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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.

About Face

Portrait treats and treatises

From punchy short pieces to longer form leanings, it's the place to come for a frequent fix of the world's most accessible art form.

Untitled, Conductors, Tramways series, 1990 © Matt Nettheim
Untitled, Conductors, Tramways series, 1990 © Matt Nettheim
Untitled, Conductors, Tramways series, 1990 © Matt Nettheim

Back track

by Penelope Grist, 1 July 2020

Penelope Grist finds photographer Matt Nettheim re-visiting a formative and fulfilling career tram stop.
The Dance - David McAllister
The Dance - David McAllister
The Dance - David McAllister

Home is where the art is

by Tedi Bills, 9 June 2020

Tedi Bills on how social media in the age of COVID-19 has fanned the flames of our portrait fascination.
Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe
Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe
Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Storied portrait

by Emily Casey, 27 May 2020

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

Giving a dam

True south #1

by Joanna Gilmour, 22 May 2020

Ensconced and meditative in crisp Tasmania, Joanna Gilmour pays tribute to passionate green advocate and photographer Olegas Truchanas.
Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908­–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist
Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908­–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist
Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908­–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist

Of plague and portraits

by Corinna Cullen, 18 May 2020

Corinna Cullen on the symbolic power of pandemic-related imagery over the ages.
Jon (Jon Muir)
Jon (Jon Muir)
Jon (Jon Muir)

Roam alone

by Jon Muir OAM, 4 May 2020

Jon Muir, adventurer and Portrait Gallery Collection subject, really knows about isolation.
Hell's mouth, 2019 Cam Neville
Hell's mouth, 2019 Cam Neville
Hell's mouth, 2019 Cam Neville

Facing the inferno

by Tara James, 15 April 2020

Tara James speaks to Cam Neville about his portrait series, Firefighters.

The eye and the heart

by Nici Cumpston, 6 April 2020

Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.

Christmas Island

by Angus Trumble, 1 December 2018

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.
Lustre, held by a Groom, ca. 1762 by George Stubbs
Lustre, held by a Groom, ca. 1762 by George Stubbs
Lustre, held by a Groom, ca. 1762 by George Stubbs

Stubbs and the horse

by Angus Trumble, 30 October 2018

One of the chief aims of George Stubbs, 1724–1806, the late Judy Egerton’s great 1984–85 exhibition at the Tate Gallery was to provide an eloquent rebuttal to Josiah Wedgwood’s famous remark of 1780: “Noboby suspects Mr Stubs [sic] of painting anything but horses & lions, or dogs & tigers.”

20/20 launch speech

by Dr Helen Nugent AC, 18 October 2018

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.
Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and David R. L. Litchfield at Villa Favorita, Lugano, Switzerland, 1989 © Nicola Graydo
Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and David R. L. Litchfield at Villa Favorita, Lugano, Switzerland, 1989 © Nicola Graydo
Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and David R. L. Litchfield at Villa Favorita, Lugano, Switzerland, 1989 © Nicola Graydo

The Thyssen Art Macabre

by Angus Trumble, 28 September 2018

Books seldom make me angry but this one did. At first, I was powerfully struck by the uncanny parallels that existed between the Mellons of Pittsburgh and the Thyssens of the Ruhr through the same period, essentially the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
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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.

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