© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
American dream leads to tragic end
Devotion
Young love lost, treasured
Sensory Kits
Access
Does a young person in your life need additional support to feel at ease in a public space? Our sensory-friendly kits were developed in collaboration with Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia) and are free to borrow during your visit.
Larry Clark
Tough & Tender
General content
Larry Clark's black-and-white documentary images of young outsiders reveal raw feelings.
Treading Water, 2017
by Josh Owen
General content
Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel digital video
The Murdoch
Moustaches
Sport was a potent means by which, in the lead up to Federation, Australians began to assert a sense of themselves as youthful, manly and athletic – the products of an equally young and virile new nation.
Backstage on the way to the top
Passion
Living for the moment
The Hinders: doyens of Australian modernism
Passion
Progressive partnership
To coin a (farewell) phrase
Devotion
A penny for their thoughts
Capital Cool
Stop in all the byways, playin' rock 'n roll
General content
Outsiders tend to give Canberra a bad rap: sterile, plagued by politicians, a comatose capital for professionals and academics. Nick Cave once said he didn’t like the city because there were too many punks.
Shirlie Purdie tells a story from her mother
General content
"It’s good to learn from old people. They keep saying when you paint you can remember that Country, just like to take a photo, but there’s the Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) and everything. Good to put it in painting, your Country, so kids can know and understand. When the old people die, young people can read the stories from the paintings. They can learn from the paintings and maybe they want to start painting too."
Shirley Purdie
Contributing artists
Born: 1947, Gilbun – Mabel Downs Station, WA
Works: Warmun, WA
Oz Rock
Gettin’ robbed, gettin’ stoned, gettin’ beat up, broken boned
General content
Two of the music industry’s highest-selling performers originated in suburban Australia. The Bee Gees started out in Brisbane, for instance, and AC/DC played their first gigs at a nightclub in inner Sydney.
My Awesome Australian
The Gallery
An online exhibition for and by young people celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Australian honours system.
Blek Bala MJ, 2017
by Timothy Hillier
General content
Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video
Arthur Boyd’s Mysterious Eyes
6 May 2016
Archived media releases 2016
The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a focus exhibition of captivating portraits by renowned artist Arthur Boyd, titled Mysterious eyes: Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945.
Alex Frayne
NPPP 2012 learning resource
An interview with the photographer.