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Archived media releases 2021

It is with deep regret, but great pride, that the National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the decision of its Deputy Chairman to resign from the Gallery’s Board, to focus on a new international role as co-Chair of the Tate Asia Pacific Acquisitions Committee.

Board

Our team

Chaired by Penny Fowler AM, the National Portrait Gallery Board is responsible to the Minister for the Arts for the performance of the Gallery.

New Chair of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia Board

5 November 2021

The Morrison Government has appointed Mrs Penny Fowler as Chair of the Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia (NPGA) for a 3 year term, commencing on 1 January 2022.

Penny Fowler AM, John Barrington AM, Heidi Victoria, Elizabeth Dibbs, Tom Mosby, Hayley Baillie, Hugo Michell, Elizabeth Pakchung, Valerie Tam

The Board

Governance & Board

The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.

Honour board

Support your Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.

Governance & Board

About us

Structure, policies, reports and other public corporate information

New South Wales State Repatriation Board

New South Wales State Repatriation Board, c. 1920

Frank Neish

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on cardboard

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2012

Ralph Heimans on his portraits, and features on Louis Kahan, Helena Rubinstein, Judy Cassab and Tasmanian convicts.

Portrait 63

Winter 2019

Magazine

Rod McNicol's method and motivation, 19th century Indigenous peoples, Barrie Cassidy on Bob Hawke, five generations of the Kang family from Korea and more.

Portrait 62

Autumn 2019

Magazine

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019, the iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato, Angélica Dass’ Humanæ project and more.

Portrait 64

Summer 2019/20

Magazine

Marian Anderson, emerging photographer Charles Dennington, piscatorial portraits, and the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou and more.

Sir Mark Sheldon

Sir Mark Sheldon (1871-1956), businessman, was the Chairman of the first Repatriation Board of NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

Our team

About us

The Board, the Foundation, the Executive and contact information.

Don Watson, 2002

Anna Sande

Gift of the artist 2004

Portrait of Jill, 2021

Graeme Drendel

Gift of the artist 2023

The Hon Lionel Murphy, 1978

Judith O'Conal-Prinz

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Lionel Murphy Foundation 2012

Portrait of Sir Edgar Coles, 1962

Reinis Zusters

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of Sir Edgar Coles 2014

Mr Sidney Myer AM appointed inaugural President of the National Portrait Gallery’s Foundation

12 March 2015

Archived media releases 2013

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery Board announced today the appointment of Mr Sidney Myer AM as the inaugural President of the newly established National Portrait Gallery Foundation.

National Portrait Gallery becomes statutory authority

1 July 2013

On 1 July 2013 the National Portrait Gallery began operating as a statutory authority.

The Reverend Dr Gordon Powell AM MA BD, c. 1986

Donald Cameron

Gift of the Powell and Beynon families 2010

Study for painting commission portrait of Fiona Stanley

Study for painting commission portrait of Fiona Stanley, 2010

Portrait, mixed media on archival mount board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2011

Desiderius Orban (at 101 years of age), 1985

John Caldwell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2017

Professor Ralph Blacket, 1994

John Caldwell

Portrait, mixed media on archival mount board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2017

Self portrait, c. 1940

Adrian Lawlor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Chad (portrait of Chad Morgan), 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Xavier Herbert (study), c. 1977

Ray Crooke AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir Roland Hibbert Cross, 1943-1944

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Self portrait, c. 1930

Percy Leason

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Anton Cook 2009

Sir Ernest Thomas Fisk, 1943-1944

Portrait, coloured chalk and black ink on artist board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

His Royal Highness Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester (Governor General of Australia)

His Royal Highness Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester (Governor General of Australia), 1943-1944

Portrait, coloured chalk with black ink highlight on artist board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Portrait of Patrick Ryan, 1971

Fred Williams

Portrait, gouache on paper laid on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2012

New Year's Eve 2019

Allison Marion

Image

John Sumner, 1976

Jim Paterson

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and dry pigment on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jim Paterson 2004

Joan Redshaw AM

Joan Redshaw AM (1921–1994), medical practitioner, chose her career in opposition to her father, a judge, who thought the University of Sydney medical school was a hotbed of women's activists.

1 portrait in the collection

John Kaldor AO

John Kaldor, textile designer and manufacturer, was born in Hungary. He came to Australia with his family in 1948.

1 portrait in the collection

Mickey Johnson

Mickey Johnson (1834-1906) was an Indigenous leader in the Illawarra district of New South Wales during the second half of the nineteenth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Penny Sackett

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas board

Penny Sackett (b. 1956), physicist, astronomer and former Chief Scientist for Australia, gained her undergraduate degree in her home state of Nebraska, USA, before earning a PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Pittsburgh in 1984.

1 portrait in the collection

Sidney Nolan, 1982

Albert Tucker

Purchased with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2022

Hardtmuth 'Hottie' Lahm, 1973

Nora Heysen AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of June Lahm 2015
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Edward Knox, c. 1927-1929

W B McInnes

Portrait, cast bronze on granite base

Gift of Mrs Caroline Philippa Parker 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Robert Gibson, 1934

Paul Montford

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of The Australian Industry Group 2012

Sir Robert Gibson

Sir Robert Gibson GBE (1863-1934) trained in design and drafting in Glasgow, where he began work as a designer at an iron company; he soon became manager of its London office.

1 portrait in the collection

Donald Gordon Mackay, 1998

Portrait, ink, coloured pencil, gouache, crayon and fibre-tipped pen on double layer mount board with gold coloured ink border

Gift of Jenny Mackay in memory of Don Mackay 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Last of the Angry Penguins - John Perceval, 1999

Thomas de Kessler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Thomas de Kessler 2001

Nicholas Whitlam

Portrait, oil on canvas, synthetic hair mounted on board with gold collage

Nicholas Whitlam is a banker and company director. He has over thirty years experience in all aspects of banking and finance; in recent years he has been active in major corporate re-organizations and reconstructions, in Australia and overseas, and has served as an adviser to Deutsche Bank AG.

1 portrait in the collection

Kostya Tszyu, 2001

Yoli Salmona

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Richard Humphry AO

Archived media releases 2016

Richard Humphry AO (b. 1939) was the managing director and CEO of Australian Stock Exchange Ltd from 1994 to 2004, during which period, in 1998, the ASX became the first exchange in the world to simultaneously demutualise and list on its own exchange.

1 portrait in the collection

New Chief Patron for the National Portrait Gallery

8 March 2016

Mrs Lucy Hughes Turnbull AO has accepted an invitation to become the new Chief Patron of the National Portrait Gallery.

Elaine Pelot-Syron

Elaine Pelot-Syron grew up in Miami and came to Australia to teach English in 1971.

1 portrait in the collection

Alexander Maurice Ramsay, 1978

Robert Hannaford AM

Gift of Janet, Andrew, Kathryn and Eleanor Ramsay, daughters and son of Alexander Maurice Ramsay and Amy Jane Ramsay 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Visiting with a school group

Visual Stories

Access support for students.

Edward Sawden

Eddie Sawden was a surfer and board manufacturer on the Gold and Tweed Coasts in the 1960s and 1970s, a regular on beaches such as Burleigh, Currumbin, Kirra and Greenmount.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Edwards, 2009

John Elliott

Commissioned with funds provided by Art Exhibitions Australia 2009

Mickey Johnson, c. 1896

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Daniel Thomas, 1987

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mr Peter Kampfner 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Aboriginal community of Lake Tyers, Gippsland

The Aboriginal community of Lake Tyers, Gippsland, c. 1890

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper on card

Purchased 2010

Bob McTavish

Bob McTavish began surfing in Queensland at the age of twelve - and for decades, he has written, he slept in cars, eating bread, bananas and the occasional spider and surfing at every opportunity.

2 portraits in the collection

Dr Robert (Bob) Edwards AO

Archived media releases 2018

Dr Robert (Bob) Edwards AO (1930-2023) made a remarkable contribution to the cultural sector in Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Helen Nugent, Karen Quinlan and Angus Trumble

Ms Karen Quinlan appointed to lead the NPGA

25 September 2018

The Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia is delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Karen Quinlan as its incoming Director.

Harold Darling

Harold Darling (1885-1950) was chairman of BHP from 1922 to 1950. Born in Adelaide, he entered his father's milling and grain business when he was 18.

2 portraits in the collection

Rod McGeoch

Portrait, mixed media, fibre-tipped pen, pencil charcoal, pastel, gouache on paper

Rod McGeoch AM (b. 1946) studied law at the University of Sydney before joining the ABC to forge a long career as a law reporter, commentator and spokesman; with Margaret Throsby, he won the Golden Gavel Award for Excellence in Legal Reporting.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Lin Bloomfield, 1992

Frank Hinder

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lin Bloomfield 2017

Wandjuk Marika, 1979

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2004

Study for a portrait of Dame Merlyn Myer DBE

Study for a portrait of Dame Merlyn Myer DBE, 1960s

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of the Estate of Marion Orme Page 2016

Dr Joan M Redshaw AM, 1982

Barbara Tribe

Portrait, terracotta

Purchased 2016

Edward Knox Jnr and Thomas Forster Knox.

Edward Knox Jnr and Thomas Forster Knox., c. 1855

Portrait, daguerreotype

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Peter Halliday in memory of Norah Knox 2010

Sir Clive McPherson

Sir Clive McPherson (1884-1958), pastoralist and businessman, was the son of a bank manager, and his mother was a pianist who came from a pastoral family.

1 portrait in the collection

John Bertrand

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and red ochre on canvas

John Bertrand AO (b. 1946) is a successful yachtsman, Olympian, sports administrator, businessman and philanthropist.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Walley, 2015

Dr Julie Dowling

Commissioned with funds provided by Neil Archibald and Alan R. Dodge AM, Brandon and Angela Munro, Dr Walter Ong and Graeme Marshall 2015

The National Portrait Gallery's Director, Karen Quinlan, receives Australia Day Honour

26 January 2019

Archived media releases 2019

The newly appointed Director of the National Portrait Gallery Karen Quinlan, was today recognised in the Australia Day Honours list for her significant service to the visual arts and to higher education.

Harold Blair AO

Harold Blair AO (1924–1976), singer and Indigenous advocate, spent his youth on the Purga Mission, and began singing in local concerts on the canefields in the Childers area.

1 portrait in the collection

Foundation members announced

18 May 2015

The newly-established National Portrait Gallery Foundation met for its inaugural meeting last Friday 15 May in Canberra.

George Judah Cohen, 1925

George Lambert

Gift of the National Australia Bank 2002

Harold Blair, 1948

Ernest Buckmaster

Purchased 2010

John Allan

John Allan (1866-1936) was a Deakin shire-councillor for many years and president in 1914-15.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoff Cousins, 2017

David Naseby

Gift of Geoff Cousins AM 2007

3 Mordants, 2011

Adam Cullen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Mordant Family 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Ian Frazer AC FRS

Professor Ian Frazer AC (b. 1953), immunologist, is co-inventor of the technology enabling the HPV vaccines – the first cancer vaccine – used worldwide to help prevent cervical cancer.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Teo AM

A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute

Charles Teo AM (b. 1957) is a neurosurgeon. Born in Sydney, where he attended Scots College and graduated in medicine and surgery from the University of New South Wales, he worked for some years at the Children’s Medical Center, Dallas, Texas and was Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Arkansas.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Dargie

Previous exhibition, 2002

As a tribute to Sir William Dargie's singular contribution to Australian art and cultural institutions, and on the occasion of his birthday, The Australian War Memorial, Parliament House and the National Portrait Gallery will mount exhibitions of his work between May and October

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2023

Previous exhibition, 2023

Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘Me and my place’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.

Linda Burney MLA Canturbury and Rick Farley at home, Marrickville

Hon. Linda Jean Burney

The Hon. Linda Jean Burney MP (b. 1957), a Wiradjuri woman, is the first First Nations person elected to the New South Wales parliament, and the first First Nations woman to serve in the federal House of Representatives.

2 portraits in the collection

John Bulmer

John Bulmer (1833-1913), missionary and clergyman, came to Australia in 1852 and worked as a cabinetmaker in Melbourne for two years before going to the goldfields.

1 portrait in the collection

Anne Levy AO

Anne Levy AO (b. 1934), politician, was the first woman to preside in an Australian parliament.

1 portrait in the collection

Bern Emmerichs

Contributing artists

Born: 1961, Melbourne
Works: Melbourne

L. Gordon Darling AC CMG, 2006

Jiawei Shen

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by the Mundango Charitable Trust and Claudia Hyles 2006

Henry Bathurst KG PC

Henry Bathurst, Third Earl Bathurst KG PC (1762-1834) was a lord of the Admiralty from 1783 to 1789; a lord of the Treasury from 1789 to 1791; and commissioner of the Board of Control from 1793 to 1802.

1 portrait in the collection

Edmond John Hogan

Edmond John (Ned) Hogan (1883-1964), farmer and premier, left school early and engaged in road-making, timber-cutting, farm-labouring and rabbiting in addition to farm chores at home.

1 portrait in the collection

Jeanne Pratt AC

Previous exhibition, 2001

Jeanne Pratt AC (b. c. 1936), born to Jewish parents in Poland before the war, came to Australia as a three year old.

1 portrait in the collection

Nolan Heads

Nolan Heads will focus on the portraiture of one of Australia's most original painters and one of the few to have achieved an international reputation

George Judah Cohen

George Judah Cohen (1842-1937), banker, took over the Maitland office of his father's wholesale firm David Cohen and Co.

1 portrait in the collection

William Lister Lister

The Lives of Barry Humphries

William Lister Lister (1859-1943), who was born in Sydney but taken to England as an eight-year-old, studied at the Bedford School of Art and in France before moving to Glasgow to study mechanical engineering at the College of Science and Mechanics.

1 portrait in the collection

Slim Dusty and Dame Edna Everage, Carlton Hill Station, WA, 10 July 1993

Rarely Everage

Previous exhibition, 2002

The exhibition begins with Barry's childhood in Camberwell, Melbourne and chronicles his days as a struggling actor in Australia and England, his creation of characters including Barry McKenzie, Dame Edna Everage, Sandy Stone and Sir Les Patterson

Matt Ottley, 2019

Jana Vodesil-Baruffi

Image

Neville and Jill Wran - as the Duke and Duchess of Sydney (with apologies to Piero della Francesca)

Jill Hickson Wran AM

Jill Hickson Wran AM (b. 1948) graduated from the University of Sydney and then worked for Qantas.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, 1951

Sir William Dobell OBE

Thomas Morris, M N. Bates, Joseph C. Stadler after George Garrard

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Woburn Sheepshearing, 1811

Portrait, aquatint with stipple and etching and engraving, hand coloured on chine colle on paper laid down on cotton stretched over wooden strainer

Purchased 2018

Karen Quinlan AM

Karen Quinlan AM took up her appointment as Director of the National Portrait Gallery in December 2018. Karen commenced her curatorial career in 1994 at National Gallery of Victoria before becoming Curator of Bendigo Art Gallery in 1996, and the Director of Bendigo Art Gallery from 2000 until 2018. Karen was a Professor of Practice and previously Director of the La Trobe Art Institute La Trobe University, a former Trustee of the State Library of Victoria, Board Member and former Chair of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria.

Sir Eric Neal AC CVO

Sir Eric Neal trained as an engineer at the South Australian School of Mines.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax CMG

Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax CMG (1909-1993), pastoralist, was the son of JHF Fairfax.

1 portrait in the collection

L. Gordon Darling AC CMG

31 August 2015

The Chairman, Board, Director and all the Staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Founding Patron, who died peacefully in Melbourne this morning. He was 94.

Lawrence Bonaventure Sheil OSF

Lawrence Bonaventure Sheil OSF (1815-1872), Catholic bishop, was educated in Ireland and Rome, where he taught for some time after his ordination in 1839.

3 portraits in the collection

Lady Eliza Lucy Grey

Eliza Lucy Spencer (c. 1819-1898) was the daughter of the Government Resident at Albany, who was succeeded by George Grey.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Hunter

Archived media releases 2016

Robert Hunter (1947-2014), painter, trained at Preston Technical College and RMIT from 1964 to 1967, and was deeply impressed by the work of American abstractionist Ad Reinhardt in Melbourne in 1967.

1 portrait in the collection

Gallery unveils Portrait of Mark Ella

12 May 2016

Last night in Sydney, the National Portrait Gallery unveiled a newly commissioned portrait of Australian sporting legend Mark Ella AM.

Doug Gimesy

Douglas Gimesy, conservation and wildlife photographer, graduated in zoology and microbiology before gaining master’s degrees in both bioethics and environment.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

Tribute: Mary Isabel Murphy

The Chairman, Board, Director and all the staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Benefactor, Mary Isabel Murphy.

Bree Pickering in front of Mikala Dwyer, Chromakinda, 2022, installation view, Murray Art Museum Albury

Bree Pickering appointed Director of the National Portrait Gallery

7 February 2023

The Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia announced the appointment of Bree Pickering to the role of Director.

