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.
Germaine Greer (b. 1939), writer, critic and academic, is the author of the influential feminist book, The Female Eunuch (1970), which examines the ways in which passivity in women has been encouraged. The book was a sensation; it has never been out of print since it was first published, has been translated into twelve languages and has sold over one million copies. Born in Melbourne, Greer has not lived in Australia since the 1960s, but remains one of the country's best-known expatriates. For nearly forty years she has been an international academic and media personality and a truculent spokesperson on women's issues; thousands of fans and foes await her next provocative pronouncement. Greer has a PhD from Cambridge University and her diverse books include The Obstacle Race (1979), about women painters; Sex and Destiny (1984), about the politics of fertility; The Change (1991), about menopause; and The Beautiful Boy (2003), about the representation of boys in art. The Germaine Greer Archive at the University of Melbourne contains Greer's great collection of papers, documenting her work from 1959 to 2010 and including a rich trove of letters.
Jacqueline Mitelman's portrait of Greer reveals the photographer's trademark painterly effects, use of natural light and shadow, and close focus.
Purchased 1999
© Jacqueline Mitelman
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Australian photographer, Jacqueline Mitelman, discusses her process for creating portraiture.
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.
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.
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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.
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