© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Lear unbuttoned
Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011
Sarah Engledow steps up to the footlights and applauds the storyline behind Nicholas Harding's portraits of actor John Bell.
Barak, respected elder
Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009
Dr Christopher Chapman looks at the life of Wurundjeri elder William Barak through the portrait painted by Victor de Pury in 1899.
Ready , set... shoot
Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006
The exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus offers various interpretations of sporting men and women by five Australian photographers.
Nobel and his prize
Magazine article by Jennifer Gason, 2003
To complement the exhibition Australians and the Nobel Prize, Jennifer Gason gives us a sense of the proceedings that occur during the award ceremony.
Tribute
Bob Ellis
Magazine article, 2016
Bob Ellis (1942–2016) was a journalist, columnist, screenwriter, film director, playwright, speechwriter and critic.
A new perspective
Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006
An exhibition devoted to Hans Holbein's English commissions shows the portraitist bringing across the Channel new technical developments in art - with a dazzling facility.
The fat of the land
Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009
Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.
In the thick of it
Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010
Projecting the splendour of the empire, and the resolve of its subjects, the bust of William Birdwood keeps a stiff upper lip in the National Portrait Gallery.
Cook in context
Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007
Robert Oatley's continuing benefaction has helped the National Portrait Gallery acquire works that add another layer to the story of Captain Cook.
Expect the unexpected
Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019
Joanna Gilmour revels in accidental artist Charles Rodius’ nineteenth century renderings of Indigenous peoples.
Form and reality
Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008
A photographic portrait by Kerry Dundas captures the contemplative mind of visionary painter Godfrey Miller.
The Obama effect
Magazine article by Kim Sajet, 2018
Kim Sajet reflects on two portraits with a power that extends beyond gallery walls.
Little women
Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019
Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.
The artist, the scholar and the gentleman
Magazine article by Kwon Hyeeun, 2019
Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.
In bloom
Magazine article by Susi Muddiman, 2017
Susi Muddiman delights in Michael Zavros’ stunning portrait of the honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO.
Icons and imagery
Magazine article by Alison Weir, 2011
Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.