John Bulunbulun

Johnny Bulunbulun (1946-2010), Ganalbingu (Yolgnu) painter and printmaker, grew up on the island of Milingimbi and in Bulman in southern Arnhem Land.

1 portrait in the collection

Bee Miles

Beatrice (Bee) Miles (1902-1973) ranks alongside the 'Eternity man' as one of Sydney's best-remembered street personalities, and featured in the State Library's 'Sydney Eccentrics' exhibition in 1999.

1 portrait in the collection

Ambrose Hallen, 1937

Lina Bryans

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sir James and Lady Cruthers 2001

James Fairfax AO

Portraits of Australian Visual Artists

James Oswald Fairfax AC (1933-2017) was the eldest son of Sir Warwick Fairfax.

1 portrait in the collection

William Barak at work on the drawing ‘Ceremony’ at Coranderrk

The Reflecting Eye

Touring exhibition, 1996

As the first National Portrait Gallery travelling exhibition, The reflecting eye: portraits of Australian visual artists represents an important milestone in the history of Australia's National Portrait Gallery.

General Eva Burrows AC OF

Francesco Bartolozzi after John Webber

General Eva Burrows AC (1929-2015) was at one time the world leader of the Salvation Army.

4 portraits in the collection

Captain James Cook, engraving after John Webber

Captain James Cook, engraving after John Webber, 1784

Portrait, engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Paul Gerber

Born in Germany, Dr Paul Gerber (1924–2013) studied at Sydney University in the 1940s where he was editor of the literary magazine Hermes.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert H. Black MD, c. 1950

Nora Heysen AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Laurence Short AO OBE

Laurence Short AO OBE (1915–2009), trade union leader, joined the Federated Ironworkers' Association in 1937 and the Labor Party five years later.

1 portrait in the collection

Cindy Kavanagh

Vox pops

The portrait, the priestess, is of a friend, Floria, and it's part of a project I've been working on for two years, which is 50 at 50.

Self portrait, 1945-1946

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2014

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac

Marianne Egan and her children Gertrude Evans Cahuac and Henry William Cahuac, 1857

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2014

NPG Announces departure of Director, Karen Quinlan AM

3 August 2022

National Portrait Gallery Chair Penny Fowler announced today that NPG Director Karen Quinlan will leave the Gallery in September to take up a new position as Chief Executive Officer of Arts Centre Melbourne.

Joseph Croft

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and alkyd resin on composition board

Joseph Croft (c. 1926–1996), Aboriginal activist, was a Gurindji/Mudpurra man from the Northern Territory and member of the Stolen Generations.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait with pin-up, 1965

Richard Larter

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Sir James Balderstone

Sir James Balderstone (1921-2014) was chairman of BHP from 1984 to 1989.

1 portrait in the collection

John Schaeffer AO

John Schaeffer AO (1940–2020), businessman, connoisseur and philanthropist, was a founding benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait with glove, 1939

Herbert Badham

Previous exhibition, 2000

Purchased 1999

Monochromatic Self-Portrait, 2000 by Genevieve Preston

Headspace 1

Headspace showcases portrait art produced by secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 in Government, Catholic and Independent schools in Canberra and its surrounding regions extending to Wollongong, Deniliquin, Leeton, Crookwell, Bombala, Narooma and Albury

The Mask of Barry Humphries, c. 1972

Gift of Marlene McCarthy 2006. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir James Reading Fairfax, 1898

Tom Roberts

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Kate (Kate Grenville), 2012

Portrait, encaustic, oil and pigment on composition board

Gift of the artist 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Hunter, July 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Robert Rooney

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Keith Alexander Laught

Portrait, pencil and white chalk on paper

Keith Alexander Laught (1907-1969), politician, was born in Adelaide and educated at Scotch College and then the University of Adelaide, becoming a barrister in 1929.

1 portrait in the collection

Untitled (preparatory study for sculpture of Dr John Yu)

Untitled (preparatory study for sculpture of Dr John Yu), 2003

Ah Xian

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2004

The Right Honourable Charles Lord Hawkesbury, Chancellor of the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster

Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool

Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1729–1808), statesman, was educated at Oxford and entered parliament in 1761.

1 portrait in the collection

John Schank

John Schank (1740–1823), naval officer, joined the Royal Navy at age 17, having served in the merchant service as a boy.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Vincent Fairfax, 1981

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Major General Alan Stretton, 1987

Gwendolene Pratt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Stretton family 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Andy Thomas AO

Andy Thomas AO (b. 1951) is an astronaut. Born and educated in Adelaide, an engineer by profession, he managed a number of aeronautical programs and patented several inventions before joining NASA in 1992.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait in green hues, c. 1962

Roland Wakelin

Portraits from The Movement 1978-2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Philip Bacon AM 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Proof

Previous exhibition, 2003

Portraits from The Movement is the first comprehensive survey of photographs from the Juno Gemes archive, which has supported the Aboriginal struggle for justice in Australia from 1978 to the present day.

Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel 1984 (detail) Grant Matthews

Pub Rock

Your backstage pass to 70s and 80s sounds and scenes

Previous exhibition, 2020

Celebrate the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on our nation’s identity.

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin)

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin) (1912-1996), Kija visual artist, spent much of his life in and around his country near Bedford Downs station in WA.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Charles Moses, 1968

Mark Strizic

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003

Bee Miles, 1976

Roderick Shaw

Gift of Brian Griffin 2000

The Right Honourable Charles Lord Hawkesbury, Chancellor of the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster, 1788

John Murphy after George Romney

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

James Semple Lisle

Major James Semple Lisle (1759-1799) was a confidence trickster. Convicted of theft, he was sentenced to transportation and embarked on the Lady Shore for Botany Bay in 1797.

1 portrait in the collection

Captain Cook's Tablet at Cape Solander, Botany Bay, New South Wales

Captain James Cook RN

James Cook (1728-1779), maritime explorer, surveyed and claimed the east coast of Australia on the first of his three great voyages of discovery in the Pacific.

12 portraits in the collection

George Rose

George Rose, joint Secretary of the British Treasury at the time of the First Fleet, joined the civil service after leaving the Royal Navy in 1762.

1 portrait in the collection

Albert Namatjira, 1958

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC and with the assistance of Philip Bacon Galleries 2000

Rev. Daniel J. Draper

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

The Reverend Daniel J Draper (1810-1866), Wesleyan Methodist minister, began his career as a carpenter, apprenticed to his father.

1 portrait in the collection

The Stories Beneath

The Alcoa World Alumina Australia gift.

Sir James Forrest, 1978

William Boissevain

Frederick George Reynolds

Gift of Alcoa World Alumina Australia 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Henderson Croll, 1927

Gift of Grietje Croll in memory of her late husband Robert Devereaux Croll and with the endorsement of his daughter Helen Croll 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Mawalan Marika

Mawalan Marika (c. 1908–1967), ceremonial leader, political activist and artist, was leader of the Rirratjingu clan, upon whose Arnhem Land country the Yirrkala Mission was established in the mid-1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Jean Bellette, 1937

Adrian Lawlor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Angus Trumble

12 October 2022

Members of the Board, Foundation and staff of the National Portrait Gallery are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Angus Trumble.

L Gordon Darling AC CMG

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

L. Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015), former company director, was the Founding Patron of the National Portrait Gallery.

2 portraits in the collection

Like wow

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of female Australian surfing legend Isabel Letham.

Charles John Cerutty CMG

Charles John Cerutty CMG (1870-1941), public servant, began his career at the age of eighteen as a clerk in the Victorian Department of the Treasurer.

1 portrait in the collection

Gotta catch 'em all

Angus Trumble grabs his life jacket and rides the Pokémon GO tsunami.

William Hodges

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023–25

William Hodges (1744-1797) trained from an early age at William Shipley's drawing school at Castle Court in the Strand, and was afterward apprenticed to a landscape painter.

3 portraits in the collection

Methodology and consultation

To develop this DIAP, we collaborated with arts and disability peak body Accessible Arts who have led and informed our work.

James Mollison, c. 1973 (printed 2004)

Wesley Stacey

Gift of James Mollison AO 2004

Sydney Ancher, c. 1962

Max Dupain OBE

Gift of Rex Dupain 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jeremiah Ware, c. 1854

Robert Dowling

Purchased with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy and Rosalind Blair Murphy 2014

Bernard Smith, n.d.

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Gift of an anonymous donor 2002

General Eva Burrows AC AO, 2001

Gabrielle Martin

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Mr Keating, former Labor Minister, 1975

Frank Hinder

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Sir Hans Heysen OBE

Sir Hans Heysen OBE (1877–1968), one of Australia's best known landscape painters, arrived in Adelaide from his native Germany as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

Samantha Cook

Samantha Cook is a Nyikina woman from the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia who is based between Los Angeles and Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

John Yu AC

Previous exhibition, 2002

Dr John Yu (b.1934), retired paediatrician and hospital administrator, was born in Nanking, China and moved to Australia with his parents when he was three years old.

3 portraits in the collection

Headspace 3

Being Me

The self-portrait enables students to explore emerging and changing aspects of their own identity, their sense of self, their place in the world, their experience of being human

Sydney Ancher

Sydney Ancher (1904-1980), architect, graduated from Sydney Tech College in 1930.

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Churcher, 2008

Adam Knott

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

Purchased 2013

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

The story behind the commissioning of the tapesty portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.

Dick Smith

Dick Smith (b. 1944), businessman, aviator, film-maker and explorer, developed interests in radio and the bush as a boy.

2 portraits in the collection

Henry Mayer

Henry Mayer (1919-1991) was Professor of Government at Sydney University from the 1960s to 1980s.

2 portraits in the collection

Franchesca Cubillo

Previous exhibition, 2013

Franchesca Cubillo is a Yanuwa, Larrakia, Bardi and Wardaman woman from the Northern Territory with more than 30 years' experience in the museum and art gallery sector.

1 portrait in the collection

Judy Cassab

The artist's diary

The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.

Annie Butler, 1859

Lucy Meadows

Portrait, watercolour and pencil on buff board

Purchased 2019

James Macarthur, c. 1836-1838

Portrait, black and bronze ink with white bodycolour highlight on buff board

Purchased 2019

John Darling

John Darling (1923-2015), businessman, company director and media producer was the son of Harold Gordon Darling, chair of BHP.

1 portrait in the collection

A Portrait (Kate Hattam), 1956

Clifton Pugh AO

Purchased 2006

Sir Robert Garran, 1922

Bernard Hall

Gift of John Garran 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Bruce Beresford, 1962 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Songman, portrait of Kev Carmody, 2006

Courtesy of Kev Carmody, Song Cycles Pty Ltd.

Self portrait, 1988

Sidney Nolan

Gift of Hon RL Hunter KC 2006. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Darrell Sibosado

Darrell Sibosado is a Bard man of the Lombadina Community, in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Wandjuk Marika OBE

Wandjuk Marika OBE (1927–1987), artist and activist, was a Rirrratjingu (Yolgnu) Elder, and a member of the Marika family of artists from the Gove Peninsula, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

1 portrait in the collection

Mark Ella, 2015

Nikki Toole

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on board

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2015

Peter Carey in Kelly country, 2000

Bruce Armstrong

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Portrait of Professors Margaret Gardner and Glyn Davis

Margaret Gardner AC

Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC is the 30th Governor of Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Henri van Raatle, c. 1910

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Marilyn Rowe, 1981

Graham Thorley

Previous exhibition, 2017

Gift of the family of Graham Thorley in his memory and in tribute to Marilyn Rowe 2010

Collection in focus: Brook Andrew

Experience the artistic clout of Brook Andrew’s portraits of Marcia Langton AM and Anthony Mundine.

Marilyn Darling AC

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Marilyn Darling AC (b. 1943), a Founding Patron of the National Portrait Gallery, was Chair of the Board of the Gallery from 2000 until 2008.

2 portraits in the collection

Portrait of a patron

A new painting by Jiawei Shen captures the vision and resolve of the Gallery's founder, L. Gordon Darling AC CMG.

John Perceval, 1999

Thomas de Kessler

Portrait, ink, coloured pencil, gouache, crayon and fibre-tipped pen on single mount board with gold coloured ink border

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Thomas de Kessler 2001

Prue Acton, 2012

David Roberts

Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Of Kings and men

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.

Clif Peir

Clif Peir (b.1905) was a Sydney painter and teacher, who studied at the Julian Ashton School under Ashton and H.C.Gibbons.

1 portrait in the collection

Yami Lester speaks at Uluru Handback Ceremony

Yami Lester OAM

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

A Yankunytjatjara man, Yami Lester OAM (1941–2017) was born at Walyatjata in the north of South Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

A Politician "Unlock the Lands!" [The Hon. James MacPhearson Grant], 1874

Portrait, lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

John Olsen AO

John Olsen AO (b. 1945), diplomat and former politician, grew up in South Australia and began his public career as its youngest-ever mayor, assuming that office in Kadina in 1974.

1 portrait in the collection

Professor Margaret Seares AO

Margaret Seares AO (b. 1948), chair of the Perth International Arts Festival from 2012 to 2016 and senior deputy vice chancellor at the University of Western Australia from 2004 to 2008, began her academic career specialising in keyboard music of the eighteenth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, 2006

Gift of Dr Phillip Dutton and Valerie Dutton 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Hans Heysen, 1960 (cast 2004)

John Dowie AM

Portrait, cast bronze

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

Lindy Lee AO

Lindy Lee AO (b. 1954) is one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists.

2 portraits in the collection

Max Schubert, 1980

David Simpson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Portrait of an Artist (Self portrait), 1944

David Strachan

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Janet Holmes a Court AC

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

Janet Holmes à Court AC (b. 1943), businesswoman and philanthropist, graduated in science and worked as a teacher before marrying young Perth lawyer Robert Holmes à Court in 1966.

1 portrait in the collection

Creature from the Black Platoon starring Gary Foley 2011

Creature from the Black Platoon starring Gary Foley 2011, 2011

TextaQueen

Purchased 2011

Wayne Lynch

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Wayne Lynch (b. 1951), surfer and surfboard shaper, grew up in Lorne, Victoria, not far from Bells Beach.

2 portraits in the collection

John Bulunbulun, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

Harold Mitchell AC

Previous exhibition, 2007

Harold Mitchell AC (1942-2024), businessman and philanthropist, left his home town of Stawell at seventeen to become an office boy in a Melbourne advertising agency.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait Paintings by Matthew Perceval

From 1967 until 1981 Matthew Perceval lived and painted in France and during those years produced a large body of portrait paintings.

Fiona Stanley, 2011

Nicolas Maurin, Alexandre Sixdeniers

Commissioned 2011

Jacques Arago, c. 1830s

Portrait, engraving on paper

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

First study for portrait of Malcolm Fraser

First study for portrait of Malcolm Fraser, 1981

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir Gustav Nossal, 2004

Dean Home

Purchased with funds provided by Karen McLeod Adair and Anthony Adair 2004

James Mollison AO

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on resin-coated paper

James Mollison AO (1931–2020) was the inaugural director of the National Gallery of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Maurice Ashkanasy CMG QC, 1963

Karl Duldig

Portrait, cast bronze

Gift of Dr Vivianne de Vahl Davis and Professor Neal Ashkanasy 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Marcia Ella, 2006

Sahlan Hayes

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Wenten Rubuntja AM

Wenten Rubuntja AM (1923–2005) was an Arrernte law man, committee and board member, artist, historian, storyteller and intermediary.

2 portraits in the collection

Emily Fairfax, 1870

William Macleod

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Marea Gazzard, c. 1985

Lewis Morley

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Paddy Jaminji, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

Mysterious eyes

Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945

Previous exhibition, 2016

Boyd’s self-portrait at age 25 is joined by his equally emotive portraits of those around him.

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM

Foundation Members

Foundation

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.

Glenn McGrath, 2003

Sally Robinson

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of the artist 2003

Sonia McMahon

Sonia McMahon (1932-2010) née Hopkins, was the wife of William McMahon, Australian prime minister in 1971-1972.

1 portrait in the collection

Tribute

Betty Churcher

Magazine article, 2015

Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying art in London.

Mary Ware, c. 1854

Robert Dowling

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on composition board

Purchased with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy and Rosalind Blair Murphy 2014

Chrissy Amphlett "Temperamental", 1989

Ivan Durrant

Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait of Mr Frank Packer, 1956

Gift of the Packer family 2006

Kyle Vander-Kuyp, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

Grazia Gunn, 2014

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

After Ophelia: Fiona Foley at Lake Mackenzie, Fraser Island (Referencing Ophelia by John Everett Millais)

After Ophelia: Fiona Foley at Lake Mackenzie, Fraser Island (Referencing Ophelia by John Everett Millais), 1994

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on studio mount

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Mary Windeyer, c. 1891

Freeman Brothers

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

Clifton Pugh

Australians

Previous exhibition, 2005

This exhibition offers a comprehensive display of Clifton Pugh's portraits revealing his development and growth from tonal paintings to a unique style that was in demand from politicians, artists, academics and Australian personalities.

Larry Sitsky, 1971

Sister Mary Brady

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Larry Sitsky and Magda Sitsky 2010

Barry Jones AC

Barry Jones AC (b. 1932) is a politician, lawyer and writer. He was educated at the University of Melbourne and worked as a public servant and high school teacher before rising to fame as Australia's Quiz champion from 1960 to 1968.

2 portraits in the collection

After Jack, 2012

Portrait, encaustic, oil and pigment on composition board

Purchased 2018

Marilyn Darling AC, 2010

Anne Zahalka

Portrait, colour transparency on lightbox

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2010

Portrait of a lady (Sonia McMahon), 1999

Esther Erlich

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Gift of an anonymous donor 2014

John Bertrand, 2019

Betina Fauvel-Ogden

Portrait, oil on linen

Purchased with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2020

Reko Rennie, 2014

Jasper Knight

Portrait, enamel, gloss acrylic, perspex, masonite and metal sign on board

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Judith Wright with Barbara Blackman, c. 1956

Charles Blackman OBE

Portrait, oil on paper laid down on board

Gift of Joanna McNiven 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Chester Porter QC, 1997

Graeme Inson

Gift of Jean Porter and family 2021. Donated through the Australia Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC, 2018

Yvonne East

Portrait, oil on linen

Gift of the artist 2019 acknowledging Herbert Smith Freehills for supporting the creation of the portrait

Marea Gazzard, 1966

Gift of Marea Gazzard 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Yami Lester speaks at Uluru Handback Ceremony, 1985 (printed 2003)

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Mary Windeyer on the verandah at Tomago, NSW

Mary Windeyer on the verandah at Tomago, NSW, c. 1880s

Portrait, glass plate negative

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1978 (printed 2017)

Robert McFarlane

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Margaret Seares, 2018

Cherry Hood

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

Kondelea (Della) Elliott, 1979

Ivy Shore

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Jeannie Highet and Kim Buchan 2012

Paul Kelly and The Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2013

Aspects of singer songwriter Paul Kelly’s performance persona are communicated by portraits selected from a range of artists and leading music photographers in this focus exhibition.

Johnny O'Keefe "A little bit louder now...", 1999

Ivan Durrant

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on board

Commissioned with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999

Self portrait with Bottlebrush, 1991

Margaret Olley AC

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC and the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2021

Mawalan Marika, c. 1963

Arthur Murch

Purchased 2015

Franchesca Cubillo, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

John Olsen, 1993

Robin Sellick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Don Argus, 2004

Peter Wegner

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of BHP Billiton 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Murray Bail, c. 1990

Jinx Nolan

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of an anonymous donor 2021

John Thornett, 1966

Lesley Moline

Gift of John and Vivien Thornett 2014

James Mollison, c. 1973 (printed 2004)

Wesley Stacey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Mollison AO 2004

Dame Elizabeth Couchman, n.d.

Aileen Dent

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Susan Webster, step-granddaughter of Dame Elizabeth Couchman, 2015

Marea Gazzard, Paddington, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother)

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), 1943-1944

Purchased 2019

Portrait of Elizabeth Jolley, 2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003

True Stories - Helen Garner, 2003

Portrait, encaustic, oil and pigment on composition board

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rennie Ellis

Rennie Ellis (1940–2003), photographer and writer, began taking photographs while travelling around the world in the 1960s.

21 portraits in the collection

Adrienne Doig

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Adrienne Doig (b. 1963) employs self-portraiture to explore her experiences of everyday life with good humour and wit, fusing historical references and humour to respond to reflect on the here and now.

2 portraits in the collection

Senator Bonner, 1990

Robert Campbell Jnr

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2008

Janet Holmes á Court, 2001 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Portrait of Brenda Niall, 1997

Gift of Dr Brenda Niall AO 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen A. L. Best, 1943-1944

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2019

Donald Argus, 1996

Kate Gollings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Joe and Brenda, 1990 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Portrait, oil on canvas mounted on board

Purchased 2013

Rosalie Kunoth, 1967

Donald Cameron

Gift of Audrey Cameron in memory of the artist Donald Cameron 2022

In the mirror: self portrait with Joy Hester

Depth of Field

Portrait Photography from the Collection

Johann Paul Georg Fischer

Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.

Portrait of Augustus Leopold Küper, 1823

Portrait, watercolour over pencil on artist board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Kym Bonython

Hugh Reskymer 'Kym' Bonython AC DFC AFC (1920-2011), company director, art dealer, jazz authority, music promoter and speedway entrepreneur, was one of the most significant collectors and dealers of contemporary Australian art in the post-war period.

2 portraits in the collection

Mark Ella AM

Mark Ella AM (b. 1959) was one of four Australians named amongst the eleven inaugural ‘legends’ of the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame in 2013.

1 portrait in the collection

Ruth Cracknell

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and charcoal on paper laid on board

Ruth Cracknell AM (1925–2002), actor, became a household name through her character Maggie Beare in the ABC comedy Mother and Son, which ran from 1985 to 1994.

1 portrait in the collection

Jim Conway, 2006

Greg Warburton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Edward William Knox Jnr

Edward William Knox (1847-1933), industrialist, was the second of four surviving sons of Sir Edward Knox, founder of the Colonial Sugar Refining Co, and his wife Martha Rutledge (sister of merchant, banker and settler William Rutlege).

3 portraits in the collection

George Burarrwanga, Warumpi Band, 1984 (printed 2021)

Purchased 2021

Robert Manne AO

Robert Manne (b. 1947), academic and writer, grew up in Melbourne, the child of European Jewish refugees.

1 portrait in the collection

Douglas Mawson, 1933

Henry James Haley

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gareth Mawson Thomas and Pamela Karran-Thomas of the Mawson family 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Dame Joan Sutherland, c. 1977

Robert Hannaford AM

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Gift of William Bowmore AO OBE 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

James Alipius Goold

James Alipius Goold (1812-1886), first Catholic bishop and archbishop of Melbourne, volunteered for service in New South Wales having studied in Rome and Perugia.

2 portraits in the collection

Richard Pratt

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2005

Richard Pratt (1934-2009), businessman, came to Australia with his parents, Polish Jews, in 1938.

2 portraits in the collection

Clay, water, fire

Ah Xian's porcelain portrait of paediatrician Dr. John Yu reflects Yu's heritage and interests.

Leon Gellert with mask, 1936

Max Dupain OBE

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rhoda Roberts

Rhoda Roberts AO (b. 1960) is a Bundjalung woman from northern New South Wales, and a producer, director, writer, broadcaster, performer and arts executive.

1 portrait in the collection

James Oswald Fairfax, c. 1991

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Marilyn Rowe AM OBE

Marilyn Rowe AM OBE (b. 1946), former prima ballerina, was the first graduate of The Australian Ballet School to become its director.

2 portraits in the collection

Kyle Vander-Kuyp

Kyle Vander-Kuyp (b. 1971) is a Worimi and Yuin man and Australia's greatest ever 110 m hurdler.

2 portraits in the collection

Gary Foley, Invasion Day - We Have Survived

Gary Foley, Invasion Day - We Have Survived, 1988

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Alan Goldberg AO QC

Alan Goldberg AO QC (1940-2016), Federal Court judge, was born into a pioneering Jewish Melbourne family and graduated from the University of Melbourne law school in the early 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Windeyer, 1850s

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

Gift of the Windeyer family 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jeffrey Samuels

Jeffrey Samuels (b. 1956), a Ngiyampaa/Ngemba painter, illustrator, designer, mixed-media artist and printmaker, is one of the Stolen Generations and seeks to affirm his Aboriginal identity and cultural heritage through his work.

2 portraits in the collection

Chicka Dixon, 1980

Previous exhibition, 2010

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jenny Sages

Paths to Portraiture

The exhibition Sages examines the process of portrait making through four large-scale portraits of women by Jenny Sages, paired with intimate preparatory drawings.

Adam Goodes

Adnyamathanha/Narungga man Adam Goodes (b. 1980) is a former champion AFL footballer who played 369 games with the Sydney Swans.

2 portraits in the collection

Chicka Dixon

Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon (1928–2010), Yuin Elder, Aboriginal rights activist and social pioneer, was born at Wallaga Lake on the New South Wales south coast.

1 portrait in the collection

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr AC (b. 1948) is chair of the Paspaley Group of Companies, with interests in pearling, aviation, retail, pastoral holdings and commercial properties in Australia and internationally.

