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Observation point

I have always loved portraits; there is something magical about the combination of the terrain of a face, the angle of a head, and the pose of a body.

Tribute

Edward Tom Uren AC (1921-2015), former Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party, was a major campaigner on environmental and urban-planning issues and rights for veterans.

Aretha Brown

Gumbaynggirr artist Aretha Brown talks street art, collaboration and ghost stories with First Nations Curator and Meriam woman, Rebecca Ray.

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

The story behind the commissioning of the tapesty portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.

The transparent mask

Cate Blanchett and the art of acting in Rosetzky’s digital portrait.

Portrait 64

Marian Anderson, emerging photographer Charles Dennington, piscatorial portraits, and the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou and more.

Nocturnal animals

Joanna Gilmour explores the enticing urban shadows cast by artists Martin Lewis and Edward Hopper.

Village people

Christopher Chapman discusses Rod McNicol's photographic portrait series Newcomers to my village.

Obey

Michael Desmond investigates the street art of Shepard Fairey, who was catapulted to fame during the 2008 presidential election with his resonant image of Barack Obama.

Poet of the Fleeting Moment

Mark Strizic's work crosses a broad spectrum of photographic fields including urban, industrial, commercial, and architectural photography. 

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

Dan the man

Martin Philbey’s portrait of Dan Sultan.

Mind and body

Christopher Chapman interviews photographer Nikki Toole about her bold and controlled portraits of skateboarders in the exhibition Skater.

A Meeting of Great Minds

The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.

Moving pictures

The exhibition California Video at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles demonstrated how video artists expand the boundaries of portraiture.

Observation point

Zhong Chen's paintings of boys on Chinese zodiac animals and kung fu images reflect his identity as a Chinese-Australian artist.

Observation point

Artist Kate Beynon reflects on the place of portraiture in her artistic career.

The 'I' in Indigenous art

Jane Raffan examines unique styles of Indigenous portraiture that challenge traditional Western concepts of the artform.

Drawn from life

Penelope Grist discovers the rich narratives in Peter Wegner’s series of centenarian portraits.

The elegant thinker

Sarah Engledow pens a fond farewell to acclaimed science historian Ann Moyal.

Portrait of the artist as a young man

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the early life and career of John Brack.

Hide/Seek

David Ward writes about the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.

The activist A-list

Dr Sarah Engledow examines a number of figures in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery who were pioneers or substantial supporters of the seminal Australian environmental campaigns of the early 1970s and 1980s.

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

In the round

Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.

Real close

Peter Ciemitis breached regulations when creating the portrait of the polymath environmental scientist George Seddon.

The life of Bryant

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

Emblems of beauty

Keith Christiansen introduces the exhibition The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Subtle emotion

Christopher Chapman considers photographer Rozalind Drummond's portrait of author Nam Le.

Family collective

Beatrice Gralton looks at a larger than life portrait by Chinese artist Song Dong.

Poets' Portraits

The Portrait Gallery's paintings of two poets, Les Murray and Peter Porter, demonstrate two very different artists' responses to the challenge of representing more than usually sensitive and imaginative men.

A new perspective

An exhibition devoted to Hans Holbein's English commissions shows the portraitist bringing across the Channel new technical developments in art - with a dazzling facility.

Alter ego

Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.

Money for Myth

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Cultural kaleidoscope

The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.

I'm not there

Cool cool world

Penelope Grist unpacks photographs by David Parker, who captured the phenomenal emergence of the 1970s and 80s Melbourne music scene.

Technical terminology

Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.

Doodles of the Diva

Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.

Mental as everything

Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.

Birds of a feather

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

Fugue in Yellow

Roger Benjamin explores the intriguing union of Lina Bryans and Alex Jelinek.

In and out of focus

Gael Newton looks at Australian photography, film and the sixties through the novel lens of Mark Strizic.

Lauded legacy

Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.

In good company

Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.

What price self?

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

The Dissecting Room

Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture. 

A spectral sentience

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

Unknown drawer

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Regarding Henrys

Sarah Engledow ponders the divergent legacies of Messrs Kendall and Lawson.