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.

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

A collection display that showcases some recent major acquisitions including Nell and Julie Rrap.

Australian portraiture of the mid-twentieth century was rich with the influence of European modernism, exemplified by the work of artists including Arthur Boyd, Judy Cassab and Clifton Pugh.

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.

We all have places where we feel at ease, a sense of belonging, of ownership, of relaxation, of self. Given the opportunity, portraitists love to place their sitters in an environment where they are most at home.

Encompassing works created over the past 80 years, this selection of portraits from the Gallery’s collection celebrates inventiveness and diversity in approaches to self portraiture.

The selection of works in Frocked up richly demonstrates the interconnectedness of costume and portraiture – and the many ways in which artists have employed the representation of dress to powerful, insightful effect.

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.

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

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.

Join our professional guides on this 45-minute deep dive into the work of Ralph Heimans, one of Australia’s preeminent portraitists.

Adventure into a miniature world this autumn. Create your own paper doll inspired by portraits in our collection. Then make your own chair for your doll to have a rest in our mini-Gallery with portraits of people taking a seat!

For our April Spotlight, we welcome Emma Kindred, Curator, who will be looking at Archie Moore's conceptual self-portrait Mīal 2023.

Through a selection of portraits, discover fascinating stories detailing how insects have inspired breakthroughs in Western science and are part of First Nations cultural knowledge.

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.

To celebrate Auslan Day, we invite you to join us on a 30-minute tour of the collection with Auslan interpretation.

To celebrate Auslan Day, step into the captivating world of Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence. on a 45-minute tour with Auslan interpretation.

Join us these school holidays for a screening of Hugo, which tells the story of a boy who lives alone in a Paris train station and embarks on a quest to solve a mystery.

Become an art detective these school holidays! Join us for Portrait Play to look for clues and get creative, as we investigate some curious portraits. What will we spy on our exploration of the galleries?

Join one of our Visitor Services Officers for a virtual walk through the Gallery. They’ll explore three portraits that only have a small degree of separation between them.

Join us for Story Time as we encounter a heartwarming exploration of love, family and calligraphy through a reading of Kat Yeh’s The Magic Brush.

Join Marri Ngarr artist Ryan Presley in conversation to celebrate the launch of the artist’s site-specific commission Paradise won.

Join us as we explore the captivating world of Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence. with audio descriptions for visitors who are blind or have low vision.

Draw while listening to live music by classical cellist, David Pereira, as he plays a mix of classical and free improvisation. Be swept away in the moment – with colour as your instrument and line your melody – as you create your own visual composition.

Join us this World Book Day to explore portraits of some of Australia’s most cherished childhood picture book authors.

Join us for Story Time Online as we encounter a heartwarming exploration of love, family and calligraphy through a reading of Kat Yeh’s The Magic Brush.

In association with the exhibition, Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence. Associate Professor, Robert Wellington discusses the enduring connection of status with painted portraits.

It's International Jazz Day! We're exploring creative concentration through portraits of musicians in the permanent collection.

Go find your costume box and get ready to shake your tail feathers at Brolga, this year’s iteration of the National Portrait Gallery’s 18+ late-night event!

Join us today as we look at portraits that include reflections. We will explore the artists’ approaches and reflect on our own ideas.

Join curator Dr Emma Kindred as she explores self-portraiture through the eyes of Evelyn Chapman, Stella Bowen (who would have celebrated her 131st birthday this Thursday) and Nora Heysen.

Love the world we are in with portraits from the collection that celebrate the message behind World Day for Cultural Diversity.

Join us as we take a special tour around the gallery spaces and explore the theme of National Reconciliation Week 2024: Now More than Ever.

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial 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.