2 portraits in the collection

Kay Cottee AO

Kay Cottee AO (b. 1954) became the first woman in history to complete a solo, non-stop and unassisted voyage around the world.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Windeyer

Mary Windeyer (née Bolton, 1837-1912), women's rights campaigner, was one of the nine children of Robert Thorley Bolton, a clergyman who emigrated to New South Wales in 1839.

3 portraits in the collection

Anne Summers AO

Anne Summers AO (b. 1945), writer and feminist, became involved in women's rights while studying politics at the University of Adelaide in the 1960s.

7 portraits in the collection

Sir Rupert Hamer AC KCMG ED

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper laid on photography studio backing board

Sir Rupert ‘Dick’ Hamer AC KCMG (1916-2004) was premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981.

1 portrait in the collection

Florence Cardell-Oliver, n.d.

Broothorn Studios

Gift of Chris Nielsen 2016

Richard Walsh

Sydney-born Richard Walsh (b. 1941) is an Australian publisher, journalist, broadcaster, editor, lecturer and company director.

1 portrait in the collection

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain)

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain), c. 1935 (printed 1999)

Olive Cotton

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas board

Purchased 2010

JOH (The Hon Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen), c. 1987

Noel Stapleton

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003

Samantha Cook, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

Richard Morecroft & Alison Mackay, 2016

Gary Grealy

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2018

Richard Walsh, Editor OZ magazine at the Hunter Street offices, c. 1966 (printed 2021)

Robert McFarlane

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

Making Portraits

The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery

Sir Charles Court and Richard Court, 2006-2007

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen and pen and ink on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2006

Neville Bonner, c. 1971

Louis Kahan AO

Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dr Gill Hicks AM MBE

Gill Hicks AM MBE (b. 1968) is a peace advocate, author, musician and artist.

1 portrait in the collection

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Andrew Bonneau

Previous exhibition, 2003

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Australia and the Nobel Prize

This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia

Jeanne Pratt at home, 2015

Alana Landsberry

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Alana Landsberry and Bauer Media Australia 2019

Irina Baronova (handing on the baton), 2007

Portrait, encaustic, oil and pigment on composition board

Gift of the J Sages Family Trust 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

Previous exhibition, 2006

Rennie Ellis: Aussies All is a celebration of the life and work of the late Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.

Professor Harry Messel, 1973

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Dame Elizabeth Couchman DBE

Dame Elizabeth Couchman DBE (1876–1982), political activist, grew up in in Geelong and gained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Dame Margery Merlyn Baillieu Myer DBE

Dame Margery Merlyn Baillieu Myer DBE (1900–1982), philanthropist and fundraiser, was the daughter of a hotelier, George Baillieu.

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Churcher AO

(Elizabeth) Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying at the Royal College of Art in London.

3 portraits in the collection

Sir Charles Edward Merrett CBE

Sir Charles Edward Merrett CBE (1863-1948), merchant and agriculturalist, was a schoolboy at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School when his father was retrenched and died.

1 portrait in the collection

Alan Goldberg, 2014

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

John Edward Thornett MBE

John Edward Thornett MBE (1935–2019), former rugby union international, grew up in Sydney and was educated at Sydney Boys’ High where, in addition to being school captain, he excelled at rugby, swimming and rowing.

1 portrait in the collection

The Hon Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

The Hon. Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC (b. 1954) became Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in 2017 and is the first woman to have held the role.

1 portrait in the collection

John Richard Tindale, 1841

Maurice Felton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Mary Tindale, 1841

Maurice Felton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Gary Heery

Gary Heery, photographer, was born in Sydney, where he studied sociology and psychology at the University of New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Marea Gazzard AM

Marea Gazzard AM (1928–2013), ceramic artist, trained at the East Sydney Technical College and London Central School for Arts and Craft.

3 portraits in the collection

Shigeo Sawada, c. 1915

Kan Studios

Gift of Ron Wylie 2007

Omai

Omai (Mai) (c. 1750-1778), the first Polynesian to visit Britain, was a young man of middling social standing who volunteered to sail from Huahine to England with Captain Furneaux on the Adventure (the ship accompanying James Cook's Resolution on Cook's second voyage of discovery (1772-1775).

2 portraits in the collection

Geoffrey Tozer, 1966

Rollo Thomson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Geoffrey Tozer 2012

Tim Fairfax AC

Tim Fairfax AC (b.1946), company director, grazier and philanthropist, is a founding benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery and a former chair of its board of directors.

1 portrait in the collection

Robyn Archer AO

Robyn Archer AO (b. 1948), performer, writer and director, began singing at four years old.

3 portraits in the collection

Darby McCarthy OAM

Richard 'Darby' McCarthy OAM (1945–2020), former jockey who rode in three Melbourne Cups and won more than 1000 races, is a proud descendant of the Mithaka and Goongurri people of south-west and central Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Neville Bonner AO

Portrait, type C Duraflex print on paper

Neville Bonner (1922–1999) was the first Indigenous Australian elected to federal parliament.

2 portraits in the collection

Kerrie Lester, 1990

Anne Zahalka

Gift of Leo Christie 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert, Lindy, Grant, 1981

Jenny Watson

Portrait, oil on canvas board (triptych)

Purchased 2002

Portrait of Robert Klippel, 1980

Yvonne Audette AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

David Dridan OAM

David Dridan (b. 1932), artist, studied at the South Australian School of Art and later at East Sydney Technical College.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE (1931-2020), horn soloist, conductor, teacher and author spent his early years in Melbourne, where he learned a variety of instruments including piano and violin.

1 portrait in the collection

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE

Herbert Benjamin George Larkin CBE (c. 1871- 1944), shipping administrator, came to Australia from England and joined the office of the Australian Steam Navigation Company.

1 portrait in the collection

Maurice Ashkanasy CMG QC

Maurice Ashkanasy (1901-1971) was a barrister and Jewish community leader whose family came to Australia from London when he was 9 years old.

1 portrait in the collection

References

About the exhibition curator Claire Roberts, and writers Eugene Wang and Zhang Letian.

George Johnston OBE

Portraits in the Landscape

George Henry Johnston OBE (1912-1970), journalist and novelist, grew up in Elsternwick, a working-class suburb of Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.

Study of Archbishop Daniel Mannix, 1962

Clifton Pugh AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Ben Quilty

Ben Quilty (b. 1973), painter, gained bachelor’s degrees in painting and visual communication at Sydney College of the Arts and the University of Western Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Walter Frederick Gale

Portrait, oil on paper laid on board

Walter Frederick Gale (1865-1945), banker and astronomer, joined the Savings Bank of New South Wales in 1888.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Georges Mora, 1956

Charles Blackman OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Brian Sherman AM

Previous exhibition, 2017

Brian Sherman AM (1943–2022) was a leading philanthropist, company director and animal rights activist.

2 portraits in the collection

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Nicholas Harding: 28 portraits features paintings of Robert Drewe, John Bell and Hugo Weaving alongside gorgeously coloured recent oil portraits, delicate gouaches and bold ink and charcoal drawings.

Dr Gene Sherman AM

Magazine article by John Witzig, 2008

Dr Gene Sherman AM (b. 1947) is Chairman and Executive Director of Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, a family philanthropic enterprise dedicated to the public exhibition of significant contemporary art from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

3 portraits in the collection

Off the wall

Photographer and surf mag editor John Witzig tells the stories behind his iconic surf images.

Prince William of Wales, by Mario Testino, 2003 publ. September 2003.
Credit: Mario Testino

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

Previous exhibition, 2009

Vanity Fair Portraits traces the birth and evolution of photographic portraiture through the archives of Vanity Fair magazine.

To Look Within

Self Portraits in Australia

This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of self-portraits in Australia, from the colonial period to the present

Gary Foley

Gary Foley (b. 1950) is a Gumbainggir activist, actor, historian, curator and academic.

2 portraits in the collection

David Lloyd Jones

David Lloyd Jones (1931–1961) was the great-grandson of the original David Jones – who founded the eponymous department store in Sydney in 1838 – and the eldest son of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones (1878–1958), who was chairman of David Jones Ltd from 1920 until his death.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Jarvis AM

Tim Jarvis AM (b. 1966), environmental scientist, author and adventurer, was the Australian Geographic Society’s Adventurer of the Year in 2013 and its Conservationist of the Year in 2016 – the only person ever to have received both awards.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Colin Syme, 1970

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of BHP Billiton 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Margaret Whitlam AO

Margaret Whitlam AO (1919-2012), social worker and writer, was a champion swimmer as a schoolgirl.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Hudson Fysh, 1950

Sir William Dobell OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Australian War Memorial in association with the Fysh family 2008

Portrait of David Dridan, 1992

Brian Dunlop

Australian Athletes in Focus

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Dridan OAM 2017

Flash

Previous exhibition, 2006

Introduction The National Portrait Gallery’s photographic exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus explores various interpretations of Australian sporting men and women.

The Icons Syndicate

Support your Portrait Gallery

Annual membership of the Icons Syndicate is $5,000 and you are invited to join by making a tax-deductible donation to the National Portrait Gallery.

John Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell KG GCMG PC (1792 –1878) was Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1839 to 1841 and served twice as Prime Minister of Great Britain, in 1846-1852 and 1865-1866.

1 portrait in the collection

Public information

Governance & Board

An agency plan prepared in accordance with the Information Publication Scheme.

Jane Mander Jones, 1853

Henry Robinson Smith

Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

David Jones, 1853

Henry Robinson Smith

Gift of Susanna de Vienne, Sarah Wood and David Lloyd Jones 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Ian McLennan, c. 1978

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of BHP Billiton 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Brian and Gene Sherman, 2009

Gary Grealy

Purchased with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan AM 2016

Mal Meninga, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Mark Strizic

A Journey in Photography

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Previous exhibition, 2010

'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.

Richard Walley OAM honoured in new Portrait Gallery commission

2 September 2015

A new commissioned portrait funded by the Gallery’s Foundation will be launched at Murdoch University in Perth tonight, Wednesday 2 September.

Sir Ian Potter, 1973

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Primrose Potter 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Public interest disclosure

Public information

A whistleblower protection scheme for federal public sector employees, contractors and employees of contractors who report wrongdoing within the Commonwealth public sector.

Max Schubert

Previous exhibition, 2006

Max Schubert AM (1915–1994) was born in the Barossa Valley to German parents who were devoutly religious and spoke German at home.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian Visit

The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.

Sir Macfarlane Burnet, 1960-1961

Magazine article by Jenny Sages, 2015

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Observation point

Australian artist and Archibald Prize winner, Jenny Sages reflects on her work.

Sketch for portrait of Justin O'Brien, 1980

Portrait, oil with fibre-tipped pen underdrawing on composition board

Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2002

Andrew Sayers AM FAHA

13 October 2015

The Chairman, Board, Director and staff mourn the loss of the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural director.

The Hon. Bill Hayden AC

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

The Hon Bill Hayden AC (1933‒2023) was Governor-General of Australia from 1989 to 1996 and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983.

1 portrait in the collection

Uncommon Australians

Previous exhibition, 2015

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

Right Rev Dr Lawrence Bonaventure Sheil OSF, c. 1872

Bardwell's Royal Studio

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

hey, Betty (Portrait of Betty Churcher), 1990

Davida Allen

Portrait, oil on plywood

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC

Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC (b.1958) enlisted in the Australian Army in 1979 and was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Major General in the Australian Army in 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

The family, c. 1955

Charles Blackman OBE

Gift of Barbara Blackman 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022)

9 September 2022

The National Portrait Gallery is deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Throughout her 70-year reign, Her Majesty represented graciousness, humanity and stability during times of enormous social change.

Kylie Tennant, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Previous exhibition, 2019

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (future Queen Elizabeth II)

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (future Queen Elizabeth II), 1942-1943

Purchased 2019

Robert Oatley AO

1928–2016

The National Portrait Gallery mourns the loss of one our most generous benefactors, Robert Oatley AO.

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

June Mendoza

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

Entry guidelines 2024

Read the full requirements for entering the prize.

Sir George Houston Reid GCB GCMG KC

Sir George Houstoun Reid GCB GCMG KC (1845-1918) was Australian prime minister from August 1904 to July 1905.

3 portraits in the collection

David Unaipon

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

David Unaipon (1872-1967) writer, public speaker and inventor, was a Ngarrindjeri man, fourth of nine children of the evangelist James Ngunaitponi and his wife Nymbulda, both of whom were Yaraldi speakers.

1 portrait in the collection

James Macpherson Grant, c. 1870s

Paterson Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

Brenton McGeachie

NPPP 2012 learning resource

An interview with the photographer.

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Previous exhibition, 2015

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

Richard Pratt, 2003 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Ken Catchpole, 2014

Gary Grealy

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2014

James McClelland, 1946

Nancy Borlase AM

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gillian Appleton (McClelland) 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Heather Corrigan

Finalist interviews

The lovely faces in my photograph are that of my best friends. Some I have only known for a couple of months, others for most of my life. For me, recreating a family portrait with individuals I love was supremely important. I was reconstructing a photo of people I cherish with people I adore.

William Barak at work on the drawing ‘Ceremony’ at Coranderrk, 1902

Johannes Heyer

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society 2000

Reverend Daniel Draper, c. 1866

Fredrick Charles Burman after John Cochran

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Purchased 2010

Study for Portrait of W S Robinson, 1952

Sir William Dobell OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2003

Archie Roach, 2008

Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham)

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham), 2009

Ross Watson

Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Marion Borgelt

Marion Borgelt (b. 1954) grew up on a farm in the Wimmera district in western Victoria and attained her Diploma in Fine Art, majoring in painting, from the South Australian School of Art in 1976.

1 portrait in the collection

Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal), 1965

Clif Peir

Gift of Richard Brian Close, Githabul people, Woodenbong 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Judith Durham AO

The Seekers formed in Melbourne in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who was in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

Ian Roberts (after Coypel 1709), 2003

Ross Watson

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Archbishop James Goold, c. 1870

Archibald McDonald

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Katherine Bennett

Finalist interviews

The lady in the centre of this photograph is my partner's Granny. So we are almost directly related, and here, as with all photographic work. I am in a state of exchange though I think only directly, with one of the women!

Thomas Pearce, c. 1878

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on card

Purchased 2010

Life class

Magazine article by Leonie Hellmers, 2004

Barbara Blackman reflects on her experiences as a life model.

The spirit of the gift

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers celebrates the support given to the Gallery by Gordon and Marilyn Darling.

The Seekers, 1993

Rennie Ellis

Archived media releases 2018

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

National Portrait Gallery Director's tenure ends in triumph

30 November 2018

National Portrait Gallery Director Angus Trumble is ending his five-year tenure with a flourish, after announcing that Gallery publication Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits 1824-1844 has been awarded the 2018 William MB Berger Prize for British Art History.

Marlene Rubuntja

NPG London, Scotland and Australia, 28 January 2021

Born in Alice Springs, Arrernte/Western Arrarnta woman Marlene Panankga Rubunjta (b.

3 portraits in the collection

15 minutes of frame

Recorded virtual programs

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Key Outcome Area 1

Attitudes and behaviours

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023–25

The attitudes and behaviours of the general community towards people with disability have been described as the single greatest barrier to full access and inclusion.

Exhibition opening speech

From lanolin to Balenciaga

Leo Schofield introduces the exhibition, Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores.

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Crème Valaze

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2004

Helena Rubinstein (1872‒1965) was the first self-made millionairess of modern times, and created the first publicly-listed global cosmetics corporation.

Restoring histories

Photographic conservation practices and the restoration of the Barbara Blackman photographic portrait.

True Stories

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2005

The story behind the creation of the portrait of Helen Garner by Jenny Sages.

Vlase Zanalis

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Palassis (Vlase, Vlazio or Vlasio) Zanalis (1902–1973) arrived in Western Australia as a twelve-year-old, accompanied by an uncle, from the Greek island of Kastellorizo in 1914.

1 portrait in the collection

King Barak, last of the Yarra Tribe, 1899

Barak, respected elder

Dr Christopher Chapman looks at the life of Wurundjeri elder William Barak through the portrait painted by Victor de Pury in 1899.

Arcadia (Wayne Lynch and Bob McTavish), 1969 (reprinted 2011)

John Witzig

Gift of the artist 2011

Edward Riou

Edward Riou (1762-1801), naval officer, began his career with the Royal Navy at the age of twelve.

2 portraits in the collection

Marianne Egan

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Mary Anne Egan (also Marianne or Marian, née Cheers, 1818–1857), was born in Sydney, the daughter of ex-convicts.

1 portrait in the collection

Davida Allen

Going around a gallery with a child, we point to a painting of a dog and brightly ask ‘What’s that?’ If they don’t say ‘A dog’, we tell them that’s what it is. We don’t say it’s a shape inscribed by an artist that’s popularly understood to signify a dog. That’d only serve to foster a smarty-pants.

