© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Good, bad and the ugly
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007
Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.
All there in black and white
Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007
The National Portrait Gallery acquired a beguiling silhouette group portrait by Samuel Metford, an English artist who spent periods of his working life in America.
Intense identity
Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009
Dr Chistopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian author Christos Tsiolkas taken by John Tsiavis.
Old Blighty
Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2016
Angus Trumble ponders the many faces of William Bligh.
Beautiful bones
Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011
Sarah Engledow reflects on the shared life and writing of Dorothy Porter and Andrea Goldsmith.
Tracks in the sand
Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008
Dr Sarah Engledow discusses Quentin Jones's photograph of Australian author Tim Winton.
Big shots
Magazine article by Djon Mundine OAM, 2017
Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.
Giving and getting
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006
The exhibition Portraits for Posterity celebrates gifts to the Gallery, of purchases made with donated funds, and testifies to the generosity and community spirit of Australians.
Bloodlines
Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004
Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).
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.
Of jumpers and river gums, red
Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2016
Diana O’Neil on Noel Counihan’s vivid 1971 portrait of Alan Marshall.
Be bold
Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007
The name of Florence Broadhurst, one of Australia’s most significant wallpaper and textile designers, is now firmly cemented in the canon of Australian art and design.
A rogue's calling card
Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008
Joanna Gilmour explores the stories behind the ninteenth-century carte de visites of bushrangers Frank Gardiner and Fred Lowry.
In the galleries
Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009
Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.
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.
Snap decisions
Magazine article by Robert Cook, 2018
NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.