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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.

The Gallery’s Acknowledgement of Country, and information on culturally sensitive and restricted content and the use of historic language in the collection can be found here.

Edmund Capon

c. 1986 (printed 2019)
Neil Duncan

gelatin silver photograph on paper (sheet: 50.5 cm x 40.5 cm, image: 27.0 cm x 41.0 cm, frame: depth 4.2 cm)

Edmund Capon AM OBE (1940–2019), gallery director, began his career at London’s Victorian and Albert Museum in 1966. Having completed an MPhil in Chinese art and archaeology (including language), he was appointed assistant keeper in the Far Eastern Section in 1973. Acknowledged as a specialist in his field, he made three visits to China between 1974 and 1978, during the first seeing the initial excavations revealing the ‘entombed warriors’ in Xian. In 1976 the Australia Council and Art Exhibitions Australia commissioned him to write Art and Archaeology in China to accompany the touring show The Chinese Exhibition: a selection of recent archaeological finds of the People’s Republic of China (1977). In 1978 he became the first internationally trained art historian and curator to be appointed director of the Art Gallery of NSW. He held the position for 33 years, continuing to research, write and publish while overseeing significant building expansion, establishing a corporate foundation to fund purchases, steering collection development and curating many important exhibitions. The Entombed Warriors (1983) broke all records, nationally, by recording over 800 000 paying attendees. Along with Australian and British honours, he gained French and Italian awards for his contribution to art and culture. He was made an honorary Doctor of Letters of the University of New South Wales in 2000.

Neil Duncan worked on assignment for publications including the Australian, the Sun and the London Times before changing his focus to commissions for industrial and corporate clients such as Brambles, Transfield, Elders and Sydney City Ferries. His many images of Sydney include a definitive series on the defunct Colgate Palmolive factory, Balmain.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019
© Neil Duncan

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

Neil Duncan

Edmund Capon AM OBE (age 46 in 1986)

Subject professions

Visual arts and crafts

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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