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Michael Desmond
Biography
Michael Desmond worked at the National Portrait Gallery first as Senior Curator from 2006 to 2011 then as Deputy Director until 2012.
Who's that?
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009
Michael Desmond discusses the iconic picture of two Rugby League players which became known as 'The Gladiators'.
Inside outside
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010
Michael Desmond explores the portraiture of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.
Seduce, Amuse, Entertain
NPPP 2007 exhibition essay
General content
Michael Desmond, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2007 Prize.
Seduce Amuse Entertain
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007
Michael Desmond profiles a handful of the entrants in first National Photographic Portrait Prize and notes emerging themes and categories.
Is the truth of portraiture vested exclusively in likeness?
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006
Curator Michael Desmond introduces the exhibition Truth and Likeness, an investigation of the importance of likeness to portraiture.
Conflicting images
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008
Michael Desmond reveals the origins of composite portraits and their evolution in the pursuit of the ideal.
International issue
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009
Michael Desmond looks at the history of the Vanity Fair magazine in conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008
OBEY
Shepard Fairey Posters
Previous exhibition, 2009
Shepard Fairey is best known for his iconic poster Obama/Hope which he made in support of Barack Obama for the 2008 US election.
Movement is my radar
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2015
Michael Desmond charts the path of portraiture, arriving at Julian Opie’s digital realm.
Essential portraiture
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011
Michael Desmond in conversation with University of Houston professor of philosophy Cynthia Freeland.
Technical terminology
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010
Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2007
Previous exhibition, 2007
Photography is the most pervasive and popular medium for portraiture and makes a natural fit with the Gallery, being a natural extension of the Gallery's longstanding commitment to photography as a contemporary portrait medium.
Present Tense
An Imagined Grammar of Portraiture in the Digital Age
Previous exhibition, 2010
Technology has been a major influence on art since the invention of the camera, particularly in the field of portraiture.
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.
Extremely generous and incredibly close
Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010
Michael Desmond examines the daguerreotype portraits created by American artist Chuck Close.