal College of Art, London.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir William Dargie

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

Betty Burstall, 1945

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Purchased 1998

Wilfred John Peisley

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated

Wilfrid John Peisley, born in Bathurst, won a number of prizes at regional shows before gaining a scholarship to the East Sydney Technical College at the age of seventeen.

1 portrait in the collection

Field Marshal the Lord Birdwood, 1938

Barbara Tribe

Gift of the Estate of the late Barbara Tribe 2009

Shirley Purdie

Shirley Purdie (b. 1947) is a senior Gija artist at the Warmun Art Centre who has been painting for more than twenty years.

1 portrait in the collection

Susie Porter, 2000 (printed 2001)

Peter Brew-Bevan

Purchased 2001

Elaine Haxton, c. 1940s

Max Dupain OBE

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

Self portrait, 1990

Portrait, oil on masonite

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

Study for self portrait, c. 1965

Jean Appleton

Gift of Laurie Curley OAM and Mrs Robyn Curley 2012

Jack Thompson, 2013

Dr Julie Dowling

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and red ochre on canvas

Purchased 2015

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

Johann Paul Georg Fischer

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

Portrait of Augustus Leopold Küper, 1823

Portrait, watercolour over pencil on artist board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Rosemary Madigan

Rosemary Madigan (1926–2019) was one of Australia's most respected sculptors.

3 portraits in the collection

Cressida Campbell AM

Cressida Campbell AM (b. 1960), artist, has worked for decades in a studio at her home in Bronte, Sydney.

2 portraits in the collection

Margaret Olley, 1998

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

Philip Flood AO, 2020

Sean Hutton

Gift of Philip and Carole Flood 2021

Ada May Plante

Ada May Plante (1875–1950), artist, was born in New Zealand and came to Melbourne with her family in 1888.

1 portrait in the collection

Akira Isogawa, 2001

Peter Brew-Bevan

Gift of the artist 2005

Hon. Saul Samuel

The Hon Sir Saul Samuel Bart KCMG CB (1820-1900), merchant, politician, company director and landowner, was the first Jewish legislator in New South Wales and the first Jew to become a minister of the Crown.

1 portrait in the collection

Georges Mora

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

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

1 portrait in the collection

I walk the line

Bruce Petty's animated self portrait captures a life's journey compressed into a few minutes.

Martin Grant, 2004

Julian Kingma

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Jon Lewis, 1990 (printed 2002)

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

Tony Bilson OAM

Tony Bilson, OAM (1944-2020), chef, grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Melbourne Grammar school before opening his first restaurant, La Pomme d'Or, in Camberwell in 1971.

1 portrait in the collection

David Wenham AM

David Wenham AM (b. 1965), actor, studied drama at the Nepean College of Advanced Education (now the University of Western Sydney), graduating with a BA in Performing Arts in 1987.

1 portrait in the collection

Queenie McKenzie Nakara, 1997

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

Les Tanner

Les Tanner was one of Australia’s best-known caricaturists. Born in Glebe, New South Wales, he is said to have taken up drawing portraits as early as age five, and as a teenager contributed cartoons to the school newspaper.

4 portraits in the collection

Elaine Haxton

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated

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

1 portrait in the collection

Captain Ulm, 1932

Enid Fleming

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Colonel Kathleen Annie Louise Best OBE RRC

Kathleen Best OBE RRC (1910–1957), nurse and officer, grew up in Sydney where she completed nursing and midwifery training.

1 portrait in the collection

Jack Thompson AM

Portrait, oil and enamel on hardboard

Jack Thompson AM (b. 1940) is an actor and the face of the 1970s Australian film renaissance.

3 portraits in the collection

Sketch for portrait of Tom Uren, 1972

Clifton Pugh AO

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

Some lads #1, 1986

Tracey Moffatt

Portrait, computer generated image, synthetic polymer paint and gel-glitters on polyester canvas

Gift of the artist 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Arizona 250 GT Major General Liz Cosson, 2013

Richard Larter

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013

Tracey Holmes

Tracey Holmes (b. 1966), sports broadcaster and journalist, has covered twelve Olympic Games and was the first woman to host an Australian national sports program, Grandstand.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Tingwell AM

Charles 'Bud' Tingwell AM (1923-2009), actor, became the youngest radio announcer in Australia when he was employed at Sydney radio station 2CH as a cadet.

1 portrait in the collection

Akira Isogawa, 2003 (printed 2005)

Ingvar Kenne

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

Double Portrait: Vida and Marie Breckenridge (study)

Double Portrait: Vida and Marie Breckenridge (study), 1999

Nancy Borlase AM

Gift of Marie Breckenridge 2004

Jon Molvig

Helge Jon Molvig was born and grew up in Newcastle, where he left school at thirteen and worked in a garage and at the steelworks.

6 portraits in the collection

Mirka Mora

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated

Mirka Mora (1928–2018), French-born artist and restaurateur, narrowly escaped Auschwitz as a girl.

5 portraits in the collection

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, 1932

Enid Fleming

Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Reinis Zusters

Reinis Zusters studied art briefly in Germany before arriving in Australia as a Latvian refugee in 1950.

2 portraits in the collection

Richard Gardiner Casey KG GCMG CH

Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey of Berwick, Victoria and the City of Westminster KG GCMG CH (1890-1976), politician and statesman, was born in Brisbane and educated in Melbourne and at Cambridge.

3 portraits in the collection

Wes Stacey, Kurnell, Sydney, 1973 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Lady Ellen Stirling

Lady Ellen Stirling (1807-1874) was the third daughter of James Mangles of Woodbridge in Surrey, a Director of the East India Company and later an MP.

1 portrait in the collection

Mona Hessing

Mona Hessing (1933-2001) weaver, was described as having made a 'very significant contribution from the late 1960s into the 1980s to the development of weaving as monumental public sculpture.

1 portrait in the collection

Discussion between Bob Hawke and Yunupingu, Burunga Festival, Northern Territory

Yunupingu AM

Previous exhibition, 2022

Yunupiŋu (1948–2023), revered senior ceremonial Yolŋu man of the Gumatj clan from North-East Arnhem Land, fought tirelessly for the rights and recognition of Yolŋu and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people alike.

1 portrait in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

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

Marea Gazzard AM

Marea Gazzard AM (1928–2013), ceramic artist, trained at the East Sydney Technical College and London Central School for Arts and Craft.

3 portraits in the collection

George Case

George Case (life dates unknown) and his wife Grace Egerton (d. 1881), variety performers, made several successful tours of Australia in the 1860s and 1870s, although the precise dates of their visits are unknown.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 1824 by James Thomson

Audacity, audacity, audacity

Angus delves into the biographies of two ambitious characters; Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir John Pope-Hennessy.

Cressida Campbell, 2001

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

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

The Freak Show

Many performers availed themselves of the services of photographic studios, posing for carte de visite portraits that served as souvenirs and as instruments in the making of renown and notoriety.

Russell Page

Russell Page (1968–2002), choreographer, dancer and actor, was from the Nunukul (Noonuccal) people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh people of south-east Queensland.

4 portraits in the collection

Alex Miller, 1992

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Dr B Marika AO, 1990

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

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

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

Nancy Borlase AM

Nancy Borlase AM (1914–2006), painter and writer, was born in New Zealand, and had to be dug out of the wreckage when an earthquake struck Napier in late 1931.

4 portraits in the collection

Elizabeth Reid AO

Elizabeth Reid AO (b. 1942), adviser on women's and public health policy, lived from her teens in Canberra, where she gained a pioneering public service cadetship in 1960.

1 portrait in the collection

Head study for portrait of Margaret Olley

Head study for portrait of Margaret Olley, 1994

Jeffrey Smart AO

Bequest of Nick Enright AM 2004

Portrait of Leslie Walford, 1970s

Vaike Liibus

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sally Hardy 2019

Jean Appleton

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

Barbara Tribe

Barbara Tribe (1913–2000), artist, is one of Australia's most significant sculptors.

