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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, 1645

The considered life

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2010

Andrew Sayers asks whether a portrait can truly be the examination of a life.

Self portrait

Give me five

Magazine article by Karen Quinlan AM, 2021

National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan AM nominates her quintet of favourites from the collection, with early twentieth-century ‘selfies’ filling the roster.

Robert H. Black MD

The artist and the doctor

Art, war, scandal

The Jester (self portrait)

The Jester (self portrait)

The Jester (self portrait)

The Jester (self portrait), 1923

Portrait, wood engraving on paper

Gift of Sir Richard Kingsland AO CBE DFC 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait

Virtual Highlight Tour

Evelyn, Stella & Nora

Event, Tuesday 14 May

Join curator Dr Emma Kindred as she explores self-portraiture through the eyes of Evelyn Chapman, Stella Bowen (who would have celebrated her 131st birthday this Thursday) and Nora Heysen.

image not online

François Jacques Dequevauvillier

François Jacques Dequevauviller was the son of the French engraver Nicolas-Barthelemy François Dequevauviller (1745–1807).

1 portrait in the collection

Kate

Favourite portraits

General content

National Portrait Gallery staff introduce their favourite portraits from the exhibition.

Maria

WHO ARE YOU

Australian portraiture

Previous exhibition, 2022

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.

Robert H. Black MD

Robert Hughes Black ED BS FRACP

Robert Hughes Black ED MD DTM&H Dip Anth FRACP (1917-1988) was a world authority on malaria and Professor of Tropical Medicine in the Commonwealth Institute of Health, University of Sydney, for twenty years.

1 portrait in the collection

Leanne Benjamin

Leanne Benjamin

Leanne Benjamin

Leanne Benjamin, 1999 (printed 2022)

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Purchased 2022

King Henry VIII, 1597-1618 Unknown artist

King Henry VIII

In the mirror: self portrait with Joy Hester

Depth of Field

Portrait Photography from the Collection

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Faith Bandler, study

Faith Bandler AC

Faith Bandler AC (1920–2015), civil rights activist and writer, was born in Tumbulgum, New South Wales, to a Scottish-Indian mother and a cane-worker father from Ambrym Island, in what is now Vanuatu.

2 portraits in the collection

Hardtmuth 'Hottie' Lahm

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

Self portrait with glove

To Look Within

Self Portraits in Australia

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Portrait of Lin Bloomfield

Portrait of Lin Bloomfield

Portrait of Lin Bloomfield

Portrait of Lin Bloomfield, 1992

Portrait, mixed media, fibre-tipped pen, pencil charcoal, pastel, gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lin Bloomfield 2017

© 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