© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
A handful of sand
Magazine article by Ellen Kent, 2007
Ellen Kent examines the portrait of Vincent Lingiari and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam taken by photographer Mervyn Bishop.
Duty bound
Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009
Joanna Gilmour explores the life of colonial women Lady Ellen Stirling, Eliza Darling, Lady Eliza Arthur, Elizabeth Macquarie and Lady Jane Franklin.
Glamour vs grunge
Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010
Christopher Chapman examines the battle of glamour vs. grunge which played out in the fashion and advertising of the 1990s.
Crikey!
Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006
Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.
Extremely generous and incredibly close
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010
Michael Desmond examines the daguerreotype portraits created by American artist Chuck Close.
Glossy too
Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005
The Glossy 2 exhibition highlights the integral role magazine photography plays in illustrating and shaping our contemporary culture.
The Dissecting Room
Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015
Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture.
Agnes enigma
Magazine article by Karen Quinlan AM, 2019
Karen Quinlan considers the case of Agnes Goodsir, whose low profile in Australia belies her overseas acclaim.
Meeting by Murder
Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005
The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.
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 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.
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.
Queen of cartes
Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019
Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.
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.
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.
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.