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.

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

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.

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.

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.

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

This major exhibition celebrates 100 years of Australia’s oldest and most-loved portrait award and reflects upon the changing face of our nation.

Our most recent commission, the portrait of Maggie Beer by Del Kathryn Barton both combines a statuesque almost devotional likeness with a spell-binding and dream-like personalised symbology of the sitter.

Archie Moore is a celebrated Kamilaroi and Bigambul artist whose practice is embedded in the politics of identity, racism and language systems. Mīal is a conceptual self portrait that counters expectations of what a self portrait should be.

The exhibition will feature some of the most significant portraits in the artist’s career to date, from early major works such as his painting of HM Queen Mary of Denmark through to his most recent.

Marri Ngarr artist Ryan Presley's site-specific commission Paradise won is prominently positioned at the Gallery’s entrance. This ambitious new work invites conversations about the ongoing legacies of colonisation and celebrates First Nations survival and autonomy.

Launched at the National Portrait Gallery in 2022, the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize is a competition for primary and secondary students, with four separate age categories across Kindergarten to Year 12.

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024 celebrates established and emerging artistic talent from across the country.

The exhibition is a vibrant and dynamic exhibition by acclaimed contemporary artist Joan Ross. Transforming scenes from colonial artworks through a digital ‘cut and paste’ technique and her signature fluorescent yellow, Ross explores critical issues like climate change, greed and consumerism.

The Some Lads series 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.

Drop into the Gallery this Spring for free creative activities inspired by our vibrant exhibition Joan Ross: Those trees came back to me in my dreams.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection, this salon-style hang references the lavish 18th- and 19th-century European salons where paintings were hung floor-to-ceiling.

Join us in the Gallery for this free 30-minute tour of the collection, exploring portrait stories and the history of the building.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Draw while listening to live music by Tara Louise and Ben Lanyon as they perform a groovy mix of jazz, soul and pop music.

Join Australian National University researcher Harry Kilcullen as they explore groundbreakers of queer art and culture in the National Portrait Collection.

Join us as we take a deep dive into the world of double portraits. What will this unique form of portraiture reveal about the sitters and the artists?

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Join us for the opening of Carol Jerrems: Portraits to celebrate the work, life and legacy of one of Australia’s most influential photographers. See the exhibition for free, grab a drink and soak up the vibe of DJ Charlie Villas’ genre- and generation-bending beats.

Carol Jerrems: Portraits is a major exhibition of one of Australia’s most influential photographers. Jerrems’ intimate portraits of friends, lovers and artistic peers transcend the purely personal and have come to shape Australian visual culture.

This show, staged alongside the major exhibition Carol Jerrems: Portraits, spotlights the work of three contemporary Australian artists whose work sits in dialogue with Jerrems’ legacy.

This International Day of People with Disability, join us as we take a look at the collection and see how representation has changed over time.

Join us on International Day of People with Disability as we explore the collection with audio descriptions for visitors who are blind or have low vision.

Join us in the Gallery as we explore our latest exhibition Carol Jerrems: Portraits and its key themes. Discover how Jerrems’ work defined a decade and continues to shape how we think about photography today.

Draw while listening to live music by four-piece band Coolibah Coolective as they perform acoustic songs that tell stories about the people and places that make us who we are.

Drop in to the family space these school holidays for free creative activities to enjoy together. All activities are inspired by the vibrant and dynamic exhibition, Joan Ross: Those trees came back to me in my dreams.

This summer, join us on an adventure through the galleries as we make, move and explore, connecting with our own stories and discovering the ones waiting for us on the walls.

Escape the holiday hustle and spend some quality time with family at Story Time this summer.

Explore the collection, temporary exhibitions and major show Carol Jerrems: Portraits before our usual opening hours.

This summer, join us on an adventure through the galleries as we make, move and explore, connecting with our own stories and discovering the ones waiting for us on the walls.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

This summer, join us on an adventure through the galleries as we make, move and explore, connecting with our own stories and discovering the ones waiting for us on the walls.

Escape the holiday hustle and spend some quality time with family at Story Time this summer.

This summer, join us on an adventure through the galleries as we make, move and explore, connecting with our own stories and discovering the ones waiting for us on the walls.

Join photo-historian Helen Ennis and Gallery educators as we launch our professional learning programs for 2025 with a free session that explores ways to engage students with photography.

Join photo-historian Helen Ennis and Gallery educators as we launch our professional learning programs for 2025 with a free online session that explores ways to engage students with photography.

For our first Virtual Highlight Tour of 2025, three of our Access and Learning team members have chosen a portrait to surprise each other and us! Join us for a lively discussion.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Do we have a treat for the smaller humans in your life! Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Join us for our first February Photography Focus. Helen Ennis, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University (ANU), and Harry Kilcullen, ANU researcher, delve into photography from the National Portrait Collection.

Join us for an in-depth discussion about the work of influential photographer Carol Jerrems, whose work is on view in our major exhibition Carol Jerrems: Portraits.

Our February Photography Focus concludes with the work of three contemporary photographers – Ying Ang, Katrin Koenning and Anu Kumar – whose photographs are currently on view in if only we could take the time: contemporary Australian photography.