Annual Appeal 2020

Connection and community – seeking support to build our national portrait collection

These are extraordinary times. Across Australia and the globe, society has been affected at a fundamental, systemic level by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the Portrait Gallery, these seismic events have further emphasised the importance of our role – as national cultural institution and champion of the arts; as community pillar; and as touchstone for the evolving Australian identity. During its closure, the Gallery has worked tirelessly to provide novel online content – new avenues to reflect the nation’s diversity, heart, history and complexity.

Of course, the portraits – the stories behind them and the artists who create them – are at the heart of all we do as an institution. And now more than ever, the Gallery is determined to support the Australian artists whose work is so pivotal to our mission: we have set a specific goal to raise funds to acquire new works by these creators.

To assist in this endeavour, we are asking for your support by making a contribution to the National Portrait Gallery Annual Appeal. The first acquisition we wish to make is of this remarkable portrait of author Tim Winton (2019) by Sally Robinson.

West Australian Tim Winton is the author of 29 books, with his work translated into 28 languages. He has won the Miles Franklin Literary Award a record four times, and has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Most of his novels have been adapted for stage and screen. Listed as a Living Treasure by the National Trust, Winton has long been active in the environmental and social justice spaces. The background text in this portrait is an extract from Winton's essay 'The Wait and the Flow', from his autobiographical collection The Boy Behind the Curtain.

This is an important contemporary work for the collection. Sally Robinson’s striking portrait of Tim Winton was a finalist in our inaugural Darling Portrait Prize and will add another exceptional dimension to the representation of Australian literature. Tim’s books constitute part of the social fabric of our country – he writes absorbing, revelatory tales about Australians, their lives and their environments.

Karen Quinlan AM, Director National Portrait Gallery

All donations over $2.00 are tax deductible.

See portraits previously acquired with the assistance of the Circle of Friends.

Contact us

If you would like to talk further about supporting the Annual Appeal 2020, please contact:

Rachel Hopkins
A/g Membership Coordinator
T: 02 6102 7022
M: 0434 377 064
E: Rachel.Hopkins@npg.gov.au