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

Take a 30 minute tour of the Portrait Gallery exploring the collection and the building.

The Darling Portrait Prize is a 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.

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.

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.

Experience the very best new portrait paintings and photographs from across Australia.

Join us in the Gallery as we share the stories behind the photographs and paintings in the National Photographic Portrait Prize, Darling Portrait Prize and Little Darlings.

Boost your creativity and build a toolkit of practical strategies to develop positive creative learning experiences for your students.

An opportunity to take it slow, come together as a community, engaging with art and each other.

Join Professor Penny Sackett (That’s right! One of our very own, esteemed sitters!) as she discusses all things science and portraits as we celebrate National Science Week.

Join us in the Gallery as we explore the collection with our tour for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Sighted companions and guide dogs are more than welcome.

An opportunity to take it slow, come together as a community, engaging with art and each other.

Think you know better than the judges? Join in on the debate as we weigh up the complexities of a judged art prize while looking at the Darling Portrait Prize finalists.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

An opportunity to take it slow, come together as a community, engaging with art and each other.

Join us as we take just three powerful portraits from the fabulous National Photograph Portrait Prize and celebrate First Nations photographers and their sitters.

I Progetti Chamber Choir, directed by Charis Messalina de Valence, invites you to share in this musical offering as they explore new, unfamiliar and infrequently-performed choral music.

A film that celebrates the love, lives and creative collaboration of artists Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter as they prepare and perform at the premiere of Kura Tungar—Songs from the River.

Lunch? Just a snack? Come nibble on some of this year’s cutest entries of the National Photographic Portrait Prize, Darling Portrait Prize, and the Little Darlings!

Join us in the Gallery as we explore the collection with our tour for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Sighted companions and guide dogs are more than welcome.

Join Darling Portrait Prize 2022 finalist Melissa Clements and discover the alchemy of colour mixing to create varied and luminous flesh.

Join Darling Portrait Prize 2022 finalist Melissa Clements and discover the alchemy of colour mixing to create varied and luminous flesh.

Draw while listening to a gentle sound work based on mandolin and electronics with sound artist Lynden Bassett.

Join us as we explore the story of three commercial art galleries, their gallerists and the significant contribution they make to the arts in Australia.

Our popular art cart is back for the school holidays! This is where you can get all creative during your visit if the mood takes you, responding to our latest exhibition the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Explore portraits through drawing and creative activity in the galleries.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Featuring more than two-hundred works by Australian artists, the exhibition explores our inner worlds and outer selves, as well as issues of sociability, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and ordinariness.

Explore portraits through drawing and creative activity in the galleries.

Join Darling Portrait Prize 2022 finalist Caroline Zilinsky in a deep dive into drawing, focussing on the importance of line in creating a portrait.

Join Darling Portrait Prize 2022 finalist Caroline Zilinsky in a deep dive into drawing, focussing on the importance of line in creating a portrait.

Explore the main collection before our usual opening hours. We welcome anyone of any age who would benefit from a more relaxed gallery experience. We’ll have low sensory spaces, quiet areas and a creative activity for families to enjoy together.

Book your class in for a 15 minute session to learn more about some of the artworks on display in WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture.

Join us in the Gallery as we explore the collection with our tour for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Sighted companions and guide dogs are more than welcome.

Book your class in for a 15 minute session to learn more about some of the artworks on display in WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture.

Young people explore the stories in our cultural institutions as part of the COME ALIVE Festival of Museum Theatre.

Book your class in for a 15 minute session to learn more about some of the artworks on display in WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture.

Draw while listening to the Pop Up Choir, singing songs that will leave your toes tapping and heart full.

Book your class in for a 15 minute session to learn more about some of the artworks on display in WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture.

Book your class in for a 15 minute session to learn more about some of the artworks on display in WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture.

Draw while listening to Smith & Jones, made up of keyboard player and vocalist Abby Smith, and guitarist and vocalist Sophie Jones.

Book your class in for a 15 minute session to learn more about some of the artworks on display in WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture.

Book your class in for a 15 minute session to learn more about some of the artworks on display in WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture.