© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Mīal by Archie Moore
In Gallery One
1 Mar – 12 May 2024
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.
Some Lads
In Gallery Four
Open every dayThe 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.
Maggie Beer
In Gallery One
7 Dec 2023 – 15 Feb 2024
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.
Time and light
In Gallery Seven
21 Jul – 24 Sep 2023
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.
The Cosmopolitans
In Gallery Two
1 Apr 2023 – 8 Feb 2024
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.
At ease
In Gallery One
21 Jan – 3 Dec 2023
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.
The work of art
In Galleries Eight and Nine
29 Oct 2022 – 23 May 2023
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.
Time and Line
In Gallery Seven
22 Oct 2022 – 19 Feb 2023
Encompassing the 1820s to the 2020s, Time and Line showcases the depth and extent of our drawing collection.
Mayatjara by Robert Fielding
In Gallery One
9 Jul 2022 – 15 Jan 2023
The series captures Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Traditional Owners and custodians, respected and significant leaders, advocates and artists within the communities of the APY Lands.
Women Make History
In Galleries Seven, Eight and Nine
20 Nov 2021 – 29 May 2022
Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.
This is my place
In Galleries Four, Five and Six
4 May – 12 Jul 2021
An antidote to the months spent in isolation at home, This is my place brings a fresh, intimate focus to the places that define who we are – our spiritual homes, habitats and workspaces.
Portrait Allsorts
In Gallery Seven
26 Sep 2020 – 30 Jun 2021
Offering portraiture in all its flavours: painting, photography, drawing, textiles, printmaking and sculpture, this exhibition is a feast for minds and eyes.