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

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

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Self portrait

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

Artist kisses subject, 2014 Sophia Hewson. Private collection. © Sophia Hewson. Photo: © AGNSW

The powerful, subversive female gaze

Erotic-platonic

The Writer, Peter Goldsworthy

The Writer: Peter Goldsworthy, 2018

by Deidre But-Husaim

General content

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

Chrissy Amphlett

Chrissy Amphlett

Chrissy Amphlett

Chrissy Amphlett "Temperamental", 1989

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on composition board

Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait

Self portrait

Self portrait

Self portrait, n.d.

Portrait, pen and ink, pencil on paper laid on cardboard

Gift of Dr Penny Olsen, Peter Woollard and Artemis Georgiades 2015

Chrissy Amphlett

Chrissy Amphlett

Christina 'Chrissy' Amphlett (1959–2013), singer/songwriter, was best known for her energetic performances as the lead singer of rock band the Divinyls, often in her trademark school uniform and fishnet stockings.

1 portrait in the collection

William Robertson

William Robertson

William Robertson

William Robertson, c. 1852

an unknown artist

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.

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

Oz Elsewhere

Get me outta here

General content

While the blues-inspired hard guitar riffs of Australian pub rock were shaping tastes, a number of artists were developing music primed for success on the international stage.

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 Robertson

200 Years of Portraiture

About Face article

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

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.

Mrs NR Mackintosh (Anne) by Ruth Hollick

Natural, artistic and unselfconscious

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2016

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

Self portrait

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.

John Bell as King Lear oil on Belgian linen, 2001 by Nicholas Harding

Lear unbuttoned

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Sarah Engledow steps up to the footlights and applauds the storyline behind Nicholas Harding's portraits of actor John Bell.

Sidney Nolan, Western Australia

Cultural kaleidoscope

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

James, Rebecca and Sam Mapu

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.

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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

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

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency