Search / patrick white

Patrick White (1912–1990), acknowledged as Australia’s pre-eminent novelist of the 20th century, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973 for The Eye of the Storm, ‘for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature’.

7 portraits in the collection

Patrick White, 1987

Max Dupain OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Patrick White with Tom Jones, 1956

Axel Poignant

Portrait, woodcut on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Patrick White, 1990

Rick Amor

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Patrick White by William Yang

Portrait story

An interview with photographer William Yang who recalls his encounters with the author Patrick White.

Patrick White, Castle Hill, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000)

The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

Patrick White #1, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 1998

Patrick White and Manoly Lascaris, 1987

Max Dupain OBE

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

Sidney Nolan and Patrick White, Adelaide Arts Festival

Sidney Nolan and Patrick White, Adelaide Arts Festival, c. 1964 (printed 2015)

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Listomania

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Cultural kaleidoscope

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Sydney city (Patrick White and Tom Uren, Hiroshima Day demonstration), 1984

The activist A-list

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

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.

Painting writing

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Patrick Dawson is believed to have been trained as a surveyor and learnt photography while surveying in Victoria in the 1850s.

1 portrait in the collection

Patrick Dodson

Patrick Dodson (b. 1948), Indigenous advocate and senator for Western Australia, is a Yawaru man who was born in Broome but spent most of his childhood and early schooling in the Northern Territory.

1 portrait in the collection

Patrick Corrigan AM

Patrick Corrigan AM (b. 1932), businessman, art collector and arts patron, was born in Hanghow (Hankou) in China.

3 portraits in the collection

Patrick Ryan

Patrick Ryan (d. 1990) and Tim Burstall set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.

1 portrait in the collection

Patrick McGorry

Patrick McGorry (b.1952), psychiatrist and Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, gained his initial medical degree at the University of Sydney and worked in the United Kingdom and Newcastle, New South Wales, before completing his doctorate in medicine at Monash University in 1991.

1 portrait in the collection

The gin soaked effervescence of Libby and Maeve, 2016

by Patrick Boland

Patrick Olodoodi Tjungurrayi

Patrick Olodoodi Tjungurrayi (c. 1935-2017), Kukatja/Pintupi painter, was born at Yalangerri near Jupiter Well.

1 portrait in the collection

Patrick Francis Moran

Patrick Francis Moran (1830-1911), orphaned at 11, was sent from his native Ireland to Rome, where a relative was rector of the Irish College.

2 portraits in the collection

The Brontë Sisters (Anne Brontë; Emily Brontë; Charlotte Brontë)

Patrick Branwell Brontë

Patrick Corrigan, 2006

Paul Newton

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2007

Patrick Johnson, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Patrick McCaughey, 1985

Fred Cress

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Patrick Dodson, 2004

Zhou Xiaoping

Portrait, mixed media on canvas

Gift of the Lingiari Foundation 2015

Patrick Corrigan, 2015

Portrait, gouache on paper laid on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist and Anne Grealy 2016

Portrait of Patrick Ryan, 1971

Fred Williams

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2012

Pat McGorry, 2009 (printed 2010)

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Pat Corrigan, 2007 (printed 2021)

Anne Zahalka

Magazine article by Patrick McCaughey, 2015

Purchased 2021

Self Portrait in red shirt, 1937 by Arthur Boyd

Arthur as Alyosha?

Patrick McCaughey explores a striking Boyd self portrait.

Patrick Tjungurrayi, 2007 (printed 2008)

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Cardinal Moran, 1886-1888

Portrait, photograph on on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Gallery unveils Portrait of Mark Ella

12 May 2016

Archived media releases 2016

Last night in Sydney, the National Portrait Gallery unveiled a newly commissioned portrait of Australian sporting legend Mark Ella AM.

Cressida Campbell, 1990

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tracey Moffatt, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tracey Moffatt, 1995

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

101 photographic portraits

Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.

Support Crew

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.

Patrick Moran, Bishop of Sydney, c. 1886

H B Hall's Sons, Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co after William Macleod

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Australian Aboriginal Cricketers, 1867

Patrick Dawson

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on original lithograph title sheet

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Professor Patrick Troy, 1996

Robin Wallace-Crabbe, Dianne Fogwell

Portrait, etching

Gift of the artist 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Paul White from 'The Cells Beneath'

Pippa Samaya

Top of their game

Nobel Laureates

Macfarlane Burnet and Patrick White

White Drummer Ghost Class

by Tina Havelock Stevens

September - November 2006

Finalist, MDPA 2015

Portrait 21

Magazine

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Margaret Cameron, the 'Truth and Likeness' exhibition, Reg Mombassa, Patrick White, George Foxhill and more.

Nancy Wake - The White Mouse, 2001

Melissa Beowulf

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Portrait 43

June - August 2012

Magazine

This issue features Cindy Sherman, Tim Storrier, Brett Whiteley and Patrick White, contemporary Chinese portraiture, Charles Blackman and more.

A life shared

Devotion

Wartime romance

All there in black and white

The National Portrait Gallery acquired a beguiling silhouette group portrait by Samuel Metford, an English artist who spent periods of his working life in America.

Alfredo Esquillo Jr

by Patrick D. Flores

Born in Manila in 1972, Alfredo Esquillo Jr majored in painting at University of Santo Thomas.

Jose Legaspi

by Patrick D. Flores

Jose Legaspi was born in 1959 in Manila. He achieved degrees in zoology and biology before turning to fine arts in the mid-1980s.

Portrait of Truganini, daughter of the Chief of Bruny Island, Van Diemens Land, c. 1835

Black and white history

Portrait, etching on paper

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

Nothing black and white about the Greys

It's Complicated

Marriage: a prolonged disaster

Nancy Wake

'The White Mouse'

Portrait story

A portrait story describing the amazing life of World War II resistance fighter, Nancy Wake.

Thomas White, midshipman, c. 1838

John Kay

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Boxer, Blake Travers, 2017

by Patrick Bell

Blood, Joyce Gold Naval Chronicle Office after John Smart

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Professor Frank Fenner

'A White Shirt'

Portrait story

An interview with Professor Frank Fenner who describes his life and the creation of his portrait.

Sir George Young Kt, Admiral of the White Squadron

Sir George Young Kt, Admiral of the White Squadron, 1814

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

Flora and Fauna, Giara: White Cockatoo

Luther Cora

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

William Ridley, Bunney & Gold after George Romney

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001.

The Right Honourable Viscount Keppel, Admiral of the White Squadron

The Right Honourable Viscount Keppel, Admiral of the White Squadron, 1802

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Chris Chataway, White City Stadium, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Lord Goddard, White City Stadium, London

Lord Goddard, White City Stadium, London, c. 1957 (printed 2000)

John Noone after William Strutt

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851, 1883

Portrait, photolithograph on paper

Purchased 2013

The Salway family

Dion Georgopoulos

Thea Astley

Thea Astley (1925-2004), novelist, was born in Brisbane and studied arts at the University of Queensland before becoming a teacher.

1 portrait in the collection

Weng-Ho Chong

Chong Weng-Ho, born in Malaysia, is a Melbourne-based graphic designer.

1 portrait in the collection

The hidden half, 2019

Suzanne O'Connell

Brett Whiteley - portrait 1, 1975

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Thea Astley, 1985 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Mr Keating, former Labor Minister, 1975

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Lost in thought, 2008

by Quentin Jones

Carol Jerrems, 1973

Henry Talbot

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2015

Ben Quilty, 2012

Andrew Quilty

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2014

Christina Stead, 1981

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Bruce Dawe

Bruce Dawe AO (1930-2020), poet and teacher, was born in Fitzroy and worked as a labourer, clerk, sawmill hand, farmhand and postman before joining the RAAF in 1959.

1 portrait in the collection

Gene Sherman, 2009

Purchased with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan AM 2016

Adam Cullen, 2000

Portrait, inkjet print

Purchased with funds provided by Dr Gene Sherman AM and Patrick Corrigan AM 2016

Hal Hattam

Harold 'Hal' Hattam (1913-1994), doctor, artist and art collector, came to Australia from his native Scotland at the age of seven.

1 portrait in the collection

Nick Farr-Jones, 2019

James Brickwood

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2019

Dr John Yu, 2014

Purchased with funds provided by Dr Gene Sherman AM and Patrick Corrigan AM 2016

Brett Whiteley with an umbrella in Paris

Brett Whiteley with an umbrella in Paris, c. 1989

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Brett Whiteley at Baudelaire's Grave, c. 1989

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Geoffrey Legge

Geoffrey Legge (b. 1935) and Frank Watters (1934–2020) ran Watters Gallery in Darlinghurst from 1964 to 2018.

3 portraits in the collection

Frank Watters OAM

Geoffrey Legge (b. 1935) and Frank Watters (1934–2020) ran Watters Gallery in Darlinghurst from 1964 to 2018.

3 portraits in the collection

Roy de Maistre CBE

Roy de Maistre (Roi (Leroy) de Mestre) CBE (1894-1968), painter, studied music at the Sydney Conservatorium, but was also a student at the RAS School with Dattilo Rubbo and later the Sydney Art School with Julian Ashton.

1 portrait in the collection

Brett Whiteley, c. 1981

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jack Mundey, 1974

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, watercolour on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Claudio Alcorso, 1972

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, pencil on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Mr Laurie Carmichael, 1973

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, wash on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Sir Mark Oliphant, 1972

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, wash on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Ninette Dutton OAM

Ninette Dutton OAM (1923-2007), artist, broadcaster and author, was born in Adelaide and educated at Creveen and Woodlands before studying Social Science at the University of Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Ronnie Tjampitjimpa 2007, 2007 (printed 2008)

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Governor General Sir John Kerr, 1976

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, watercolour, pencil on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Paddy Stewart Tjapaltjarri, 2007

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Eubena Nampitjin, 2007 (printed 2008)

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Margaret Woodward, 1992

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Michael Snape, 1991

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Arthur Boyd, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Beard, 2003

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Bruce Goold, 1998

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Fred Cress, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Brett Whiteley, 1972

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Kevin Connor, 1991

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Margaret Woodward, 1985

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Olsen, 1996

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Judy Cassab, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ann Thomson, 1992

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Salvatore Zofrea, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Arthur Boyd with horse hair brush - Bundanon 1993

Arthur Boyd with horse hair brush - Bundanon 1993, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ken Unsworth, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Brett Whiteley at Gas works studio, 1971

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Carol Ruff, 1998

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tom Bass, 1996

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Fiona Hall, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Brett Whiteley at Lavender Bay, 1976

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ian McKay, 1984

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Margaret Coen, 1991

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Martin Sharp, 1971

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Mike Parr, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Coburn, 1987

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lucy Culliton, 2003

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Adam Rish, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Brett Whiteley with binoculars, 1971

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tim Johnson, 1991

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Robinson, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Powditch, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Arthur Boyd - Bundanon Studio III, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Nora Heysen, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

My Le Thi, 2000

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Kingston, 2003

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jenny Sages, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

George Gittoes, 1991

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

H J Wedge, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Peter Wright, 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Coburn, 2002

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

George Gittoes, 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Justin O'Brien, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Joshua Smith, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gaye Chapman, 2003

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Bob Marchant, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Wolseley, 2002

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Imants Tillers, 1992

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Firth Smith, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Colin Lanceley, 1992

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Michael Johnson, 1988

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Olsen, 1979

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Martin Sharp, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

James Gleeson, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Charles Blackman, 1992

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rosemary Valadon, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Martin Sharp, 1971

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Bruce Armstrong, 2001

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Guy Warren, 1991

Archived media releases 2014

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rugby great unveiled

1 December 2014

A new portrait commission of Australian Rugby great, Ken Catchpole OAM by Gary Grealy will be officially unveiled on 3 December.

