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.
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Robyn Archer AO (b. 1948), performer, writer and director, became a star with her shows, Kold Komfort Kaffee (1978), The Conquest of Carmen Miranda (1978) and Tonight: Lola Blau (1979), for all of which she wrote the songs and performed. Her hit one-woman show A Star is Torn (1979-83) toured Australia and ran for a year in London's West End. In the 1990s she began her distinguished career as director of artistic festivals, including the Adelaide Festival, the Melbourne Festival, Tasmania's Ten Days on the Island, and Melbourne's The Light in Winter. In 2021 Archer performed Mother Archer's Cabaret for Dark Times in Hobart, Melbourne and Adelaide, and released her eleventh album Classic Cabaret Rarities.
Archer is internationally renowned for her interpretations of classic European cabaret. Her portrait by Robert McFarlane illustrated a feature published in POL magazine in May 1982, which noted Archer's 'deeply felt philosophical commitment … harking back to those Weimar artists like Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill with whom she shares a marked affinity'.
Purchased 2003
© Robert McFarlane/Copyright Agency, 2024
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
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.
This exhibition celebrates Australians whose unique life experiences symbolise social and cultural forces. Uncompromising individuality defines them. The portraits are drawn from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of contemporary photography and drawing.
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.
This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.
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.
The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency