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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

Tuesday 14 March – Tuesday 18 July 2023

Self portrait
Self portrait
Self portrait
Self portrait

The work of art

In Galleries Eight and Nine

Exhibition closes 23 May

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 closes 3 December

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 closes 18 June

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.

Self portrait, 2022 RJ Parker
Self portrait, 2022 RJ Parker
Self portrait, 2022 RJ Parker
Self portrait, 2022 RJ Parker

Gulgawarnigu

Thinking of something, someone

Exhibition opens 3 June

In partnership with Big hART we are proud to present Gulgawarnigu - Thinking of something, someone, a national presentation of digital artworks created from Ngarluma country leramagadu (Roebourne), in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Ruby (left view), 2022 Shea Kirk
Ruby (left view), 2022 Shea Kirk
Ruby (left view), 2022 Shea Kirk
Ruby (left view), 2022 Shea Kirk

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Exhibition opens 17 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 available

More events

Wednesday 19 July – Wednesday 22 November 2023
© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
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