4 portraits in the collection

Kerrie Lester, 1990

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

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

Sir John Young

Sir John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar (1807-1876), governor of New South Wales from 1861 to 1867, was the son of a director of the East India Co.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Roxburgh

Portrait, oil and oil pastel on canvas

Richard Roxburgh (b. 1962), actor, completed an economics degree at the Australian National University before gaining a place at NIDA on his second attempt.

2 portraits in the collection

Lloyd Rees at the Rock in 1975, 1984

Roderick Shaw

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Self portrait, c. 1911

Frank Hurley OBE

Purchased 2005

David Dridan OAM

David Dridan (b. 1932), artist, studied at the South Australian School of Art and later at East Sydney Technical College.

1 portrait in the collection

Ron Robertson-Swann OAM

Ron Robertson-Swann (b. 1941), sculptor, teacher and painter, studied at the National Art School (NAS) under Lyndon Dadswell in the late 1950s.

1 portrait in the collection

Mirka Mora, 2001

Previous exhibition, 1999

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

Arthur Boyd Portraits

This is the first in a series of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions to survey the portraits painted by artists who are not thought of, primarily, as portrait painters

Lewis Morley

Myself and Eye

Previous exhibition, 2003

Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun

Danila Vassilieff

Danila Vassilieff, born in Russia, arrived in Australia in the early 1920s having served in a Cossack cavalry regiment, been captured by Communist forces and escaped via Persia and India to China.

1 portrait in the collection

George Perry

Previous exhibition, 2005

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

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Brew-Bevan Portraits

In this exhibition Sydney based photographer Peter Brew-Bevan brings together an intimate collection of works that highlight his passion for the genre of portraiture over the last 10 years

Akira Isogawa

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Akira Isogawa (b. 1964), fashion designer, was born in Kyoto, Japan, and first came to Australia on a working holiday at the age of 21.

2 portraits 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.

Portrait of Georges Mora, 1956

Charles Blackman OBE

Portrait, oil on paper laid on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Through blue eyes

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan bring the desert, the misty seashore and the hot Monaro plains to exhibition Open Air: Portraits in the landscape.

Arthur Phillip

Archived media releases 2014

Arthur Phillip (1738–1814), first governor of New South Wales, began his career while a boy in London.

2 portraits in the collection

Rick Amor 21 Portraits

20 November 2014

Press releases and image downloads for media.

Jenny Sages

Portrait, tempera on masonite

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

The chase, 1952

Charles Blackman OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rob and Paula McLean 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

On the passage and pace of time

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

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC

Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC (1897-1985) was a politician, statesman, diplomat and judge.

3 portraits in the collection

Margaret Whitlam, 2005

Sahlan Hayes

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Rick Amor

Previous exhibition, 2009

Rick Amor (b. 1948) is a Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor.

27 portraits in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

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

Portrait of David Dridan, 1992

Brian Dunlop

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Dridan OAM 2017

Philip Williams

Previous exhibition, 2009

During 46 years as a journalist, Philip Williams (b. 1957) covered the world’s biggest news events.

1 portrait in the collection

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2009

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Binem Grunstein

Portraits in the Landscape

Binem (Bill) Grunstein (1921-2013), garment manufacturer and artist, escaped the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941, having seen his parents and most of his family members die of typhus or disappear.

1 portrait in the collection

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.

David Strachan

William B. Latimer, W B Latimer Photo Art Studio

David Strachan (1919–1970), painter and printmaker, was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then studied art at the Slade School in London.

2 portraits in the collection

Reverend Nathaniel Kinsman, c. 1880

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Purchased 2013

Anne Zahalka

Photo media artist Anne Zahalka was born in Sydney in 1957, following her parent’s migration to post-war Australia.

19 portraits 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

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

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

Ahmad Sabra

Finalist interviews

We were in Gaza shooting a documentary and we had heard about the orphanages and wanted to visit and document some of the children who had lost parents during the wars in Gaza.

Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC

Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC (b.1958) enlisted in the Australian Army in 1979 and was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Major General in the Australian Army in 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

Carol McGregor

Contributing artists

Born: 1961, Hastings, New Zealand
Works: Brisbane

The family, c. 1955

Charles Blackman OBE

Portrait, oil on board

Gift of Barbara Blackman 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

2023 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.

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

Eric McIllree

Previous exhibition, 2004

Eric McIllree (1914-1973) was the founder, chairman and managing director of the Australian arm of Avis Rent-A-Car, and for twelve years the owner and developer of Dunk Island.

1 portrait in the collection

Stanley Bruce, 1937

Barbara Tribe

Portrait, cast bronze

Gift of the artist 2000

Mark Strizic

A Journey in Photography

This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.

Frank Lowy AC

Self Portraits in Australia

Sir Frank Lowy AC (b. 1930) businessman, property developer and philanthropist, founded the Westfield group of shopping centres.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Glossy 2

Faces, Magazines, Now

Previous exhibition, 2005

Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.

Arthur Phillip Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief in & over the territory of New South Wales, 1789

W Sherwin, John Stockdale after Francis Wheatley

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Behrouz Boochani

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Kurdish-Iranian journalist, writer and filmmaker, Behrouz Boochani, was born in Iran in 1983.

1 portrait in the collection

James Macpherson Grant, c. 1870s

Paterson Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018

Ellen Stirling, c. 1828

Thomas Phillips

Previous exhibition, 2010

Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

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

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Dr B Marika AO

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Dr B Marika AO (1954–2021), Yolgnu leader, printmaker, arts administrator, environmentalist and cultural activist, was a member of the renowned Marika family of artists and activists.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir John Young, c. 1862

Freeman Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

James McClelland, 1946

Nancy Borlase AM

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gillian Appleton (McClelland) 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Inspiration + Realisation: Jude Rae

Magazine article by Justin Paton, 2006

Justin Paton explores the latest exhibition of Jude Rae's portrait paintings.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Marilyn Ball, Albatross, 2018 (detail) by Linde Ivimey

So Fine

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

Previous exhibition, 2018

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Previous exhibition, 2023

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

Presenting… Shirley Purdie’s Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Wednesday 27 May 2020

Archived media releases 2020

The National Portrait Gallery this week launches an online exhibition of Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe to coincide with Reconciliation Week.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

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

Richard Read Jnr

Richard Read junior arrived in Sydney from his native London in November 1819.

2 portraits in the collection

Marion Borgelt

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper

Marion Borgelt (b. 1954) grew up on a farm in the Wimmera district in western Victoria and attained her Diploma in Fine Art, majoring in painting, from the South Australian School of Art in 1976.

1 portrait in the collection

Edward John Eyre, 1867

Julia Margaret Cameron

Presented by Sir Roy Strong and the late Dr Julia Trevelyan Oman in memory of their friendship with Gordon Darling and Marilyn Darling 2006

Chandler P. Coventry AM

Chandler Phillip Coventry AM (1924–1999), grazier, gallerist, art collector and arts patron, was born in Armidale, New South Wales to an established New England grazing family.

1 portrait in the collection

Lord Kitchener

Imperial strategist

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Once central to military strategy and venerated in patriotic households, Lord Kitchener is now largely forgotten.

First Ladies

Previous exhibition, 2013

First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.

Jenny Kee AO

Jenny Kee AO (b. 1947) is a fashion designer and an Australian style icon.

1 portrait in the collection

Archbishop Michael Kelly

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

Michael Kelly (1850-1940), Roman Catholic archbishop, was born and educated in Ireland before proceeding to the Irish College in Rome.

1 portrait in the collection

In a glance

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portrait of Ninette Dutton by Bette Mifsud.

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Previous exhibition, 2019

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

Sketch of Clifton Pugh painting John Perceval

Sketch of Clifton Pugh painting John Perceval, 1985

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2016

Little John of Colchester, a poor lunatic, c.1823 by John Dempsey

Dempsey's people

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

Those of you who are active in social media circles may be aware that through the past week I have unleashed a blitz on Facebook and Instagram in connection with our new winter exhibition Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits, 1824−1844.

A Meeting of Great Minds

The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.

Not perspiring, but glowing.

The cultural history of radiance.

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Angus Trumble explores the creative manifestations of radiance.

Sideshow Alley

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.

Nusra Latif Qureshi

by Hammad Nasar

Artist essays

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

Vlase Zanalis

Palassis (Vlase, Vlazio or Vlasio) Zanalis (1902–1973) arrived in Western Australia as a twelve-year-old, accompanied by an uncle, from the Greek island of Kastellorizo in 1914.

1 portrait in the collection

Wicked but Virtuous

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

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

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

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

A & G Taylor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Almerisa, Asylumseekerscenter Leiden, March 14, 1993

Interview

Magazine article by Rineke Dijkstra, 2013

Rineke Dijkstra's photographic series of her subject, Almerisa Sehric, evolved over the course of 14 years.

Form and reality

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

A photographic portrait by Kerry Dundas captures the contemplative mind of visionary painter Godfrey Miller.

Robert Brown

Magazine article by Ashleigh Wadman, 2011

Robert Brown (1773–1858) is considered ‘the father of Australian botany’.

2 portraits in the collection

Yolngu boy

Guy Maestri’s portrait of the musician was conceived after the artist saw Gurrumul perform in Sydney on New Year’s Eve 2008.

2021 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

Boyd to man

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

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

The Secret Life of Deb

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2003

Australian actress Deborah Mailman is the subject of a unique portrait by Evert Ploeg.

Village people

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2015

Christopher Chapman discusses Rod McNicol's photographic portrait series Newcomers to my village.

Angkor Wat

Nothing quite prepares the first-time visitor to Cambodia for the scale and grandeur of the monuments of the ancient Khmer civilisation of Angkor.

Trumble's way

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

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

In good company

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

Queen Victoria, 1901

The Illustrated London News after Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Blue Collar Icon

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

Dr Sarah Engledow delves into the life of union leader Pat Mackie who is depicted in a portrait by Nancy Borlase AM.

References

About the exhibition curator Claire Roberts, and writers Eugene Wang and Zhang Letian.

Desert Island Discs

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2002

I agonized over the choice of four songs to take with me to the ABC Studios for Alex Sloan’s Canberra 666 afternoon program, a sort of iteration of the old BBC Desert Island Discs.

Courage, Self-analysis and Skill

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

Gordon Darling Hall, National Portrait Gallery

Architecture

About us

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

A bear of great substance

Archived media releases 2018

Just in time for Christmas, Angus reflects on the most special present he has ever received.

2022 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

So Fine

17 May 2018

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce its winter exhibition is So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history. It will open to the public from 29 June 2018.

Hottie's Snifter to port

Magazine article by Peter Jeffrey, 2016

Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.

Drawn from life

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2021

Penelope Grist discovers the rich narratives in Peter Wegner’s series of centenarian portraits.

Portrait of William Manning, c.1821 by Henry Bone

Of beef in burgundy

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

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

Face House – Kyoto, Japan Architect: Kazumasa Yamashita

Alter ego

Magazine article by Tom Fryer, 2021

Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.

Beau Dean Riley Smith, Wiradjuri and Gamilaraay nations, Bennelong, 2017

Space in between

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

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

Capturing Cook

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2003

In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.

So Fine

28 June 2018

Archived media releases 2018

Ten women artists explore the possibilities of portraiture as a contemporary art form; and reinterpret and reimagine Australian history in the Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history.

James Baldwin, writer, Harlem, New York 1945 by Richard Avedon

The Avedon effect

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2013

Dr Christopher Chapman explores how we can understand Richard Avedon's photographs.

Grateful admiration and brotherly love

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

In the earliest stages of the Great War, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton was turned into a military hospital, and arrangements made there to accommodate the different dietary and other requirements of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim patients.

Four from the 30s

Australia's tradition of sculpted portraits stretches back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and continues to sustain a group of dedicated sculptors.

Shadows of light

Magazine article by Mark Haworth-Booth, 2002

Mark Haworth-Booth explains why Bill Brandt is one of the most important British photographers of the Twentieth Century.

Ngarranggarni

Archived media releases 2021

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

Announcing... Jonathan Jones Bogong Cluster: Physically distant, socially connected

5 January 2021

A new light installation by Jonathan Jones reflects on the importance of community through the lens of his Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi heritage, whilst also acting as a prompt for gallery visitors to maintain social distancing.

Self-portrait with guardian spirits, 2009-2010 Kate Beynon

Kate Beynon’s transcultural life and art

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

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

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

Subtle emotion

Christopher Chapman considers photographer Rozalind Drummond's portrait of author Nam Le.

Nocturnal animals

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

Joanna Gilmour explores the enticing urban shadows cast by artists Martin Lewis and Edward Hopper.

Murray frees himself from straightjacket in public, 1928 by Sam Hood

Risky business

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

The highest honour

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Bringing eminent scientist Frank Fenner and artist Jude Rae together for the National Portrait Gallery commission was like matchmaking.

Storied portrait

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Emily Casey takes in Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait, Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe.

Louis XVI giving final instructions to the Comte de La Perouse, c. 1785

Sea legged frogs

Joanna Gilmour describes some of the stories of the individuals and incidents that define French exploration of Australia and the Pacific.

Portraits and other stories

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

As the National Portrait Gallery opens its exhibition of portrait and figurative work by veteran photographer Sam Haskins, the artist reflects on the highlights of his fifty-year career so far.

Portrait of Kang Sehwang, 1783 by Yi Myeonggi

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Magazine article by Kwon Hyeeun, 2019

Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.

The boy, the bed and the gun

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Christopher Chapman contemplates the provocative performance art of Chris Burden.

The news from Washington

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2006

Australia's former Cultural Attache to the USA, Ron Ramsey, describes the mood at the opening week of the revitalised American National Portrait Gallery.

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.

Nikhil Chopra

by Rattanamol Johal

Artist essays

Nikhil Chopra was born in 1974, in Calcutta. His first degree was in commerce, but in 1997 he took up fine art studies, eventually gaining a Masters in Fine Art from Ohio State University, United States.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

Listomania

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

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

In the thick of it

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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.

Queen Alexandra and Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia, Hvidore, circa 1908 by Mary Steen

The cost of living luxuriously

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

In 1904, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia purchased as a gift for her sister, Queen Alexandra, a fan composed of two-color gold, guilloché enamel, mother-of-pearl, blond tortoiseshell, gold sequins, silk, cabochon rubies, and rose diamonds from the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg.

Each morning when I wake up I put on my mothers face, 2000

Paths to portraiture

The life and art of Australian artist Jenny Sages is on display in the exhibition Paths to Portraiture.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

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

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

Foundation Members

Foundation

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

Duty bound

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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

Mental as everything

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2006

Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.

Pop poet

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2013

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

Forum participants

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

Biographies of participants in the Writing lives, revealing lives forum.

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

The more things change...

Magazine article by Sven Knudsen, 2018

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.

Royal Solomon Islands Police Force recruits, Maranatha Hall, Honiara by Sean Davey

The art of peace

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

Christmas Island

Magazine article by Roger Benjamin, 2015

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.

Yellow portrait (portrait of Alex Jelinek)

Fugue in Yellow

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

Of ice and men

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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

Eating the seasons

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2019

Anne Sanders imbibes Tony Bilson’s gastronomic revolution.

Profile of a marriage

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the lives of Sir George Grey and his wife Eliza, the subjects of a pair of wax medallions in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Reflections on portraiture

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

Shall I raise my eyebrows and gasp? (Alex), 2011 by TextaQueen

Pen power

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

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

Fits of delicacy and despair

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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

Splendid, many-splendoured

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

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

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits

Magazine article by Tenille Hands, 2018

Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.

The life of Bryant

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Magazine article by Sharon Peoples, 2017

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

Costantini's convictions

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

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

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster

To the end of the earth

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

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

Friends and Acquaintances

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

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

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.

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).

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.

Asiel Timor Dei, ca. 1728 by a master of Calamarca

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

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

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.

Little women

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

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

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.

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.

Generous Janice

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

The Triumph of Death, c. 1562 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Black Death

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

The best horror stories are real. A flea sinks its proboscis into the skin of a sick black rat, feeds on its blood, and ingests lethally multiplying bacteria.

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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

Anangu landscape learning

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.

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.

Some prime ministers