© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Behind your eyes, between your ears
Brainwave interactive artwork by George Khut
Previous exhibition, 2016
As the subject changes the quality of their attention and mental focus, the portrait transforms, both appearance and sound.
George Foxhill
Self Portraits
Previous exhibition, 2006
Foxhill's portraits are more concerned with describing an emotional and psychological state than the surface topography of the human face.
Joan Ross
Those trees came back to me in my dreams
Current exhibition
The exhibition is a vibrant and dynamic exhibition by acclaimed contemporary artist Joan Ross. Transforming scenes from colonial artworks through a digital ‘cut and paste’ technique and her signature fluorescent yellow, Ross explores critical issues like climate change, greed and consumerism.
Sam Haskins
Portraits & Other Stories
Previous exhibition, 2006
Haskins is known for his poetic combinations of images and this exhibition of 'extended' portraits builds on this approach.
The Cosmopolitans
In Gallery Two
Previous exhibition, 2023
Spanning the 1880s to the 1930s, this collection display celebrates the innovations in art – and life – introduced by the generation of Australians who travelled to London and Paris for experience and inspiration in the decades either side of 1900.
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017
Previous exhibition, 2017
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.
Impressions
Painting light and life
Previous exhibition, 2011
Impressions: Painting light and life presents portraits by, and of, artists at the heart of Australian impressionism including Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin.
Heads of the People
A Portrait of Colonial Australia
Previous exhibition, 2000
For Tom Roberts - Australia's best nineteenth-century portrait painter - neither a proto-national portrait gallery nor more popular collections of portrait heads, were sufficient public celebrations for the notables of Australian history
Paris to Monaro
Pleasures from the studio of Hilda Rix Nicholas
Previous exhibition, 2013
After successfully exploring the art scenes of London, France and Morocco, Hilda Rix Nicholas settled at Knockalong, a property near Delegate, on the Monaro plain in the 1920s.
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.
Karsh
Faces of the Twentieth Century
Previous exhibition, 1998
Yousuf Karsh - the most famous portrait photographer in the world - has photographed the statesmen, artists, literary and scientific figures who have defined the 20th century and shaped our lives, In this, his 90th year, the National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to present an exhibition of Karsh's photography of 20th century figures.
Of Kings and men
Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection
Previous exhibition, 2011
This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.
The World of Thea Proctor
Previous exhibition, 2005
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
Peter Brew-Bevan Portraits
Previous exhibition, 2005
In this exhibition Sydney based photographer Peter Brew-Bevan brings together an intimate collection of works that highlight his passion for the genre of portraiture over the last 10 years
Icons
Parliament House
Touring exhibition, 2019
When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.
Jenny Sages
Paths to Portraiture
Previous exhibition, 2010
The exhibition Sages examines the process of portrait making through four large-scale portraits of women by Jenny Sages, paired with intimate preparatory drawings.