Frances Alda (1879–1952) was one of the world's greatest sopranos. Born Fanny Jane Davis in Christchurch, New Zealand, which claims her as a prominent expatriate, she was raised in Melbourne, where she began singing operetta in 1897.
2 portraits in the collection
Omai (Mai) (c. 1750-1778), the first Polynesian to visit Britain, was a young man of middling social standing who volunteered to sail from Huahine to England with Captain Furneaux on the Adventure (the ship accompanying James Cook's Resolution on Cook's second voyage of discovery (1772-1775).
2 portraits in the collection
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.
Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life of female Australian surfing legend Isabel Letham.
Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.
Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.
The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.
One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.