Nolan Heads

Previous exhibition, 2001

Nolan Heads will focus on the portraiture of one of Australia's most original painters and one of the few to have achieved an international reputation

"Poet of the Hawkesbury" Robert Adamson, 2012

Geoffrey Dyer

Gift of the artist 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Fay Zwicky, c. 1981 (printed 2018)

Portrait, graphite on paper

Purchased 2018

Harold Holt, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Fay Zwicky

Fay Zwicky (1933–2017), poet and academic, grew up in a cultivated environment in Brighton, Melbourne, where her European Jewish family had lived for four generations.

1 portrait in the collection

Kerry Walker, c. 1979

Stuart Campbell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Louis Kahan AO

Louis Kahan (1905-2002) was born in Vienna, Austria to Jewish parents.

63 portraits in the collection

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1978 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

John Passmore

John Passmore (1904-1984), painter, studied with Julian Ashton in Sydney between the ages of fourteen and twenty-nine, and took some instruction from George Lambert.

1 portrait in the collection

William Barak

William Yang

William Yang (b. 1943) is a pre-eminent Australian photographer known for an intensely sustained body of work that examines issues of cultural and sexual identity, and which unflinchingly documents the lives of his friends and community and his own lived experience with curiosity, sensitivity and humour.

15 portraits in the collection

Henry Wade, c. 1841

Portrait, oil on paperboard

Gift of the Wade and Hannah families 2013

Geoffrey Legge and Frank Watters, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Christos Tsiolkas

Portrait, charcoal and white pastel on paper laid on cardboard

Christos Tsiolkas (b. 1965) is a Melbourne-born writer of Greek descent, whose work deals uncompromisingly with sexuality, identity and politics.

2 portraits in the collection

Colonel J.C.M. Traill DSO MC, c. 1921

Harry O'Reilly

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mr C.W. Traill 2001

Missy Higgins, 2004

Julian Kingma

Gift of the artist 2006

We Were Just Little Boys

Tace Stevens

Sir Douglas Mawson Kt OBE FRS, Heinemann, London

The Home of the Blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 (2 volumes), 1915

Portrait, two volumes illustrated with colour and black and white plates, three folding maps

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Robert Adamson

Robert Adamson (1943–2022), poet and publisher, divided his childhood between Neutral Bay and the Hawkesbury River, where his grandfather lived.

2 portraits in the collection

Queenie McKenzie Nakara, 1997

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lifelines

Medical advocates

Fiona Stanley, Fiona Wood, Fred Hollows, Patrick McGorry and John Yu

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi, 2010

Portrait, pencil and white pastel on paper

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Study for portrait of Nicholas Paspaley Jnr

Study for portrait of Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Andrew Bonneau

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

William at Queensland University, 1968/2008

William Yang, an unknown artist

Portrait, inkjet print, white and purple ink on paper

Gift of the artist 2022. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Wesley Enoch AM

Wesley Enoch AM (b. 1969) is a theatre director and playwright and was the director of the Sydney Festival from 2017 to 2021.

1 portrait in the collection

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1983

William Yang

Purchased 2003

The aviator, 2008

by Robyn Buckley

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint, charcoal, pastel and conté on linen

Michelle de Kretser, Geography & History

Michelle de Kretser, Geography & History, 2013

Weng-Ho Chong

Gift of Michelle de Kretser 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Professor Harry Messel, 1973

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Lust for life

Magazine article, 2008

Celebrated Sydney-based photographer and performer William Yang was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to produce a new performance work that premiered at the opening of the Gallery's new building.

Billy McMahon, 1972

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, wash on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Man of many faces, 2014

by Jason Ierace

'awk' (Bob Hawke), 1972

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on dibond

Tony Shaw, 2018

Sarah Rhodes

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2018

Larry Clark

Tough & Tender

Portrait, black and white photograph, pen, and hand coloured photograph on paper

Larry Clark's black-and-white documentary images of young outsiders reveal raw feelings.

Self portrait, 1999/2005

Tracey Moffatt

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AM 2013

The heart that is theirs, 2008

by Lisa Tomasetti

Portrait, pastel on paper

Roi de Mestre (Roy de Maistre), c. 1930

Jean Shepeard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Buckley discovering himself to the early settlers

William Buckley

S Calvert, Gibbs, Shallard and Co after O.R. Campbell

William Buckley (1780-1856), known as 'the wild white man', was transported for life in 1802 for receiving stolen cloth.

1 portrait in the collection

Buckley discovering himself to the early settlers, 1869

Portrait, colour wood engraving on paper

Purchased 2009

Ayman Kaake

Vox pops

This photo is a self portrait. So this is me. So you can see the eye resemblance. So, and this photo is inspired by my friends, my workplace.

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Women Make History

In Galleries Seven, Eight and Nine

Previous exhibition, 2021

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.

A Tribute to William Dobell

Previous exhibition, 1999

Adapted from A Tribute to William Dobell an exhibition presented by the Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, The National Gallery of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial. Dobell is of course, celebrated for his achievements in portraiture, winning the Archibald prize (1943, 1948 and 1959), the Wynne Prize (1948), and representing Australia at the 1954 Venice Biennale. Curator Mary Eagle concludes her essay in the catalogue of the exhibition thus, "Overall I see a dissonance in Dobell’s art and life

Standing in the now and looking to the future

Laura Reid

Ningali Lawford-Wolf

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Recorded 1996

Bernard O'Dowd, Poet, 1919

David Low

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Jonno and Api, 2016

by Joseph Brennan

TextaQueen

Portrait, white on blue Jasper Ware in oval shaped wood and gilt frame

Textaqueen (b. 1975) studied fine arts at the University of Western Australia, Perth and interactive media at Metro Screen in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Jasperware medallion of Captain James Cook

Jasperware medallion of Captain James Cook, 1779

Wedgwood and Bentley

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Portrait of a lady (Sonia McMahon), 1999

Esther Erlich

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of an anonymous donor 2014

Xavier Herbert, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Previous exhibition, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

The World of Thea Proctor

The World of Thea Proctor is the Portrait Gallery's second major biographical exhibition - that is, the second exhibition to focus exclusively on the life and work of a single individual

Kerry Walker AM

Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer

Kerry Walker AM, actor, graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1974 and made her professional stage debut in a melée in Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet with the Australian Ballet.

1 portrait in the collection

On train from New York to Memphis, July 4, 1956 by Alfred Wertheimer

Elvis At 21

Previous exhibition, 2013

Elvis at 21 is a photographic exhibition capturing Elvis’ rise to fame in the year 1956, before security and money built walls between him and his fans.

Queen Rose of the Wathaurung People, c. 1876-1877

Fred Kruger

Portrait, albumen paper photograph

Purchased 2017

James Moore

James Moore (1834-1904) was an undistinguished scholar before he left Ireland for Melbourne in 1862.

1 portrait in the collection

Ron Grainer

Previous exhibition, 2009

Ron Grainer (1922-1981), was a composer for television and film. In 1962 he wrote the music from which the theme to the Steptoe and Son series was taken.

2 portraits in the collection

doppelgänger

doppelgänger is the second in a series of virtual exhibitions held by the National Portrait Gallery that explore contemporary notions of portraiture in the online environment.

Face of South Sudan, 2012

by Melanie Faith Dove

Abraham Admasu (School of St Yared student, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Dylan Le’Mon

Isaiah, arms and legs folded, 2015

by Marc Bowden

Reading the map

Davina Jogi

Previous exhibition, 2017

Collection in focus: Brook Andrew

Experience the artistic clout of Brook Andrew’s portraits of Marcia Langton AM and Anthony Mundine.

Lyu with orchid, 2017

by David Rosetzky

Joshua Ross

Joshua Ross (b. 1981) excelled at athletics as a child, but didn't take up sprinting in earnest until 2000, inspired by watching the Sydney Olympics on television.

1 portrait in the collection

Mirror identical twins with autism, 2018

by Sarah Rhodes

David Campese AM

David Ian Campese (b. 1962) is the world's leading representative rugby union footballer, having played 101 tests for Australia between 1982 and 1996.

1 portrait in the collection

The great echo chamber, 2017

by Dianne Jones

Bernard O'Dowd

Portrait Sculpture in Australia

Bernard Patrick O'Dowd (1866-1953) began his working life as a teacher in Ballarat.

1 portrait in the collection

Decorative portrait – Len Lye, c.1925 by Rayner Hoff (1894-1937)

Presence and Absence

Previous exhibition, 2003

This exhibition focuses on exploring national and communal identity through sculptural production in Australia, from the early decades of settlement through to the present day

Between Light and Shadow

Portraits by Stuart Campbell

Previous exhibition, 2011

The late Australian photographer Stuart Campbell produced superb photographs of Australian actors of stage and screen.

In Leopard Print

Ayman Kaake

Magazine article by Mandy Martin, 2005

A Life in Service

Artist Mandy Martin describes the creation of her portrait of Aldo Giurgola, principal architect of Australia's Parliament House.

Trukanini

Trukanini (c. 1812–1876) is arguably nineteenth century Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous leader.

6 portraits in the collection

Lady Anne Maria Barkly

Anne Maria Barkly (1838-1932) was the second wife of Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria from December 1856 to September 1863.

1 portrait in the collection

Valentin Shkolny

Valentin Shkolny grew up in his native Ukraine, where he began painting as a child and took his first photograph - of his mother - when he was 12.

1 portrait in the collection

Nigel Boonham

Nigel Boonham is a British sculptor. He studied under John Ravera from 1973-1977 and later worked in the studio of sculptor Oscar Nemon.

1 portrait in the collection

Maykarran, 2017

by Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video using projection

Paul Newton

Paul Newton (b. 1961), is a Sydney-based portrait painter noted for his ability to capture likeness and sensibility.

6 portraits in the collection

Ern McQuillan Senior

Ern McQuillan (Senior) (1905-1988), boxing trainer, was born in Newtown, Sydney, and worked there all his life.

1 portrait in the collection

Cyril Henschke

Cyril Henschke (1924-1979), winemaker, was a member of a well-established Barossa winemaking family.

1 portrait in the collection

Shona Wilson, 1998

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Klippel, 1993

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Hal Hattam, 1960

Fred Williams

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Hattam family in memory of Hal and Kate Hattam 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Emma Lee – flight

Mike Rutherford

Ken Catchpole, 2014

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2014

In a glance

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portrait of Ninette Dutton by Bette Mifsud.

Thousand Mile Stare

Portrait photography by John Elliott

J.W. Beattie after Charles Woolley

Thousand mile stare provides a unique portrait of people of rural Australia

Trukanini, n.d.

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Allanah Dopson and Nicholas Heyward 2009

Alwar Balasubramaniam

by Zehra Jumabhoy

Born in 1971 in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, Alwar Balasubramaniam's sculptures, prints and installations challenge our perceptions while creating forms for the invisible and the intangible.

Peter Hadfield OAM, from the series ‘People’s Park’, 2012

by Mirek Rzadkowski

The Merioola Group, 1940s

Alec Murray

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Suzie Petyarre, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Colin Preece

Colin Preece (1903-1979), winemaker, graduated dux from Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1923 planning to manage the family flour mill.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, Paris, 1989

Brett Whiteley

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Wedgwood and Bentley

Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), potter and industrialist, became an apprentice to his potter brother, Thomas, at an early age.

1 portrait in the collection

Philip Hunter

Philip Hunter (1958-2017), painter, studied art in Melbourne before holding his first solo exhibition there in 1982.

1 portrait in the collection

Dave Graney

Dave Graney (aka The Australian Stallion, The Golden Wolverine, The Housewife's Choice), musician, unveiled the band known as Dave Graney with The Coral Snakes in London in 1987.

2 portraits in the collection

Don Burrows at work, 1998

Barry Walsh

Purchased with funds donated by Patrick Corrigan 2000

Cowboy Louie Pwerle, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Archbishop Michael Kelly

Michael Kelly (1850-1940), Roman Catholic archbishop, was born and educated in Ireland before proceeding to the Irish College in Rome.

1 portrait in the collection

Justin Tjungurrayi, 2007

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Reg Mombassa aka Chris O'Doherty, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Fred Kruger

Fred Kruger was born in Berlin and came to Victoria around 1860. By 1866 he’d taken up photography, and soon began making his name with landscape photographs, some of which went on to win medals at exhibitions in Vienna, Philadelphia, Melbourne and Geelong.

1 portrait in the collection

Margaret Preston, c. 1930

Harold Cazneaux

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM and Barbara Corrigan 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Old growth/New growth

Dean Cross

Tony Shaw, 2018

by Sarah Rhodes

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2018

Mark Loane, 2016

Joachim Froese

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2016

Ern McQuillan Senior, c. 1980s

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Arthur and Yvonne, 1993

Portrait, inkjet print on canvas

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Paddy Bedford, 2003

Jim Anderson

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Harold Thornton

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on paper

The life of eccentric Sydney artist Harry 'The Kangaroo' Thornton is yet to be thoroughly researched.

2 portraits in the collection

Shaun Gladwell (study), 2013

Fiona Lowry

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2014

Lindy Lee, 2003

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Simon McKeon AO

Simon McKeon (b. 1955), corporate chair, investment banker and philanthropic entrepreneur, gained degrees in commerce and law in Melbourne before beginning a very successful career in banking and finance.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Hunter

Robert Hunter (1947-2014), painter, trained at Preston Technical College and RMIT from 1964 to 1967, and was deeply impressed by the work of American abstractionist Ad Reinhardt in Melbourne in 1967.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William John Lyne

Sir William John Lyne (1844-1913), politician, was a Premier of New South Wales and a minister in the first Australian parliament.

1 portrait in the collection

Rosemary Madigan, 1992

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sean Slattery

Vox pops

This is Davide Di Giovanni and he was a principal dancer for the Sydney Dance Company for six or seven years. He got in touch with me to do some video work together and he was just so amazing.

Samuel Metford

Samuel Metford was born in Glastonbury, into a Quaker family. In England he came to specialise in full-length silhouette likenesses, cut from black paper and embellished with gold and white paint.

1 portrait in the collection

Mark Ella, 2015

Nikki Toole

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2015

Aubrey Beardsley

Frederick Henry Evans

Previous exhibition, 2003

Australia and the Nobel Prize

This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia

John Bell, c. 1968

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tim Storrier, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Parkes

Beards

It wasn’t uncommon for the pro-beard fraternity of the mid nineteenth century to cite beards as a sign of wisdom on the grounds that Socrates and other ancient philosophers had worn them.

Martin Sharp, c. 1974

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Philip Hunter, 2004

Julian Kingma

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Colin Preece, 1968

Douglass Baglin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Theresa Byrnes, 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Emily Kngwarreye, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Heidi Margocsy

Vox pops

Perrin is an amazing amazing woman, and what I wanted to do with this particular sitting was create something raw and stripped back.

Brett Whiteley - portrait 2, 1975

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Greg Weight

Greg Weight is a Sydney-based photographer who grew up in Dee Why. He opened his own studio in 1968, taking advertising and magazine photographs and working with the Australian Opera and the Australian Ballet.

113 portraits in the collection

Jeffrey Smart, 1992

Portrait, pencil, charcoal, pen and ink on paper

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Henry Lawson, c. 1919

Lionel Lindsay

Purchased 2010

Acknowledgments

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023–25

The Gallery would like to acknowledge and thank the people who contributed their time and expertise to participate in the development of this DIAP.

Kitty Kantilla and Freda Warlapinni at Milikapiti (Snake Bay)

Taracarijimo Freda Warlapinni

Taracarijimo Freda Warlapinni (c. 1928–2004) was a Tiwi woman from Mirrikawuyanga Country on Melville Island.

1 portrait in the collection

Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, River Kwai, Thailand

Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, River Kwai, Thailand, c. 1987 (printed 2003)

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Nancy Wake AC

Nancy Wake AC (1912–2011) was one of the most-decorated women of the Second World War.

1 portrait in the collection

John Olsen - En plein air, 1996

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2019

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM (1937-2022), Arrernte and Anmatjere woman, Aboriginal activist, former actress and nun, was born at Artekerre soak on Utopia Cattle Station in the Northern Territory, the daughter of Allan and Ruby Kunoth.

2 portraits in the collection

Humanæ, 2012 (work in progress) by Angélica Dass

Colour by numbers

Alistair McGhie explores the many shades of Angélica Dass’ Humanæ project.

John Wolseley, 2002

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Josonia Palaitis

Portrait, wood engraving on paper

Josonia Palaitis trained as an art teacher in Sydney in the early 1970s, and experimented with diverse painting styles before settling into the photorealist mode for which she became best known.

1 portrait in the collection

The Jester (self portrait), 1923

Lionel Lindsay

Gift of Sir Richard Kingsland AO CBE DFC 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Colin Wills

Colin Wills (1906–1965), journalist and author, was born in Toowoomba, Queensland and grew up in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Arthur Boyd - Bundanon Studio II, 1993

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Percy Spence

Percy Spence, born in Balmain, grew up in Fiji and began art classes in Sydney in about 1888.

1 portrait in the collection

John Hamilton

As a young reporter for the Melbourne Age, John Hamilton (b.1940 UK, migrated to Aust.

1 portrait in the collection

Grazia Gunn, 2014

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

David Malouf

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

David Malouf (b.1934), educated at Brisbane Grammar and the University of Queensland, left Australia at the age of 24 and remained abroad for a decade, teaching in England and travelling throughout Europe.

3 portraits in the collection

Capturing the Mouse

Nancy Wake AC (b. 1912), one of the most decorated women of World War 2, earned the name the 'White Mouse' for her maddening ability to evade the Gestapo.

Honour board

Support your Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.

Steven Bishop, performer by Nathalie Latham

Australia's Creative Diaspora

Photographed by Nathalie Latham

Previous exhibition, 2007

Paris based Australian photographer and filmmaker Nathalie Latham has an ongoing interest in the creative achievements of other Australian artists living in various locations around the globe.

Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh)

Unknown artist

Cyril Henschke in his tasting room at Keyneton, 1968

Douglass Baglin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Ellen Dahl

Ellen Dahl (b. 1968) grew up in Hammerfest in Norway and studied photography at the Brooks Institute of Photography in California.

1 portrait in the collection

Russell Shakespeare

Russell Shakespeare (b. 1963) has photographed well-known Australians from a wide range of fields, including writers Tim Winton and Colleen McCullough, sports people Steve Waugh and Stephanie Gilmore, and former politicians Gough Whitlam and Bob Brown.

2 portraits in the collection

Self portrait, 2005

Rick Amor

Portrait, enamel, gloss acrylic, perspex, masonite and metal sign on board

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Reko Rennie, 2014

Jasper Knight

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2008

Previous exhibition, 2008

At the end of 2007 the National Portrait Gallery launched the inaugural National Youth Self Portrait Prize and artists aged between eighteen and twenty-five were invited to submit self portraits using a variety of media including drawing, painting, printmaking and traditional or digital photography.

Lloyd Rees - portrait, 1983

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lloyd Rees - Laughing, 1975

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa and Paddy Carrol Tjungarrayi – Papunya

Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa and Paddy Carrol Tjungarrayi – Papunya, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lindy Lee, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Emily, 1994

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Pat Painting No 1, 1983

Richard Larter

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008

Margaret Dodd, 2002

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Eleanor Dark AO

An exhibition of sporting photographs by Anderson & Low

Eleanor Dark AO (1901-1985), writer, was born and educated in Sydney but moved to the Blue Mountains to live after her marriage in 1922.

1 portrait in the collection

The Athlete

Previous exhibition, 2000

The Athlete explores the sporting life well beyond the superficial image of the human physique

Lloyd Rees - Brushes, 1983

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lloyd Rees - silhouette, 1983

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Hunter, July 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Robert Rooney

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

D. H. Souter

David Henry Souter (1862-1935) was a cartoonist, painter and art editor.

2 portraits in the collection

Betsy Napangardi Lewis, 2007

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Greg Norman AO

Greg Norman AO (b. 1955), golfer, spent 331 weeks as the world's number-one ranked player in the 1980s and 1990s.

1 portrait in the collection

Margaret Olley, 1991

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Bishop Spong, 2006

by Marina Dearnley

Portrait, inkjet print, white ink on paper

Self Portrait with Light Meter, 1987/2007

William Yang

Purchased 2022

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Gloria Petyarre, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Julian Burnside AO KC

Portrait, oil and synthetic polymer paint on linen

Julian Burnside AO (b. 1949), barrister, grew up in Melbourne, attending Melbourne Grammar and studying economics and law at Monash in the late 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Adam (Adam Goodes), 2014

Alan Jones

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Heather Corrigan

The lovely faces in my photograph are that of my best friends. Some I have only known for a couple of months, others for most of my life. For me, recreating a family portrait with individuals I love was supremely important. I was reconstructing a photo of people I cherish with people I adore.

Harry Belafonte

Dorothy Wilding

Wenten Rubuntja, 1998

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Wenten Rubuntja, 2001

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Elegance in exile

Previous exhibition, 2012

Elegance in exile is an exhibition surveying the work of Richard Read senior, Thomas Bock, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and Charles Rodius: four artists who, though exiled to Australia as convicts, created many of the most significant and elegant portraits of the colonial period.

Russell Crowe, 2001 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

James Alipius Goold

James Alipius Goold (1812-1886), first Catholic bishop and archbishop of Melbourne, volunteered for service in New South Wales having studied in Rome and Perugia.

2 portraits in the collection

Charles Perkins on bus to Tranby Aboriginal College, Glebe

Charles Perkins on bus to Tranby Aboriginal College, Glebe, c. 1964 (printed 2003)

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Portrait, spray paint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Portrait, spray paint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Rosalie Gascoigne, 1993

Portrait, oil on galvanised iron

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Young Mo (Roy Rene), 1977

Martin Sharp

Gift of Richard Wherrett 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Kerry Stokes AC

Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro)

Kerry Stokes AC (b. 1940), businessman and philanthropist, was born John Patrick Alford in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Henry Lee

Wainburranga

Wainburranga (Paddy Fordham) (c. 1932-2006), Rembarrnga painter, sculptor, printmaker and dancer, lived in the bush before moving to Maranboy, where he first saw white people.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Bell

Richard Bell (b. 1953), an artist of Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) and Anglo-Celtic heritage, has described himself as an 'inactivist who kicked the habit'.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Reynolds

Henry Reynolds (b. 1938), historian, studied at the University of Tasmania before taking up a lectureship at Townsville University College (later James Cook University) in 1965.

1 portrait in the collection

Bill Leak, 1999

Simon Obarzanek

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Ron Grainer, printed 2003

Lewis Morley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lewis Morley 2004

Hermannsburg Potters, 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

David Williamson AO

David Williamson AO (b. 1942), playwright, studied and lectured in mechanical engineering and psychology before achieving success with his works for the stage.

4 portraits in the collection

Dora Byrne

Dora was the fourth child of Doretta and Stuart Alexander, her father the owner of a farming property near Albury, New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Emily's brush, 1994

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint, gesso, binder medium, gel and glitter on canvas

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait of Nell #15, 2009

Richard Larter

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2014

Ron Castan AM QC

Ron Castan AM QC (1939–1999), barrister, played a leading role in some of the most significant Australian litigation involving the rights of Indigenous people.

2 portraits in the collection

Liu Wei

Featured Artists

Born 1965 in Beijing. Lives and works in Beijing.

Judith Inkamala, 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Pro Hart & Associates, 2004

Nick Young

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Untitled #15 (Kylie Minogue performs at Tour of Duty concert at Dili Stadium, East Timor, 21 December 1999)

Untitled #15 (Kylie Minogue performs at Tour of Duty concert at Dili Stadium, East Timor, 21 December 1999), 1999-2000

Matthew Sleeth

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999)

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999), 1999

Matthew Sleeth

associated with Nicholas Hilliard

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Queen Elizabeth I

Dave Graney and Clare Moore, 1996

Bleddyn Butcher

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Ron Grainer, 1965 (printed 2002)

Lewis Morley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

George Tjungurrayi, 2007

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Walala Tjapaltjarri, 2009

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Professor John Mulvaney AO CMG

Previous exhibition, 2006

Emeritus Professor Derek John Mulvaney AO CMG (1925–2016), one of Australia’s foremost prehistorians, has often been described as the father of Australian archaeology.

1 portrait in the collection

Portraits for Posterity

Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.

The Possibilities of Portraiture

Previous exhibition, 1999

What does 'portraiture mean at the end of the 20th century? At the outset of building a national portrait collection it seems an appropriate question to investigate.

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

Previous exhibition, 2010

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

The Textiles Scientist, 2018 by Kate Atkinson

Textiles Scientist Voted the People’s Favourite

27 March 2019

Archived media releases 2019

The black and white portrait of an elderly woman with sidelong glance and irreverent, contemplative smile has taken out the people’s choice award in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Y-erran-gou-la-ga, published 1807

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Portrait, engraving, hand coloured on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Zhang Xiaogang

Featured Artists

Born 1958, Kunming, Yunnan Province. Lives and works in Beijing.

Lew Hoad, 1954

Ern McQuillan OAM

Previous exhibition, 2009

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.

The Legend of Ruby and Archie

Devotion

A bond in song

Natalie Imbruglia, 1999

Polly Borland

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Lew Hoad

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Lew Hoad (1934-1994), tennis champion, was born in Sydney. He played his first Davis Cup competition in 1952 and helped the Australian team to victory with a thrilling win over Tony Trabert.

1 portrait in the collection

Wainburranga (Paddy Fordham), 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

Hop, skip, shoot

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.

Study for portrait of Frank Fenner AC CMG MBE

Study for portrait of Frank Fenner AC CMG MBE, 2007

Jude Rae

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Mr Anthony Adair and Ms Karen MacLeod 2007

Study for portrait of Frank Fenner AC CMG MBE, 2007

Jude Rae

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Mr Anthony Adair and Ms Karen MacLeod 2007

Study for portrait of Frank Fenner AC CMG MBE, 2007

Jude Rae

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Mr Anthony Adair and Ms Karen MacLeod 2007

Charles Perkins, 1974

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen, watercolour on paper

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Queenie McKenzie Nakara

Previous exhibition, 2014

Queenie McKenzie (c. 1930–1998) was a prominent Gija artist in the East Kimberley painting movement.

1 portrait in the collection

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2017

Nicholas Harding: 28 portraits features paintings of Robert Drewe, John Bell and Hugo Weaving alongside gorgeously coloured recent oil portraits, delicate gouaches and bold ink and charcoal drawings.

Of Pansy, plastiques and prudes

Lust

Near-naked subversion

Ron Taylor AM

Ron Taylor AM (1934–2012) was a marine conservationist and pioneer of underwater cinematography.

1 portrait in the collection

Bill Leak

Portrait, photographic print from film on paper

Bill Leak (1956-2017), portrait painter and caricaturist, trained at the Julian Ashton art school in the mid-1970s, and began his career painting landscapes.

7 portraits in the collection

David Gulpilil's Hands, 2004

Ross Honeysett

Gift of the artist 2021

Cressida Campbell, 2001

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

David Roberts

Melbourne-based photographer David Roberts was born in Forest City, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University with an honours degree in philosophy.

4 portraits in the collection

Henry Reynolds, 2012

Dave Tacon

Portrait, charcoal heightened with white chalk on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir Sidney Kidman, 1932

Samuel Woolf

Purchased 2009

James Macarthur, c. 1836-1838

Portrait, black and bronze ink with white bodycolour highlight on buff board

Purchased 2019

Wendy Sharpe, 2000

Portrait, watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

M.O. Ranger 3: Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'

M.O. Ranger 3: Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground', 2001

eX de Medici

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Francis Russell Nixon, c. 1845-1855

an unknown artist after George Richmond

Portrait, copperplate engraving, heightened with China white on buff paper

Purchased 2009

William Lanne, c. 1866

J.W. Beattie after Charles Woolley

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by
Allanah Dopson & Nicholas Heyward 2009

Sketch portrait of David Aspden, 1975

Fred Williams

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lyn Williams AM 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Rosalie Kunoth, 1953 printed 1958

Purchased 2016

Ron and Valerie Taylor, n.d.

Gift of Valerie Taylor and Ron Taylor AM 2006

Sarah Tuckfield, c. 1854

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Freer Tuckfield family 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Francis Tuckfield, c. 1854

Portrait, hand-cut acetate stencil, aerosol enamel on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Freer Tuckfield family 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Bob Hawke, 2012

Luke Cornish

Purchased 2013

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.

Paul Grabowsky, 2009

Martin Philbey

Commissioned with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan AM 2009

Paul Grabowsky, 2009

Martin Philbey

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

Commissioned with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan AM 2009

Full time

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

Vincent Fantauzzo on Hugh Jackman

Recorded 2021

Donald Cameron

Portrait, pen, ink and gouache on paper

Donald Cameron (1927-2018), Melbourne-born painter and teacher, attended Scotch College before beginning work as an engraver for the Commonwealth Bank in 1943.

2 portraits in the collection

Flynn of the Inland, 1955-1956

Harry Hudson

Purchased 1999

Observation point

Magazine article by Tim Storrier, 2013

Tim Storrier describes the influences on the development of his artistic style.

Narelle Autio

Barthélemy Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

Recorded 2018

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal, 1807-1817

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2017

Purchased 2009

In and out of focus

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

A Path of Focus: Portrait of Cate and Bronte Campbell

Cate Campbell OAM

Sisters Bronte Campbell (b. 1994) and Cate Campbell (b. 1992), champion swimmers, were born in Malawi to South African parents, and took up competitive swimming after the family settled in Brisbane in 2001.

1 portrait in the collection

Bronte Campbell OAM

1 portrait in the collection

Colin Friels

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Colin Friels (b. 1952) arrived in Australia as an adolescent with his Scottish parents, both blue-collar workers.

1 portrait in the collection

Ron Castan AM QC, 1995

Kate Gollings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Mirka Mora, 2001

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self portrait, 1964

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Gift of Denis Savill 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Darrell, 1990 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Purchased 2013

Professor John Mulvaney, 1984

Janenne Eaton

Previous exhibition, 2005

Gift of John and Jean Mulvaney 2000

Glossy 2

Faces, Magazines, Now

Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.

Portrait of Alex Dimitriades, 2005

Michael Zavros

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Gift of the artist 2006. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Paddy Jaminji, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

A guy from Paris

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

Burnum Burnum, 1987 (printed 2010)

Bruce Postle

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

Purchased with funds provided by James Bain AM and Janette Bain 2010

Marilyn Ball, Albatross, 2018 (detail) by Linde Ivimey

So Fine

Previous exhibition, 2018

This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.

Selfie Factory, 2017 by Ralph Kenke and Elmar Trefz, video: 3 minutes

Finalists Announced for Digitial Portraiture Award 2017

23 October 2017

Archived media releases 2017

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to announce nine finalists have been selected from the national call for entries for the Digital Portraiture Award 2017.

Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor (1957-1992), critic and curator, graduated from Monash Univeristy in 1979.

1 portrait in the collection

Sonia McMahon

Sonia McMahon (1932-2010) née Hopkins, was the wife of William McMahon, Australian prime minister in 1971-1972.

1 portrait in the collection

David Rosetzky

David Rosetzky (b. 1970) is a Melbourne-based contemporary artist working across photography, video and installation.

2 portraits in the collection

Dr Paul Scully-Power, 2005

Evert Ploeg

Portrait, ink and synthetic polymer paint on paper

Purchased with funds provided by donors 2006

A Path of Focus: Portrait of Cate and Bronte Campbell, 2021

Tish Linehan

Purchased 2022

Glossy - Faces Magazines Now

Previous exhibition, 1999

Magazines are the portrait galleries of the 90s... Glossy is about magazines. The exhibition presents the work of eight photographers, Australian by birth or long-term residency, who are producing portraits for publication in magazines around the world.

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2010

Previous exhibition, 2010

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Gnoung-a-gnoung-a Mour-re-mour-ga (dit Collins)

Gnoung-a-gnoung-a Mour-re-mour-ga (dit Collins), 1807-1817

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Purchased 2009

Peter Sculthorpe, 1982

Eric Smith

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

Trucaninny [Trukanini], wife of Woureddy [Wurati]

Trucaninny [Trukanini], wife of Woureddy [Wurati], 1836

Benjamin Law

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Tender tragedies

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

George Foxhill's self portraits were the subject of a small focus display at the National Portrait Gallery in 2006.

Noah Taylor, 1994 (printed 2010)

Ross Honeysett

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

John Kaldor, 1975 (printed 2002)

Lewis Morley

Previous exhibition, 2000

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Monochromatic Self-Portrait, 2000 by Genevieve Preston

Headspace 1

Headspace showcases portrait art produced by secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 in Government, Catholic and Independent schools in Canberra and its surrounding regions extending to Wollongong, Deniliquin, Leeton, Crookwell, Bombala, Narooma and Albury

Dominique Issermann

Dominique Issermann (b. 1946), a fashion, advertising and portrait photographer known for her striking black and white images, was born in Paris and became interested in photography as a teenager.

1 portrait in the collection

Elle Macpherson, 2000

Polly Borland

Purchased 2001

Brook Andrew

Recorded 2011

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe (b. 1964), actor, was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He moved at the age of four to Australia, where his parents worked as caterers on TV and movie sets.

2 portraits in the collection

Dame Mary Gilmore, c. 1938

Lyall Trindall

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Dr Germaine Greer

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

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.

2 portraits in the collection

Burnum Burnum and Guboo Ted Thomas, 1984

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2004

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother)

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), 1943-1944

Charles Wheeler

Portrait, coloured chalk on artist board

Purchased 2019

Caroline Chisholm, 1853

J B. Hunt after Antoine François Jean Claudet

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Purchased 2015

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Previous exhibition, 2019

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

Triumphant weekend for Gallery at MAPDAs

25 May 2015

Archived media releases 2015

The National Portrait Gallery has had its most successful Multimedia and Publication Design Awards (MAPDAs) ever, winning four awards across multiple categories. The awards were presented at a ceremony at the Australian Maritime Museum last Friday night.

Open Air

Portraits in the Landscape

Previous exhibition, 2008

Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.

Ricky Maynard

Ricky Maynard (b. 1953) is an Indigenous Tasmanian photographer. He is best known for his Tasmanian photographic essays The Moonbird People (1985–1988) and Portrait of a Distant Land (2005), made while he was living and working on Flinders Island in the Bass Strait.

1 portrait in the collection

Brian and Gene Sherman, 2009

Purchased with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan AM 2016

Krystal Seigerman

The photograph was a brief, candid moment, which unfolded into a portrait. Peter and I were in Silverton, NSW, chatting as our students explored the town. The weak afternoon light suddenly became dramatic and defined, so I asked Peter if I could take his portrait.

Donald Friend, 1987

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tim Flannery

Recorded 2016

Andrew Campbell

Magazine article by William Yang, 2022

An interview with the photographer.

Miscellaneous obsessions

William Yang shares the stories behind his autobiographical self portraits that celebrate his cultural heritage and identity.

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi (c. 1956–2013) was an influential Pintupi/Warlpiri artist who developed a distinctive abstract monochromatic style across the course of her career.

1 portrait in the collection

Thilin-Thilin Gooragall Nyajaringil Garnkiny-nu (white gum tree, mother for the moon), 2018 by Shirley Purdie

Storytelling

The fourth row of paintings interweave Ngarranggarni, memories, relationships and Country.

George Gittoes - last sitting before Peshawar

George Gittoes AM

George Gittoes AM (b. 1949), artist, photographer and filmmaker, has documented some of the world's most notorious conflicts.

4 portraits in the collection

Burnum Burnum

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Burnum Burnum (1936–1997), Woiworung/Yorta Yorta activist, actor and author, was born at Wallaga Lake and taken from his family at three months old after his mother died.

2 portraits in the collection

Charles Lloyd Jones, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Considering Persephone - Gay Bilson, 2009

Leeanne Crisp

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Jan and Gary Whyte, Brian and Barbara Crisp, Gloria Kurtze, Jonathon Mills and Lawsoft Pty Ltd 2011

Ethel Marian (Maie) Casey AC

Ethel Marian (Maie) Casey AC, Baroness Casey (1892-1983), chatelaine, artist, pilot and author, was born in Melbourne, the daughter of the Surgeon General, Sir Charles Ryan.

1 portrait in the collection

Aden Ridgeway & pallbearers entering Sydney Town Hall, State Funeral for Kwementyaye Perkins AO, 25th October 2000

Aden Ridgeway & pallbearers entering Sydney Town Hall, State Funeral for Kwementyaye Perkins AO, 25th October 2000, 2000

Mervyn Bishop

Purchased 2001

Neil Armfield, 2010

Magazine article by Kate Gollings, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra

Three Dimensional

Kate Gollings describes an encounter between three generations of Australian photographers; David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings.

Colin Friels, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Alfred Simpson, c. 1866

Portrait, glass plate negative

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Trukanini, 1866 (printed 1890s)

Charles Woolley

Purchased 2011

Meryl Tankard AO

Magazine article by Elizabeth Finlay, 2003

Meryl Tankard AO (b. 1955) is an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, director and filmmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

The Changing Face of the Scientist

Scientists tend to conjure up images of men in white coats in labs but this is just one stereotype in an evolving history of how we have perceived scientists, and how their profession has been understood over the years.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Previous exhibition, 2015

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

David Mitchell

Brook Andrew, Larry Rawling

David Mitchell (1829-1916), builder, contractor and businessman, arrived in Melbourne in mid-1852 in the Anna.

1 portrait in the collection

Peace, the Man and Hope, 2005

Portrait, screenprint on five sheets of paper

Gift of Brook Andrew in memory of Emmaline Rose Charnock 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford

Previous exhibition, 2018

Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford (1920/1924–2007), also known as Goowoomji or Guwumji, artist and Gija elder, was born on Bedford Downs Station, near Warmun in Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

In their own words

Audio-guide

Apps

In their own words is an audio-guide with a difference. We let the portraits of these remarkable Australians speak for themselves.

Collection: Icons

Volume Two

The second instalment of a display featuring bold contemporary portraits drawn from the collection. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

James Houston

Brook Andrew, Trent Walter

Scoring first prize in New South Wales for Art in the 1983 HSC was a signal that a talented creative career lay ahead and this has indeed proven the case.

2 portraits in the collection

Marcia Langton, 2009

Portrait, screenprint on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2009

Robyn Davidson (near Uluru), 1979 (printed 2014)

Rick Smolan

Portrait, inkjet print (black and white) on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot)

Reveries

Photography and mortality

Previous exhibition, 2007

Featuring works by Australian and New Zealand photographers from the late 1970s up to the present day Reveries focuses on images made in the presence of or consciousness of death.

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.

Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Beyond the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, a number of other notable anniversaries converge this year. Waterloo deserves a little focussed consideration, for in the decades following 1815 numerous Waterloo and Peninsular War veterans came to Australia.

Richard Walsh

Sydney-born Richard Walsh (b. 1941) is an Australian publisher, journalist, broadcaster, editor, lecturer and company director.

1 portrait in the collection

William Macleod

Portrait, lithograph on paper

William Macleod, artist and magazine proprietor, attended the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts as a young teenager and saw his first illustration published in 1866.

4 portraits in the collection

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior, c. 1836

William Fernyhough

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Aretha Brown

In conversation

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2023

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

Some lads #1, 1986

Tracey Moffatt

Magazine article by Tim Bonyhady, 2016

Gift of the artist 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Learning resources

We encourage you to look, to feel, to think, to question and most importantly, to identify and connect.

Self Portrait with sun damage, 2014 by Andrew Sayers.

At easel

Tim Bonyhady recalls his experience as sitter for his close friend and former National Portrait Gallery Director, the late Andrew Sayers.

Tom E Lewis [Balang T E Lewis], n.d.

Juno Gemes

Archived media releases 2016

Purchased 2021

David McAllister to join National Portrait Gallery collection

26 April 2016

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister AM will join the Portrait Gallery’s national collection in a newly-commissioned portrait taken by illustrious Australian photographer, Peter Brew-Bevan.

Valerie Taylor

Valerie Taylor AM (b. 1935) is a marine conservationist, photographer and shark specialist.

1 portrait in the collection

Leah Purcell, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Dave Graney, 1996

Bleddyn Butcher

Previous exhibition, 2022

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Missy Higgins

Magazine article by David Rosetzky, 2019

Melissa 'Missy' Higgins (b. 1983), singer/songwriter, began singing in her early teens, falsifying her age to get into clubs to play with her brother's jazz combo.

1 portrait in the collection

Observation point

I work with portraiture as a way to explore the nuances and complexities of contemporary selfhood and subjectivity.

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman'

William King

Archived media releases 2017

William Francis King (1807-1873), aka 'The Flying Pieman', accomplished a series of bizarre athletic feats during the 1840s.

1 portrait in the collection

Rugby great a fine addition to Portrait Gallery Collection

21 March 2017

A portrait of Australian rugby great, Dr Mark Loane AM MBBS FRANZO FRACS, is the latest addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. The work is the final in a series of three commissioned portraits of Australian rugby luminaries funded by Gallery benefactor, Mr Patrick Corrigan AM.

Michael Riley

Previous exhibition, 2009

Michael Riley (1960–2004), a Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi photographer, filmmaker and video-artist, was one of Australia's most influential Aboriginal contemporary artists.

15 portraits in the collection

Prince William of Wales, by Mario Testino, 2003 publ. September 2003.
Credit: Mario Testino

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

Vanity Fair Portraits traces the birth and evolution of photographic portraiture through the archives of Vanity Fair magazine.

Chet Baker, singer, New York City, January 16, 1986 by Richard Avedon

The existential lens

Magazine article by Stephen Zagala, 2013

Stephen Zagala discusses Richard Avedon’s work from an Australian perspective.

Eleanor Dark, c. 1935 (printed 1940)

Max Dupain OBE

Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Friends

Previous exhibition, 2020

Warwick Baker’s photos of his friends are intimate. They hold a stillness that allows their subjects to be at ease.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary

Previous exhibition, 2013

The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.

Michelle Simmons

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Recorded 2018

Thousand mile stare

John Elliott talks about his photographic portrait practice, including his iconic image of Slim Dusty arm-in-arm with Dame Edna Everage.

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE (1865–1962), poet, journalist and social reformer, was born near Goulburn and had an itinerant childhood as her father moved the family around New South Wales for work.

3 portraits in the collection

William P. Dowling

Chefs, winemakers, providores

William Paul Dowling (1824–1877) is thought to have studied art in his native Dublin before settling in London, where he worked as a draughtsman while trying to establish himself as a portraitist.

1 portrait in the collection

Masters of Fare

Portrait, brush and ink, pen and ink, stencil cut-out with watercolour highlights on paper

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

MacKenzie family silhouette, 1846

Samuel Metford

Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007

Past, present, future, 2002 by Wang Qingsong
M+ Sigg Collection

Chinese Art

Previous exhibition, 2018

A short overview of modern Chinese art from 1949 to the present.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Sharon Zwi

We were in Gaza shooting a documentary and we had heard about the orphanages and wanted to visit and document some of the children who had lost parents during the wars in Gaza.

Dr Arthur Martin a'Beckett

Dr Arthur Martin a’Beckett FRCS (1812-1871) surgeon and New South Wales parliamentarian studied at London University from 1831 before undertaking a residency in Paris, centre for innovation in the practice of hygiene, pathological anatomy and physiopathology.

2 portraits in the collection

The Aboriginal community of Lake Tyers, Gippsland

John Bulmer

John Bulmer (1833-1913), missionary and clergyman, came to Australia in 1852 and worked as a cabinetmaker in Melbourne for two years before going to the goldfields.

1 portrait in the collection

Alfred Simpson

Alfred Simpson (1805–1891), manufacturer, started his professional life as a tinsmith in his native London and also worked as a hatter before financial difficulties caused him to emigrate to Australia in 1849.

1 portrait in the collection

Kevin Gilbert

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

Kevin Gilbert (1933-1993), Indigenous activist, writer and artist, wrote the first play by an Aboriginal person to be publicly performed in Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Me Myself I

Andrew Sayers explores the self-portraits created by Australian artist Sidney Nolan.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

Rod McNicol

Rod McNicol (b. 1946), photographic artist, studied photography at Prahran College in Melbourne, where he formed a close friendship with Athol Shmith.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr Sarah Engledow

Dr Sarah Engledow was appointed Historian at the National Portrait Gallery in 1999.

Tim Burstall

Tim Burstall (1927-2004) set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.

2 portraits in the collection

Supporters

$5,000 - $9,999

Pamela See (Xue Mei-Ling)

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

Born: 1979, Brisbane
Works: Brisbane

Friends and Acquaintances

Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.

Apollo's breath

Previous exhibition, 2003

Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography

Australians in Hollywood

Although perceived to be a recent phenomenon, the 'Aussie invasion' of Hollywood can actually be traced as far back as the early 1900s

John Piper

Piper (life dates unknown), also known as John Piper, was a Wiradjuri man who acted as a guide to Thomas Mitchell’s surveying expedition along the Murray and Darling Rivers into present-day Victoria in 1836.

2 portraits in the collection

Shirley Purdie

Magazine article by Djon Mundine OAM, 2017

Born: 1947, Gilbun – Mabel Downs Station, WA
Works: Warmun, WA

Big shots

Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.

Artists and guests at the
doppelgnger exhibition
launch on Portrait Island

Virtually human

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2009

Gillian Raymond describes the National Portrait Gallery's second virtual exhibition doppelgänger.

Naked nostalgia

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

La Milo in Lady Godiva procession, Coventry, 1907

Pansy Montague

Pansy Montague, ‘La Milo’ (c. 1885-unknown) appeared as a chorus girl and actress in Melbourne from about 1898, and in 1901 understudied Nellie Stewart in Sydney.

10 portraits in the collection

David Williamson, 1974 (printed 2001)

Gordon Glenn

Purchased 2001

Valerie Kirk

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

Born: 1957, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Works: Canberra

Glossy too

The Glossy 2 exhibition highlights the integral role magazine photography plays in illustrating and shaping our contemporary culture.

Alfie Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Russell Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Dave Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Clem Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

George Sands

Clem, George, David, Alfie and Russell Sands were members of one of Australia's most famous sporting families.

2 portraits in the collection

Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC

Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC (1916-2014) was prime minister from the end of 1972 to the end of 1975.

12 portraits in the collection

Arianne McNaught

An interview with the photographer.

Leah King-Smith

Born: 1957, Gympie, QLD
Works: Brisbane

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster

Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster, c. 1780

Jean Francois Rigaud

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family, the Ian Potter Foundation and John Schaeffer AO 2009

Karen Quinlan AM

Previous exhibition, 2005

Karen Quinlan AM took up her appointment as Director of the National Portrait Gallery in December 2018. Karen commenced her curatorial career in 1994 at National Gallery of Victoria before becoming Curator of Bendigo Art Gallery in 1996, and the Director of Bendigo Art Gallery from 2000 until 2018. Karen was a Professor of Practice and previously Director of the La Trobe Art Institute La Trobe University, a former Trustee of the State Library of Victoria, Board Member and former Chair of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria.

Clifton Pugh

Australians

This exhibition offers a comprehensive display of Clifton Pugh's portraits revealing his development and growth from tonal paintings to a unique style that was in demand from politicians, artists, academics and Australian personalities.

Sir Donald Bradman, 1990

Bill Leak

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Benny (42nd Street Series), 1979–80 by Larry Clark

City boys

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

Christopher Chapman immerses himself in Larry Clark’s field of vision.

Vincent Brady leading anti Bicentenary Protest, Brisbane, 1987 Michael Aird

Activating the space

Sandra Phillips on portraits of Indigenous activism from Cairns Art Gallery’s 2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture exhibition.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Previous exhibition, 2023

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Observation point

Magazine article by Jenny Sages, 2015

Australian artist and Archibald Prize winner, Jenny Sages reflects on her work.

Encounter at Kintore

Magazine article by Hari Ho, 2004

Photographer Hari Ho describes the creation of his portrait of Papunya Tula artist Makinti Napanangka.

Archie Roach AC

Archie Roach AC (1956–2022), singer/songwriter and storyteller, has been described as the voice of the Stolen Generations.

2 portraits in the collection

Dora Byrne, 1951

Richard von Marientreu

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

Bloodlines

Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).

Portrait of Rosie Batty Unveiled at Portrait Gallery

24 January 2018

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a newly commissioned portrait of Australian domestic violence campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty.

Archie Roach, 1992 (printed 2010)

Bill McAuley

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Purchased 2010

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Previous exhibition, 2010

'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.

Russell Crowe, 1995 (printed 2016)

Stuart Spence

Self Portraits in Australia

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

To Look Within

This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of self-portraits in Australia, from the colonial period to the present

An active and contemplative life

From Cicero through St. Augustine and Coluccio Salutati right up to the present day, we have regularly weighed the significance, respective merits and competing priorities of the “active” versus the “contemplative” life. Can they coexist?

International issue

Michael Desmond looks at the history of the Vanity Fair magazine in conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008

The eye and the heart

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2013

Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.

James Baldwin, writer, Harlem, New York 1945 by Richard Avedon

The Avedon effect

Dr Christopher Chapman explores how we can understand Richard Avedon's photographs.

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Archived media releases 2015

The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery

Feather and the Goddess Pool, 2014 by Natalie Grono

Feather voted the people’s favourite

11 June 2015

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to announce that the People’s Choice award for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize goes to Natalie Grono from Byron Bay for her photograph Feather and the Goddess Pool 2014.

David Unaipon

David Unaipon (1872-1967) writer, public speaker and inventor, was a Ngarrindjeri man, fourth of nine children of the evangelist James Ngunaitponi and his wife Nymbulda, both of whom were Yaraldi speakers.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Dessaix, 1998

Robert Hannaford AM

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Robert Dessaix 2000
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Melbourne experience

Diana Warnes explores the lives of Hal and Katherine 'Kate' Hattam through their portraits painted by Fred Williams and Clifton Pugh.

J.R. Vickery

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

James Richard Vickery OBE (1902-1997), food scientist, saw the field of his life’s research grow from non-existence to world recognition.

1 portrait in the collection

Alexander Pearce
executed for murder
July 19th 1824

Public hanging

As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.

Seeing stars

Joanna Gilmour explores photographic depictions of Aboriginal sportsmen including Lionel Rose, Dave Sands, Jerry Jerome and Douglas Nicholls.

Goollabal (Rainbow Serpent), 2018 by Shirley Purdie

Memories

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman, 2018

The second row of paintings recall stories relating to specific sites, experiences and activities.

Selfhood transcended

Anne Sanders and Christopher Chapman bring passionate characterisation to Express Yourself, the Portrait Gallery collection exhibition celebrating iconoclastic Australians.

Brenton McGeachie

An interview with the photographer.

Henry Wade

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Henry Wade (1810–1854), surveyor, was trained in surveying at Dublin College before being employed as a civilian assistant by the Royal Engineers Corps.

1 portrait in the collection

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Deputy Chair Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC, Nigel Satterley AM and Susan Armitage

Foundation Members

Foundation

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.

Sideshow Alley

Previous exhibition, 2015

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

The boy, the bed and the gun

Christopher Chapman contemplates the provocative performance art of Chris Burden.

William Walford

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2006

Francis William Barnard Walford (1821–1896), businessman and landowner, was born in Hobart, the son of Barnard Walford (1801–1846), a publican and victualler; and the grandson of Barnard Walford senior (c.

1 portrait in the collection

The news from Washington

Australia's former Cultural Attache to the USA, Ron Ramsey, describes the mood at the opening week of the revitalised American National Portrait Gallery.

Here and there

Magazine article by Geoffrey Batchen, 2007

Nathalie Latham's exhibition Australia's Creative Diaspora explores Australians, in the arts, who live and work internationally.

Untitled (preparatory study for sculpture of Dr John Yu)

Untitled (preparatory study for sculpture of Dr John Yu), 2003

Ah Xian

Portrait, pencil and white chalk on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2004

Terms and conditions

NPPP 2015

More about the NPPP 2015

Conditions of entry for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2015.

Dr J.R. Vickery, O.B.E., 1967

William Pidgeon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the CSIRO Agriculture and Food Division 2017

Harry Kewell, 2011

Julian Kingma

Magazine article by Esther Agostino, 2015

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Amy Johnson wearing a woollen suit from the collection of flight clothes designed by Madame Schiaparelli for her solo flight from London to Cape Town, 1938 unknown photographer

Air wear

Aviation carried women’s roles in society to greater heights – fashion followed suit.

Visiting with a school group

Visual Stories

Access support for students.

Country man

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Angus Trumble’s tribute to the late Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser.

Twenty new portraits marking Portrait Gallery’s twentieth birthday

21 August 2018

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

To celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s twentieth anniversary as an institution, twenty portraits of outstanding Australian individuals have been commissioned for the permanent collection. This is the largest undertaking for the Gallery’s commissioning program in its twenty-year existence.

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide, c. 1862

Stephen Edward Nixon

Purchased 2018

Gail Kelly, 2018

by Paul Newton

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Commissioned with funds provided by Westpac Group and Optus 2018

Pat and Richard Larter, Luddenham, 1970s

Pin-ups

Christopher Chapman describes the art and life of Australian artist Richard Larter.

Feel the music

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

Dr Christopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian composer Paul Grabowsky by photographer Martin Philbey.

Village people

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2015

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

Themes and variations (Annelies) A13, 1946

Listening to form

Magazine article by Jane Kinsman, 2007

National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman discusses the portraiture of Henri Matisse.

Masters of Fare

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

The exhibition Masters of Fare: Chefs, Winemaking, Providores celebrates those who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia.

Myles Nelson

Magazine article by Eric Smith, 2004

It was definitely a candid encounter as was the expression on the face. It was constructed insofar as the image was deliberately taken from a distance so as to minimize intrusion and to magnify the effect of the image.

Creative space

Eric Smith describes the agony and finally the ecstasy of winning the 1982 Archibald Prize with the portrait of Peter Sculthorpe.

Archie Roach, 2008

Peter Hudson

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

All dressed up

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman', c. 1869

John Davis

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

Janet Tavener

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Mikala is the eldest of my three daughters. I have photographed her on many an occasion. Needless to say we are both extremely at home with the practice.

The silent partner

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

Judith Durham AO

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2005

The Seekers formed in Melbourne in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who was in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

M H Wednesday 11.15am from the series Self-harm, 2004

Big it up

Former National Portrait Gallery Curator Magda Keaney was a member of the selection panel of the Schwepes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004 at the National Portrait Gallery London.

Gotta catch 'em all

Magazine article by Vincent Fantauzzo, 2022

Angus Trumble grabs his life jacket and rides the Pokémon GO tsunami.

Portrait story

Artist Vincent Fantauzzo on dyslexia, connection and virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman.

Star signs

Magazine article by Barry York, 2018

Barry York charts the course from childhood request to autographed celebrity portrait anthology.

Helen Blaxland judging flower arrangements, c. 1940s photographer unknown

Petal to the mettle

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.

‘Untitled’ - Yellow Kangaroo Paw, 2008 by Christian Thompson

The 'I' in Indigenous art

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

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

Mr Movies - Bill Collins OAM, 2009

Evert Ploeg

Portrait, oil on linen

Gift of Joan Collins and the Todd-Wilson family in memory of Bill Collins 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dorothy Gordon OBE

Dorothy Gordon (Jenner) OBE, ‘Andrea’ (1891-1985), actress, dressmaker, stuntwoman, journalist, radio broadcaster and charity fundraiser, grew up on a property near Narrabri and attended boarding school in Sydney before gaining a part as a chorus girl in Girl in a Train in Melbourne in 1912.

2 portraits in the collection

Nikki Toole

An interview with the photographer.

About the exhibition

Portraits + Architecture

The Seekers, 1993

Rennie Ellis

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Through blue eyes

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan bring the desert, the misty seashore and the hot Monaro plains to exhibition Open Air: Portraits in the landscape.

In the galleries

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

Self Creation

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2006

Former National Portrait Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers recalls meeting iconic Australian artist Sidney Nolan.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

123 Faces

Magda Keaney examines the 123 Faces project by Simon Obarzanek.

Michael Wardell – Country of birth: Ireland 2014 by Jacques van der Merwe

Look who's coming to dinner

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

Michael Wardell’s personal insight into Jacques van der Merwe’s New Arrivals.

Home truths

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2004

Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.

Restoring histories

Photographic conservation practices and the restoration of the Barbara Blackman photographic portrait.

Ken Done

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

With a mum who was married to a tradie, you’d think it a fair chance that the baby Jesus would have grown up with a dog in the house.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Learning resources

Let’s look closely at the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 together! For students and family groups.

Fang Lijun

Featured Artists

Born 1963, Handan, Hebei Province China. Lives and works in Beijing.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

Self Portrait, Stuart Campbell by Stuart Campbell

The essence of you

Magazine article by Lee Tulloch, 2011

Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.

Davida Allen

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2020

Going around a gallery with a child, we point to a painting of a dog and brightly ask ‘What’s that?’ If they don’t say ‘A dog’, we tell them that’s what it is. We don’t say it’s a shape inscribed by an artist that’s popularly understood to signify a dog. That’d only serve to foster a smarty-pants.

The long game

Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.

Pop poet

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2013

Dr Anne Sanders previews the works in the new focus exhibition Paul Kelly and The Portraits.

Melanie Faith Dove

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

I had been watching Agnes with intrigue, her face and profile were so mesmerizing. On our final day together I pulled her aside and convinced her that she had such an amazing face that I needed to get a photograph for myself. It was very spontaneous in that I decided quickly how it would best look and shot it in only two frames.

Powerful energy

Dr Christopher Chapman explores the symbolism in the portrait commission of Marcia Langton by Brook Andrew.

The Seekers reunite 50 years on, 2011

Helen Edwards

Portrait, synthetic polymer on linen

Gift of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Gladiators (Norm Provan and Arthur Summons)

Who's that?

Magazine article by Kwon Hyeeun, 2019

Michael Desmond discusses the iconic picture of two Rugby League players which became known as 'The Gladiators'.

Portrait of Kang Sehwang, 1783 by Yi Myeonggi

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.

Shen Jiawei

Shen Jiawei was born in China. During the Cultural Revolution he laboured in the Great Northern Wilderness, but even as he worked there, he gained recognition as an artist.

Jude Rae

Jude Rae’s high reputation rests on her austere, cerebral still lifes of gas canisters, electric jugs and jars, which she groups and rearranges for paintings that catch their difficult curves and reflections. Her self-portrait’s likewise thoughtfully composed.

Jessica Mauboy, 2018

by David Rosetzky

Commissioned with funds provided by Sony Music Entertainment Australia 2018

William Robinson

Magazine article by David Sequeira, 2004

Unique in the world, perhaps, is a bronze sculpture that fuses the age-old human portrait bronze tradition, and the later genre of the bronze pug figurine: that’d be William Robinson’s Self-portrait with pug.

Time is precious

Headspace5: Crystal Gazing highlighted the diversity of materials and techniques that young people use for self expression. David Sequeira presents a personal view of three works in the exhibition.

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick

Painter John Brack with Professor Alex Mitchell and Sir Garfield Barwick, c. 1977

Jozef Vissel

Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015

Andrew Gaze, 2018

by George Fetting

Magazine article by Lilly Koltun, 2004

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil, ca.1753-55

Canadian identities

An exploration of national identity in the Canadian context drawn from the symposium Face to Face at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2004.

Portrait of the artist as a young man

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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

Scott Redford: Introducing
Reinhardt Dammn

Surfer artist rockstar

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Christopher Chapman talks with Scott Redford about his character Reinhardt Dammn.

Insightful

Magazine article by Robert McFarlane, 2004

Henri-Cartier-Bresson invented the grammar for photographing life in the 20th century.

Darren McDonald

Magazine article by Jennifer Coombes, 2018

The wild balancing act of McDonald’s home décor (is that there as a joke? where do I actually sit down? is this ironic or what? what a lovely photo of Darren and Robin in Europe!) is reflected in his own personality.

Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda Courtesy Picnic Productions

Rock star

Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film.

Extremely generous and incredibly close

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Michael Desmond examines the daguerreotype portraits created by American artist Chuck Close.

Missionary positions

Magazine article by Stella Ramage, 2016

Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.

The 1890s to the 1940s

Mo and beard timeline

Although the tough, weathered, hard-drinking bushmen of the kind mythologised by writers like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson are popularly associated with the character of late nineteenth century Australia, it was also a time when alternative ideas about identity began to come into play.

In the round

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2009

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

Handing on the baton

Magazine article by Amy Middleton, 2023

Michael Desmond explores the life of ballerina Irina Baranova through the portrait by Australian artist Jenny Sages.

Safe space

Amy Middleton on the power of portraiture in promoting inclusivity and connecting with intersectionality and diversity in all its forms.

Yellow portrait (portrait of Alex Jelinek)

Fugue in Yellow

Magazine article by Roger Benjamin, 2015

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

Vanity fair

Magazine article by Ashleigh Wadman, 2012

Ashleigh Wadman rediscovers the Australian characters represented with a kindly touch by the British portrait artist Leslie Ward for the society magazine Vanity Fair.

Lauded legacy

Magazine article by Karl James, 2015

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

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne, c. 1968

Robert Whitaker

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2012

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Beguiling impressions

Sarah Engledow is seduced by the portraits and the connections between the artists and their subjects in the exhibition Impressions: Painting light and life.

Cachasunghia, Osage Warrior 1804–06 by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin

Political profiles

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

Joanna Gilmour examines the prolific output of Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, and discovers the risk of taking a portrait at face value.

Wylie

Wylie (c. 1824–unknown) is thought to have been born near King George’s Sound in south-west Western Australia, which would make him a Noongar man.

1 portrait in the collection

Donated duo

The portraiture of Kristin Headlam

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the gift of two striking paintings by the Australian artist Ken Done AM.

Confessional conversations

Magazine article by Fiona Gruber, 2015

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Where do we draw a line between the personal and the historical? Although she died in Melbourne in 1975, when I was not quite eleven years old, I have the vividest memories of my maternal grandmother Helen Borthwick.

Greek Orthodox Priest, 2015 by Sarah Ball

Hope for kindness

Sarah Engledow arrives at the junction of fate and hope in Sarah Ball’s poignant Immigrants series.

Fiona McMonagle

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

Fiona aims to create a dangerous situation with a flood of water on the paper, forcing each work to the point where it can fail, and then rescuing it.

2023 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

The more things change...

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.

Commander Skyring, Gang-gang cockatoo by Leila Jeffreys

A real tweet

Sarah Engledow plays wingman to Leila Jeffreys.

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

No shirt, no service

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.

The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2012

Imagination

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.

Money and swat

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2007

Andrew Sayers discusses the real cost of George Lambert's Self portrait with gladioli 1922.

Swimming every day

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2015

National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Christopher Chapman connects this year’s entries to iconic contemporary american photographers.

A real Pratt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.

2022 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

Wylie, 1840-1841

Robert Neill

Portrait, steel engraving with later hand-colouring on paper

Purchased 2018

Twin chics

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2021

Joanna Gilmour on the exuberant union of fashion pioneers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, captured in luminescent splendour by artist Carla Fletcher.

So Fine

17 May 2018

NPPP 2015 exhibition essay

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce its winter exhibition is So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history. It will open to the public from 29 June 2018.

Swimming every day

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2021

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2015 Prize.

Drawn from life

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

Flash mob

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Sarah Engledow trains her exacting lens on the nine photographs from 20/20.

Peter Wilmoth, age 12, with copies of Our World 1974 Courtesy of the author

Paper, boy

Magazine article by Peter Wilmoth, 2016

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

Facing the inferno

Tara James speaks to Cam Neville about his portrait series, Firefighters.

Boyd to man

Magazine article by Ellen Kent, 2007

Christopher Chapman looks at influences and insight in the formative years of Arthur Boyd.

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hand of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari

A handful of sand

Ellen Kent examines the portrait of Vincent Lingiari and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam taken by photographer Mervyn Bishop.

Noel McKenna

Magazine article by Tamsin Hong, 2016

It’s a matter beyond dispute that in the entire history of Australian art, it’s Noel McKenna who’s painted the liveliest rendition of the head of a Chihuahua.

Rev. Victor B. Walls and Mrs. Walls, Trinidad, B.W.I., c.1930

The first nurse

Tamsin Hong recounts the tale of Marion Smith, the only known Australian Indigenous servicewoman of World War One.

Beau Dean Riley Smith, Wiradjuri and Gamilaraay nations, Bennelong, 2017

Space in between

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

Rebecca Ray goes backstage with Bangarra’s Head of Design and photographer Jacob Nash.

Is the truth of portraiture vested exclusively in likeness?

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

Curator Michael Desmond introduces the exhibition Truth and Likeness, an investigation of the importance of likeness to portraiture.

Pre-Raphaelite Profile

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

In 2006 the National Portrait Gallery acquired a splendid portrait of Victoria's first governor, Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe by Thomas Woolner.

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

So Fine

28 June 2018

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2005

Ten women artists explore the possibilities of portraiture as a contemporary art form; and reinterpret and reimagine Australian history in the Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history.

Australian Princess

The full-length portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark by artist Jiawei Shen, has become a destination piece for visitors.

Nannultera, a young cricketer of the Natives' Training Institution, Poonindie , 1854 John Michael Crossland

The catechist and the cricketer

Magazine article by Stephen Valambras Graham, 2021

Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.

For the boys

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2011

The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.

Eko Nugroho

by Adeline Ooi

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2016

Born and raised in Yogyakarta, Eko Nugroho (b. 1977) entered the art scene at the height of Reformasi.

Studio portrait of servicewoman Lance Corporal Kathleen Jean Mary (Kath) Walker, c.1942

Past present

Krysia Kitch celebrates Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

Grateful admiration and brotherly love

In the earliest stages of the Great War, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton was turned into a military hospital, and arrangements made there to accommodate the different dietary and other requirements of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim patients.

Nambin (black headed python), 2018 by Shirley Purdie

Skin names

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2021

The first row of paintings depict stories relating to kinship, introducing significant women relatives.

Self-portrait in white jacket , 1901-02 Hugh Ramsay

Wunderkind lost

Inga Walton on the brief but brilliant life of Hugh Ramsay.

Lucy Culliton

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Most well-regarded pictures of chickens show them dead. A reliable way to tell if a chicken in a painting is dead is to check if it’s hanging upside down, because unlike, say, cockatoos, chickens don’t practise inversion for enjoyment in life.

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

On the wall – Guangzhou (II), 2002 by Weng Fen

Exhibition themes

The four main themes of the exhibition: About face, Body politic, Skin deep, and Self reflex.

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie

Sure thing

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.

Through thick and thin

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

Ngarranggarni

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

The third row of paintings come from Ngarranggarni (Dreaming).

A spectral sentience

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

The Conciliation, 1840 by Benjamin Duterrau

The art of conciliation

Magazine article by Gareth Knapman, 2017

Gareth Knapman explores the politics and opportunism behind the portraits of Tasmania’s Black War.

Graeme Drendel

I like talking about Drendel’s pictures as if they expressed dreams of my own.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Self-portrait with guardian spirits, 2009-2010 Kate Beynon

Kate Beynon’s transcultural life and art

Phoebe Lupton profiles artist Kate Beynon, whose contemplative self portrait features in Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize.

Photograph from Eye to I series, 2022 David Lindesay

A portrait of the artist by the artist

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Rowan McGinness asks: when is a self portrait not a self portrait?

20 20

Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Shall I raise my eyebrows and gasp? (Alex), 2011 by TextaQueen

Pen power

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.

All in the Family

Magazine article by Barbara Blackman AO, 2003

In 2000, Barbara Blackman donated a portrait of her close friends - poet Judith Wright, her husband Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith - painted by Charles Blackman.

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery

Visual Stories

Access support for a general visit to the Gallery.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885-86 by
John Singer Sargent

A feast of friends

Magazine article by Richard Ormond, 2015

John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

NPPP 2013 exhibition essay

Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2013 Prize.

Surface tension

Magazine article by Tenille Hands, 2018

Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.

The life of Bryant

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

Lady Jane Grey, c.1590-1600 (also known as The ‘Streatham’ portrait) Artist unknown

The Royal she

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2019

Traversing paint and pixels, Inga Walton examines portraits of select women in Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Magazine article by Sharon Peoples, 2017

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

Women make history

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Jennifer Higgie uncovers the intriguing stories behind portraits of women by women in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

Kylie

Magazine article by Margot Anderson, 2005

The Kylie exhibition celebrated the significant achievements of one of Australia's most internationally recognisable faces and gave the general public a rare glimpse into her glamorous life.

A potpourri of portraits

Magazine article by Natalie Wilson, 2023

Archie 100 curator (and detective) Natalie Wilson’s nationwide search for Archibald portraits unearthed the fascinating stories behind some long-lost treasures.

Movement is my radar

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2015

Michael Desmond charts the path of portraiture, arriving at Julian Opie’s digital realm.

dumb & dumber from The Imponderable Archive, 2013 Samuel Hodge

Everything, everyqueer, all at once

Magazine article by Bradley Vincent, 2022

Bradley Vincent considers Samuel Hodge’s use of the archive to create a queer vernacular of portraiture.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Magazine article by Amanda Rowell, 2015

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

The highest honour

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Bringing eminent scientist Frank Fenner and artist Jude Rae together for the National Portrait Gallery commission was like matchmaking.

Flesh, figure and rock

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2018

Aimee Board traces Judy Cassab’s path to the Australian outback, arriving at the junction of inspiration and abstraction.

Storied portrait

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2018

Emily Casey takes in Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait, Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe.

Study in scarlet

Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.

Kristin Headlam

Basil grew into a speckled beauty – a long-legged leaper and an exceptionally vocal dog, with a great register of sounds, ascending in shock value from a whimper to a growl to a bark to a yelp that’s a violation of the ears.

Vivan Sundaram

by Rakhee Balaram

Born in 1943 in Simla, Vivan Sundaram’s long career has given him opportunities to work in a range of mediums – painting, installation, assemblage, photography, digital media and film.

FX Harsono

by Christine Clark

Magazine article by Gideon Haigh, 2009

FX Harsono was born in 1949, just as the independence of the Indonesian nation was being established.

Top shot that

Gideon Haigh discusses portraits of Australian cricketers from the early 20th century

People are people

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2022

Sandra Bruce chats with seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon about photography, guitars and representing the human story.

Two painters

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2007

Chris Chapman explains how Matthys Gerber bridges the gap between abstraction and portraiture.

Reveries

Magazine article by Helen Ennis, 2007

The exhibition Reveries: Photography and mortality is a powerful display which brings together images that depict the last phase of people's lives.

School portraits

Inga Walton sheds light on a portraiture collection usually only seen by students and teachers at Melbourne University.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2016

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

Living landscape

Gillian Raymond ponders landscapes as self-portraiture in Michael Taylor’s intimate expressionism.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.

Hyperversity

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.

Beyond the bow tie

Nathan Faiman delves into the rich life story and legacy of Alan Goldberg.

S Teddy D

by Elly Kent

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

S Teddy D was born in Padang, Sumatra in 1970, and studied painting at the Institut Seni Indonesia (Indonesian Institute of Art) in Yogyakarta.

Oz and beyond

Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.

Woman with Fair Hair and Pink Cardigan, 1949 by John Perceval.

The family scene

Magazine article, 2016

Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.

Installation of ‘Face to Face: The New Normal’ at Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery, 2021 Vic McEwan

Facing the feeling

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Penelope Grist explores the interplay between medicine and portraiture in Vic McEwan’s Face to Face: The New Normal.

Desperately seeking Sonia

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

The more things change

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

National Photographic Portrait Prize curator, Sarah Engledow, finds reward in a difficult task and ultimately uncovers the essence of portraiture.

Private virtues public lives

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist

Of plague and portraits

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Corinna Cullen on the symbolic power of pandemic-related imagery over the ages.

Little women

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Arcadia: Sound of the sea

Exhibition introduction

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

One night in the spring of 1970 in an old house in Whale Beach, north of Sydney, John Witzig, Albe Falzon and David Elfick put together the first issue of Tracks, playing Neil Young’s album Harvest over and over again as they pasted up galleys of type.

Technical terminology

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

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959 by William Dobell

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

Feminist Fan#1 (PUSSY: Casey at the Melbourne Pussy Riot Protest, 2012) 2015 by Kate Just

Heroine knits

Magazine article by Sophia Cai, 2017

‘Dear Kate Just – I’m your feminist fan’. Interview by Sophia Cai.

Each morning when I wake up I put on my mothers face, 2000

Paths to portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

The life and art of Australian artist Jenny Sages is on display in the exhibition Paths to Portraiture.

Washington preview

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2005

Ron Ramsey, former Director of Cultural Relations at the Embassy of Australia interviewed NPG Washington Director, Marc Pachter, about their building renovations.

Black tie or wombat: How formal should I go?

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

Michael Desmond discusses the portrait of Senator Neville Bonner by Robert Campbell Jnr.

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

Poise and Carats

Magazine article by Professor Stephen FitzGerald AO, 2016

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

Recollections of a sinologist sitter

Professor Stephen Fitzgerald, Australia’s first Ambassador to China, traces the historical course from sino-australian cultural engagement to a maturing Australian identity.

The play’s the thing

Magazine article by Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby, 2018

Penelope Grist charts an immersive path through Stuart Spence’s photography.

HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, 2006 Ralph Heimans AM

Dane reign

Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby bring eloquent context to Ralph Heimans’ portraits of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

The stately lotus

I spent much of my summer holiday at D’Omah, on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. Lotus and waterlilies sprout in extraordinary profusion in artful ponds amid palms and deep scarlet ginger flowers.

Heartfelt

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.

Marian Anderson, contralto, New York, June 30, 1955 Richard Avedon

The right note

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

An Australian story

Magazine article by The Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd, 2009

In his speech launching the new National Portrait Gallery building on 3 December 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the Gallery in a national and historical context.

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) comedian, impresario and entrepreneur, was a driving force of the early Australian theatre.

Christian Waller with Baldur, Undine and Siren at Fairy Hills, 1932 by Napier Waller

Enigma

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll contemplates the curious case of Christian Waller.

The Art Lovers - Megan, 2013 by Gary Grealy

Everybody, look serious

NPPP 2014 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Robyn Sweaney, 2016

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2014 Prize.

Untitled (girl on chair with red shoes) by Violet Frisby

Finding Mrs Frisby

Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.

Fine and dandy

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Whether the result of misadventure or misdemeanour, many accomplished artists were transported to Australia where they ultimately left a positive mark on the history of art in this country.

In a good paddock

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Celebrating a new painted portrait of Joseph Banks, Sarah Engledow spins a yarn of the naturalist, the first kangaroo in France and Don, a Spanish ram.

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

Dupain detective

Magazine article by Johanna McMahon, 2019

Johanna McMahon revels in history and mystery in pursuit of a suite of unknown portrait subjects.

Jim Cobb at Chroma factory Mt Kuring-gai, NSW, 2017 by Mark Mohell

The alchemist’s profile

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2017

John Zubrzycki meets Australian paint pioneer Jim Cobb.

Royal Solomon Islands Police Force recruits, Maranatha Hall, Honiara by Sean Davey

The art of peace

Magazine article by Sven Knudsen, 2018

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

Their brilliant careers

Magazine article by Jenny Gall, 2017

Jenny Gall delves into Starstruck to celebrate some of Australian cinema’s iconic women.

Eating the seasons

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2019

Anne Sanders imbibes Tony Bilson’s gastronomic revolution.

Profile of a marriage

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the lives of Sir George Grey and his wife Eliza, the subjects of a pair of wax medallions in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Reflections on portraiture

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

Director John Duigan and actor Judy Davis on the set of ‘Winter of our Dreams’, Sydney, 1981 by Robert McFarlane

Natural born stiller

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist speaks to Robert McFarlane about shooting for the stars.

It's a Mora!

Magazine article by Tedi Bills, 2016

Select extracts from Mirka Mora's autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous, provide rich accompaniment to recent Gallery acquisitions.

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.

Albert Jonas and John Xiniwe of The African Choir, 1891 London Stereoscopic Co.

Back in black

Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Some women you may not know

Alison Alder

‘Everybody’s lives are built by so many influences, and for me, it is writers, artists and activists who have influenced how I think about the world.’

Studio portrait of Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War, 1914 by J Russell & Sons

All the way with K of K

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow bristles at the biographers’ neglect of Kitchener’s antipodean intervention.

Anangu landscape learning

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2012

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.

The importance of being bearded

Joanna Gilmour discovers that the beards of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills were as epic as their expedition to traverse Australia from south to north.

Drawing inspiration

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

Christopher Chapman absorbs the gentle touch of Don Bachardy’s portraiture.

Cover, first minute book of the Tasmanian Society of Natural History

Embrace your inner nerd

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

The southern winter has arrived. For people in the northern hemisphere (the majority of humanity) the idea of snow and ice, freezing mist and fog in June, potentially continuing through to August and beyond, encapsulates the topsy-turvidom of our southern continent.

Hard truths

Jennifer Higgie reveals how Alice Neel reinvigorated 20th century portraiture with her honest and perceptive depictions of the human experience.

Lyndall Hobbs and Marilyn at the Come as your favourite blonde party, Blitz Club, London, 1979 Robert Rosen

Shiny, happy people

Magazine article by Glynis Jones, 2022

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

Robyn Sweaney

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

Robyn's parents had two terriers, Wuff and Snuff. In spite of Snuff’s ominous name and a couple of close shaves – once, he jumped out of a moving car, and another time, on a long road trip, he was accidentally left behind at a petrol station – he outlived Wuff.

Murray frees himself from straightjacket in public, 1928 by Sam Hood

Risky business

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

To the end of the earth

The portrait of Dr. Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster from 1780, is one of the oldest in the NPG's collection.

Staying home

True south #2

Magazine article by Tom Fryer, 2021

Joanna Gilmour brings a mindful Douglas Mawson’s perspective to bear on the concept of isolation.

Face House – Kyoto, Japan Architect: Kazumasa Yamashita

Alter ego

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

First-Class Marksman, 1946 by Sidney Nolan

Money for Myth

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Earth to earth

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.

Out of the shadows

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Joanna Gilmour profiles the life and times of the shutter sisters May and Mina Moore.

What price self?

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

The art of multiplicity

Magazine article by Meredith Hughes, 2019

Meredith Hughes explores a key Portrait Gallery work, emerging into the infinite iterations of identity.

Asiel Timor Dei, ca. 1728 by a master of Calamarca

The Viceroyalty of New Spain

European painters always enjoyed a good deal of latitude in the representation of angels, those asexual, bodiless, celestial regiments of God, so long as they were young and beautiful.

Anna Culliton

Magazine article by Tedi Bills, 2016

Anna Culliton never had a colouring-in book when she was little. Her parents –Tony, a filmmaker, and Stephanie, a painter – wouldn’t let her have one. Instead, they insisted on her drawing her own pictures to colour-in.

Love City; George Gittoes on hilltop 2013

Man of war

Tedi Bills talks to George Gittoes about canvassing conflict.

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

The artist and her family, c. 1854 by Martha Berkeley

Presence and absence

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.

Sarah Bernhardt, 1876 by Georges Clairin

Demimonde liaisons

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2017

Jane Raffan feasts on modernity’s entrée in the Belle Époque theatre of the demimonde.

Nicholas Harding

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

Over the years the young Nicholas Harding got his hands on various mice and guinea pigs, but they served mainly to illustrate the concept of mortality.

A sketch for some portraits

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

Louise Lovely feeding gulls in a park, 1969 Unknown photographer

Jewelled nights

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2017

Anne Sanders celebrates the cinematic union of two pioneering australian women.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

The tragic tale of Tom Wills, the ‘inventor’ of Australian Rules Football.

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.

Christmas Island

This is my last Trumbology before, in a little more than a week from now, I pass to my successor Karen Quinlan the precious baton of the Directorship of the National Portrait Gallery.

Faces of war

Lecture, 14 May 2011