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Portrait of Professors Margaret Gardner and Glyn Davis, 2017

Magazine article by Gideon Haigh, 2009

Commissioned with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins, Sir Roderick Carnegie AC, Rupert Myer AO and Annabel Myer, Louise and Martyn Myer Foundation, Peter and Ruth McMullin, Diana Carlton, Professor Derek Denton AC, Harold Mitchell AC, Peter Jopling AM KC, Andrew and Liz Mackenzie, Patricia Patten, Tamie Fraser AO, Bruce Parncutt and Robin Campbell, Lauraine Diggins, Steven Skala AO and Lousje Skala 2017

Top shot that

Gideon Haigh discusses portraits of Australian cricketers from the early 20th century

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

by Andrew Bonneau

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Margaret Seares, 2018

by Cherry Hood

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

School portraits

Portrait, synthetic polymer on linen

Inga Walton sheds light on a portraiture collection usually only seen by students and teachers at Melbourne University.

The Seekers reunite 50 years on, 2011

Helen Edwards

Gift of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

With a Little Help from my Friends

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

The story behind the acquisition of the portrait of Danish architect Jørn Utzon.

Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee (Bob) Hawke (1929-2019) moved with his family from South Australia to Perth in 1939.

9 portraits in the collection

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Magazine article by Kate Fullagar, 2019

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), army officer and hero, was the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1828 to 1830.

1 portrait in the collection

Rethinking foundational histories

A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats, 1790

Robert Dodd

Portrait, aquatint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Pigeon coup

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

Glenn McGrath makes a strong impact on the English batsmen and the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

Portrait of Captain Edward Riou, 1801

James Heath after Samuel Shelley

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

The line of fire

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2005

Michelle Fracaro examines the life of World War II nurse Margaret Anderson, whose portrait by Napier Waller is in the NPG collection.

South-bound and down

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour recounts the story of ill-fated sea voyages in the early stages of the Antipodean colony.

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne, c. 1968

Robert Whitaker

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

All there in black and white

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.

Each morning when I wake up I put on my mothers face, 2000

Paths to portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

The life and art of Australian artist Jenny Sages is on display in the exhibition Paths to Portraiture.

Philanthropic donations enable otherwise unobtainable acquisition

20 October 2016

Archived media releases 2016

A magnanimous portrait of Helena Rubinstein has been acquired for the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

Tracks in the sand

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses Quentin Jones's photograph of Australian author Tim Winton.

Monument to Mrs. Moore St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool, Sydney

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Beyond the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, a number of other notable anniversaries converge this year. Waterloo deserves a little focussed consideration, for in the decades following 1815 numerous Waterloo and Peninsular War veterans came to Australia.

Vintage Cassab

The oil portrait of Sir Frank Packer KBE by Judy Cassab was gifted to the National Portrait Gallery in 2006.

A sketch for some portraits

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

Beyond the bow tie

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Nathan Faiman delves into the rich life story and legacy of Alan Goldberg.

Promise Fulfilled

The life and achievements of Sir Edward Holden, who is represented in the portrait collection by a bust created by Leslie Bowles.

The mystery of Enoch Arden

Magazine article by Tamsin Hong, 2016

Tennyson's Enoch Arden was inspired by a story that Thomas Woolner passed on to him – but whose story and of whom?

Rev. Victor B. Walls and Mrs. Walls, Trinidad, B.W.I., c.1930

The first nurse

Tamsin Hong recounts the tale of Marion Smith, the only known Australian Indigenous servicewoman of World War One.

Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by H.R.H. The Duke of Cornwall and York, May 9, 1901, 1903 by Tom Roberts

Empire records

Magazine article by Kylie Scroope, 2011

Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.

Capturing Cook

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2003

In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.

Diamond Doll

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2016

Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.

The selfie stick

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Last week ABC Television came to interview me about selfie sticks. The story was prompted by the announcement that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has lately prohibited the use of these inside their galleries. So far as I am aware we have not yet encountered the phenomenon, but no doubt we will before too long.

Uncommon Australians

Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 1824 by James Thomson

Audacity, audacity, audacity

Magazine article by Roger Benjamin, 2015

Angus delves into the biographies of two ambitious characters; Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir John Pope-Hennessy.

Yellow portrait (portrait of Alex Jelinek)

Fugue in Yellow

Roger Benjamin explores the intriguing union of Lina Bryans and Alex Jelinek.

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery

Visual Stories

Access support for a general visit to the Gallery.

Travis Giles, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia, 2010 by Nikki Toole

Mind and body

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2012

Christopher Chapman interviews photographer Nikki Toole about her bold and controlled portraits of skateboarders in the exhibition Skater.

Everybody's heard about the bird

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Two professionals; Australian surfer Layne Beachley and photographer Petrina Hicks, combine their strengths to achieve a remarkable portrait.

Support Crew

Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.

Friends and Acquaintances

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.

Depth of Field

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2004

The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.

Home and away

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sir William Dobell painted the portraits of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Sir Hudson Fysh, who did much to promote the image of Australia in this country and abroad.

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999)

For the boys

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2011

The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2010

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

Full time

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

Terms and conditions

NPPP 2015

More about the NPPP 2015

Conditions of entry for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2015.

History

About us

How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be

The fat of the land

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Poison pen

Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

The eye and the heart

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.

Material culture

The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.

Stigma stigmata

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Angus Trumble provides poignant context for Aña Wojak’s portrait of Tony Carden.

Washington preview

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2005

Ron Ramsey, former Director of Cultural Relations at the Embassy of Australia interviewed NPG Washington Director, Marc Pachter, about their building renovations.

Aussies all

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

The exhibition Aussies all features the ecclectic portrait photography of Rennie Ellis which captures Australian life during the 70s and 80s.

Thrown together

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Shipmates for years, James Cook and Joseph Banks each kept a journal but neither man shed light on their relationship.

A non-material and non-physical portrait

Lecture, 21 May 2011

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Inner Worlds features the recently commissioned portrait of world-renowned philosopher of consciousness David Chalmers by Melbourne-based artist Nick Mourtzakis.

Painting writing

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Marian Anderson, contralto, New York, June 30, 1955 Richard Avedon

The right note

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

An Australian story

Magazine article by The Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd, 2009

In his speech launching the new National Portrait Gallery building on 3 December 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the Gallery in a national and historical context.

Untitled (girl on chair with red shoes) by Violet Frisby

Finding Mrs Frisby

Magazine article by Robyn Sweaney, 2016

Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.

Lovers of light

Magazine article by Johanna McMahon, 2019

Dr Sarah Engledow traces the significant links between Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo and Evelyn Chapman through their portraits.

Dupain detective

Johanna McMahon revels in history and mystery in pursuit of a suite of unknown portrait subjects.

Portrait of Private Edward Lello 1915 by Darge Photographic Company

Final frame

Magazine article by Karl James, 2016

Karl James reflects on soldier portraiture during the Great War.

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959 by William Dobell

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

The art of Inner Worlds

Lecture, 7 May 2011

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.

Murray frees himself from straightjacket in public, 1928 by Sam Hood

Risky business

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

Louis XVI giving final instructions to the Comte de La Perouse, c. 1785

Sea legged frogs

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Joanna Gilmour describes some of the stories of the individuals and incidents that define French exploration of Australia and the Pacific.

More cash than dash

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Joanna Gilmour describes how colonial portraitists found the perfect market among social status seeking Sydneysiders.

Lucy Culliton

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Most well-regarded pictures of chickens show them dead. A reliable way to tell if a chicken in a painting is dead is to check if it’s hanging upside down, because unlike, say, cockatoos, chickens don’t practise inversion for enjoyment in life.

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

Little women

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

Through thick and thin

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and David R. L. Litchfield at Villa Favorita, Lugano, Switzerland, 1989 © Nicola Graydo

The Thyssen Art Macabre

Books seldom make me angry but this one did. At first, I was powerfully struck by the uncanny parallels that existed between the Mellons of Pittsburgh and the Thyssens of the Ruhr through the same period, essentially the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

At first glance, this small watercolour group portrait of her two sons and four daughters by Maria Caroline Brownrigg (d. 1880) may seem prosaic, even hesitant

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

The silent partner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

The Art Lovers - Megan, 2013 by Gary Grealy

Everybody, look serious

NPPP 2014 exhibition essay

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2014 Prize.

Christmas Island

This is my last Trumbology before, in a little more than a week from now, I pass to my successor Karen Quinlan the precious baton of the Directorship of the National Portrait Gallery.

Forest Creek, Mount Alexander Diggings, 1852 by S. T. Gill

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

Some years ago my colleague Andrea Wolk Rager and I spent several days in the darkened basement of a Rothschild Bank, inspecting every one of the nearly 700 autochromes created immediately before World War I by the youthful Lionel de Rothschild.

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits

Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.

Some prime ministers

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay