© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Catherine Helen Spence
Biography
Catherine Helen Spence (1825-1910), writer and reformer, came to South Australia aged 14 and began her career with a number of pioneering novels, including Clara Morison (1854).
Percy Spence
Biography
Percy Spence, born in Balmain, grew up in Fiji and began art classes in Sydney in about 1888.
1 portrait in the collection
Bruce Spence
Biography
Bruce Spence (b. 1945), actor, made his film debut in the title role of Tim Burstall's Stork (1971), its title relating neatly, if coincidentally, to his 2.01m frame.
1 portrait in the collection
Stuart Spence
Biography
Stuart Spence (b. 1960) born in Geelong, Victoria, established his career in Sydney during the 1980s and 1990s, as a magazine photographer specialising in celebrity portraiture.
2 portraits in the collection
Catherine Hamlin AC
Biography
Catherine Hamlin AC (1924–2020), obstetrician and gynaecologist, graduated from the University of Sydney in 1946 and went to work at Crown Street Women’s Hospital, where she met fellow doctor Reginald Hamlin.
1 portrait in the collection
Catherine Livingstone AC
Biography
Catherine Livingstone AC (b. 1955) has been chair of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia since January 2017.
1 portrait in the collection
John Connell
Biography
John Connell (c. 1759–1849), free settler, merchant and landowner, came to New South Wales aboard the Earl Cornwallis, which arrived in Sydney in June 1801.
1 portrait in the collection
Chang Woo Gow
Biography
Chang Woo Gow (1840s-1893), known as Chang the Chinese Giant, made the first of his public appearances in London in the mid 1860s.
6 portraits in the collection
Mawalan Marika
Biography
Mawalan Marika (c. 1908–1967), ceremonial leader, political activist and artist, was leader of the Rirratjingu clan, upon whose Arnhem Land country the Yirrkala Mission was established in the mid-1930s.
1 portrait in the collection
William Hodges
Biography
William Hodges (1744-1797) trained from an early age at William Shipley's drawing school at Castle Court in the Strand, and was afterward apprenticed to a landscape painter.
3 portraits in the collection
Andrew Mezei
Biography
Andrew Mezei (b. 1963), artist, was born to Hungarian refugee parents in Melbourne and grew up in their leather-goods workshop, observing their adherence to a tradition of fine European craftsmanship.
1 portrait in the collection
Dominique Issermann
Biography
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
Glenn Murcutt AO
Biography
Glenn Murcutt AO (b. 1936), architect, received the world's highest architectural honour when he was awarded the Pritzker Prize in April 2002.
4 portraits in the collection
Henry Crock AO
Biography
Henry 'Harry' Crock AO (1929-2018), surgeon and educator, attended school and university in Perth and studied further in Melbourne, where he won the Rector's Medal for Debating at Newman College as well as academic honours including the Gold Medal for Anatomy and the Ryan Scholarship and Medal in Medicine and Surgery.
1 portrait in the collection
William Wentworth
Biography
William Wentworth (1790-1872) was a landowner, barrister and statesman.
2 portraits in the collection
Jaq Grantford
Biography
Melbourne-born artist Jaq Grantford has been a finalist multiple times in portrait prizes such as the Black Swan Prize, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the Portia Geach Memorial Award.
1 portrait in the collection