2024 Annual Appeal

The Gallery thanks you for your donations towards the acquisition of Some Lads #2, Some Lads #3, Some Lads #4 and Some Lads #5 by Tracey Moffatt. We would be grateful for any support you may like to provide toward the acquisition of future works.

In 1998, acclaimed artist Tracey Moffatt gifted her portrait Some Lads #1 (Russell Page) to the National Portrait Gallery. A black and white photograph of young dancer and actor Russell Page, from the Nunukul people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh Nation of south-east Queensland, it was one of the first two photographs acquired for the national collection. Twenty-five years later we have the extraordinary opportunity to acquire the full body of work, adding Some Lads #2, Some Lads #3, Some Lads #4 and Some Lads #5 to the collection.

Moffatt took Some Lads #1 when Page was with the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre in Sydney, and the portrait shows his physicality and natural grace.

It is the first in a series of five photographs that powerfully and playfully depicts Russell Page, Larrakia man Gary Lang, Muruwari man Matthew Doyle, and Graham Blanco, a descendant of the Mer (Murray Island) people – all who went on to have significant careers in dance.