Temporary road closures will block vehicle access to our building on Sunday 13 April until 3:00pm.
Temporary road closures will block vehicle access to our building on Sunday 13 April until 3:00pm.
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.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c. 1910–1996) is one of Australia's most significant artists. An Anmatyerre woman, Kngwarreye was born at Alhalkere, Utopia Station in the Northern Territory. After her ancestral land was appropriated for cattle grazing, she worked as a stockhand. As she grew older she became a leader in Awelye (women's business), experienced in ceremonial body painting. In 1977 she was a founding member of the Utopia Women's Batik Group and collaborated in the production of batik, an important industry for the Anmatyerre after they regained land title. Kngwarreye began to paint on canvas late in life, in 1988. She held her first solo exhibition in 1990 at Utopia Art Sydney, and her popularity grew. During her brief career she produced thousands of canvases depicting the flowers, roots, dust and summer rains of her Country, the translucent colours built up with layered touches of paint to create an illusion of depth and movement. After her death in 1996, Kngwarreye's work represented Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale. In 1998 a retrospective exhibition, Alhalkere: Paintings from Utopia, travelled to three state galleries and the National Gallery of Australia. Ten years later Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, an exhibition of 120 of the artist's works, showed in Osaka and Tokyo. With that exhibition, Kngwarreye was recognised as one of the very greatest abstract artists of the twentieth century.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Bequest of Alan Boxer 2014
© Jenny Sages
Estate of Alan Boxer (2 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
June Oscar AO lauds three iconic Aboriginal figures in the Portrait Gallery collection who have inspired and influenced her.
Australian writer Kate Grenville discusses her career and portrait by Jenny Sages.
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
