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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.

What's on

Saturday 1 May 2021 – Monday 1 May 2023

Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023
Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023
Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023
Collection display in Gallery Three, April 2023

Collection display galleries

Exhibition open every day

The collection display includes a wide selection of portraits that tell extraordinary stories of encounter, exploration, independence, individuality and achievement in Australia.

Deborah Mailman
Deborah Mailman
Deborah Mailman
Deborah Mailman

Portrait Allsorts

In Gallery Seven

Exhibition closes 30 June

Offering portraiture in all its flavours: painting, photography, drawing, textiles, printmaking and sculpture, this exhibition is a feast for minds and eyes.

spaces between movement and stillness
spaces between movement and stillness
spaces between movement and stillness
spaces between movement and stillness

Harriet Schwarzrock

spaces between movement and stillness

Exhibition closes 4 July

Harriet Schwarzrock’s new work explores notions of emotional processes and their physical manifestations.

Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan
Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan
Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan
Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan

Australian Love stories

Family, friends, fanatics and foes (and everything in between!)

Exhibition closes 1 August

Reconnect and reflect with our new major exhibition, Australian Love Stories (in real life!) as we explore love, affection and connection in all its guises.

Bookings required
Lee Lin Chin
Lee Lin Chin
Lee Lin Chin
Lee Lin Chin

This is my place

In Galleries Four, Five and Six

Exhibition opens 4 May

An antidote to the months spent in isolation at home, This is my place brings a fresh, intimate focus to the places that define who we are – our spiritual homes, habitats and workspaces.

Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley

Living Memory

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2021

Exhibition opens 31 July

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.

Bookings required
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Women Make History

In Galleries Seven, Eight and Nine

Exhibition opens 20 November

Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.

William Shakespeare, c. 1600-1610  associated with John Taylor
William Shakespeare, c. 1600-1610  associated with John Taylor
William Shakespeare, c. 1600-1610  associated with John Taylor
William Shakespeare, c. 1600-1610  associated with John Taylor

Shakespeare to Winehouse

Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London

Exhibition opens 12 March

From Shakespeare to Winehouse, Darwin to Dickens, the Beatles, Brontë sisters and Beckham, the National Portrait Gallery London holds the world’s most extensive collection of portraits.

Bookings required
2020, 2021 Jaq Grantford
2020, 2021 Jaq Grantford
2020, 2021 Jaq Grantford
2020, 2021 Jaq Grantford

Darling Portrait Prize 2022

Exhibition opens 25 June

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015). The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

Bookings required
Silent Strength, 2021 Wayne Quilliam
Silent Strength, 2021 Wayne Quilliam
Silent Strength, 2021 Wayne Quilliam
Silent Strength, 2021 Wayne Quilliam

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Exhibition opens 25 June

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.

Bookings required
Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize finalists
Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize finalists
Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize finalists
Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize finalists

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2022

Exhibition opens 25 June

Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘identity’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.

Bookings required
Linda Puna
Linda Puna
Linda Puna
Linda Puna

Mayatjara by Robert Fielding

In Gallery One

Exhibition opens 9 July

The series captures Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Traditional Owners and custodians, respected and significant leaders, advocates and artists within the communities of the APY Lands.

Maria
Maria
Maria
Maria

WHO ARE YOU

Australian portraiture

Exhibition opens 1 October

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.

Marion Borgelt
Marion Borgelt
Marion Borgelt
Marion Borgelt

Time and Line

In Gallery Seven

Exhibition opens 22 October

Encompassing the 1820s to the 2020s, Time and Line showcases the depth and extent of our drawing collection.

Self portrait
Self portrait
Self portrait
Self portrait

The work of art

In Galleries Eight and Nine

Exhibition opens 29 October

It takes a village to raise a creative! Get an insight into the often-unseen work and supporters needed for the arts to thrive. The work of art documents the creative process, evoke states of creativity and inspiration, and shows us clues about the subject’s own work from the way artists portray them.

Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman

At ease

In Gallery One

Exhibition opens 21 January

Enjoy, sit back, and relax with some of our favourites from the Gallery’s collection, where they find themselves expertly – and comfortably – captured by their artists.

Portrait23: Identity logo
Portrait23: Identity logo
Portrait23: Identity logo
Portrait23: Identity logo

Portrait23: Identity

Exhibition opens 10 March

Portraiture. Not as you know it. We invite you to stretch, push, resist and transcend portraiture’s conventional constraints.

Twelve portraits of finalists for the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2023
Twelve portraits of finalists for the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2023
Twelve portraits of finalists for the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2023
Twelve portraits of finalists for the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2023

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2023

Exhibition opens 25 March

Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘Me and my place’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.

Mary Chomley
Mary Chomley
Mary Chomley
Mary Chomley

The Cosmopolitans

In Gallery Two

Exhibition opens 1 April

Spanning the 1880s to the 1930s, this collection display celebrates the innovations in art – and life – introduced by the generation of Australians who travelled to London and Paris for experience and inspiration in the decades either side of 1900.

More events

Tuesday 2 May 2023 – Thursday 1 May 2025
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

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