Search / alice simpson

Portrait, pencil and watercolour on paper

Alice Simpson, née Want was one of nine children of Randolph and Harriette Want, who married in Sydney in 1839.

1 portrait in the collection

Alice Want, 1853

William Nicholas

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

Alice Giles AM

Alice Rosemary Giles AM, was born in Adelaide in 1961. Giles is an internationally celebrated Australian classical harp soloist.

1 portrait in the collection

Alice Mills

Victorian-born Alice Mills was one of a significant number of women photographers in business between 1900 and 1920.

1 portrait in the collection

Alice Marshall Moyle AM

Alice Marshall Moyle AM (1908-2005) had a distinguished career in ethnomusicology renowned for her pioneering work in the field of Australian Aboriginal musical studies.

1 portrait in the collection

Tom Roberts, 1920

Alice Mills

Portrait, pastel on paper

Gift of Gerard Vaughan 2001

Alice Giles, 1984

Rosemary Madigan

Gift of Alice Giles AM in memory of her mother Rosemary Madigan 2023

Princess Alice, 1860

John J. Mayall

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite photograph on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020

Alfred Simpson

Alfred Simpson (1805–1891), manufacturer, started his professional life as a tinsmith in his native London and also worked as a hatter before financial difficulties caused him to emigrate to Australia in 1849.

1 portrait in the collection

David Simpson

David Simpson, photographer, is represented in the Art Gallery of South Australia, his subjects including HM Queen Elizabeth II, Don Bradman, David Gulpilil and Sir Mark and Lady Oliphant.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Brendan Nelson, 2019

Todd Simpson

Dr Alice M. Moyle, 1998

Chris Gentle

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Carolyn and Peter Lowry 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Edward Telford Simpson

Edward Telford Simpson (1889-1965), Alice's grandson, was born the only son of Edward Percy Simpson and his wife Anne.

1 portrait in the collection

Max Schubert, 1980

David Simpson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Alfred Simpson, c. 1866

an unknown artist

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Sarah Simpson, c. 1866

an unknown artist

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014

Edward Telford Simpson, 1919

John St Helier Lander

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

The golden girls: Jodie Henry, Lisbeth 'Libby' Trickett (née Lenton), Giaan Rooney, Alice Mills, Brooke Hanson, Leisel Jones

The golden girls: Jodie Henry, Lisbeth 'Libby' Trickett (née Lenton), Giaan Rooney, Alice Mills, Brooke Hanson, Leisel Jones, 2004

Robin Sellick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Alice in Wonderland, 2006

by Suzi Lyon

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

The house, the horse, the wife and the offspring

Joanna Gilmour writes about the portraiture of the colonial artist William Nicholas.

Ted Egan, Alice Springs, NT, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Albert Namatjira, Artist, Alice Springs, c. 1957

Ern McQuillan OAM

Purchased 2003

Tim Riley, Santa Teresa Mission, near Alice Springs

Tim Riley, Santa Teresa Mission, near Alice Springs, 1965 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Portrait, pencil on paper

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.

Marcie Elizabeth Wilson, 1922

George Lambert

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

William Hardy Wilson at Purulia, Warrawee

William Hardy Wilson at Purulia, Warrawee, 1921 (printed by Max Dupain 1981)

Harold Cazneaux, Max Dupain OBE

Dickinson Monteath Studio

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

George Foletta, n.d.

Portrait, pencil with ink wash on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Alice Myra Foletta 2006

Purchased 2012

Coral Browne, 1975

Don Bachardy

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Sunbath under the lockdown

Franky Tsang

Robyn Davidson (Hamelin Pool, Indian Ocean, Western Australia), 1977 (printed 2014)

Rick Smolan

Purchased 2014

Les Enfants du Paradis, 2012

by Tracey Schramm

Groups of four and three people on a theatre stage in front of a dark curtain

stArts with D Performance Ensemble

Artists and Collectives

Based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and the Central Desert Region, stArts with D disability-led performance ensemble collaborates, creates, and presents original works celebrating identity, place and belonging.

Charles Blackman OBE

Charles Blackman OBE (1928–2018), artist, studied at East Sydney Technical College and worked as a press artist for the Sun newspaper before moving to Melbourne, where he came to the attention of arts patron John Reed.

9 portraits in the collection

Robyn Davidson

Robyn Davidson (b. 1950), writer, attended a Brisbane boarding school before moving to Sydney, where she lived a loosely bohemian lifestyle.

2 portraits in the collection

Thea Anamara Perkins

Thea Anamara Perkins (b. 1992) is an Arrernte/Kalkadoon artist whose practice incorporates portraiture and landscape to depict authentic representations of First Nations peoples and Country.

1 portrait in the collection

Marlene Rubuntja

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

3 portraits in the collection

Harry Hudson

Portrait, oil on composition board

Harry Hudson (1907-1974) was a Melbourne-based painter. His work was included in a number of group exhibitions at the Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Carlton in the 1980s along with those of such notable artists as Roland Wakelin, Grace Cossington-Smith and James Gleeson.

1 portrait in the collection

Ben McNamara

Vox pops

This is Marissa Gallagher from Kintore, which if you're in Alice Springs, just go west until the WA border, just before that, a traditional area of Pintupi mob.

Dulcie Sharpe and Rhonda Sharpe in a room with a brown tile floor, next to a wooden table with soft animal sculptures

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Artists and Collectives

A not-for-profit Aboriginal owned and run art centre, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists in Mparntwe/Alice Springs are known for their unique and distinctive soft sculptures that reveal stories and experiences of life in their community.

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, 1951

Sir William Dobell OBE

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

Runners, 2010

by David Kelly

Hugs on hold

Sandy Scheltema

Bringing down a kingdom

Lust

The king and the showgirl

Gloria Petyarre, 2005

R. Ian Lloyd

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

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

William Charles Wentworth, 1854

Thomas Woolner

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

Rhonda Sharpe

Luritja woman Rhonda Sharpe was born in 1977 in Alice Springs and is an artist working out of Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, in the Larapinta Valley Town Camp.

2 portraits in the collection

Dave

Jay Hynes

Portrait 68

Summer 2022/23

Magazine

Rebecca Ray on Robert Fielding’s Mayatjara series, Jennifer Higgie on Alice Neel, Elspeth Pitt chats with Yvette Coppersmith, Vincent Fantauzzo on virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman and more.

Samantha Nimunburr Wyborn

Samantha Nimunburr Wyborn is a Bardi and Yawuru woman, artist and jeweller.

1 portrait in the collection

George Foletta,

Sir William Dargie CBE

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Alice Myra Foletta 2006

Albert and his wife Rubina, Macdonnell Ranges

Albert and his wife Rubina, Macdonnell Ranges, 1946

Axel Poignant

Purchased 1999

Justin C. Tjungurrayi

Justin Corby Tjungurrayi (b. 1982) is a Luritja artist who was born in Kintore on the border of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Diana Pockley

Diana Pockley (née Longridge, 1913–2011), gardener, fundraiser and amateur historian, was born in Exeter, Devon, England and completed her secondary education in Brighton.

1 portrait in the collection

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO (c. 1932–2002) was a founding member of the artists cooperative established at Papunya in the early 1970s and one of the most renowned practitioners within the Western Desert art movement.

2 portraits in the collection

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother (1900–2002) was born the Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon.

2 portraits in the collection

Dr B Marika AO

Mihail Tsikas

Carol sewing, 2008

by Greg Weight

Rosemary Madigan, 1992

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dr B Marika AO, 2020

Mihail Tsikas

Gift of the artist 2022

Gilbert Lau AM

Melbourne Cantonese restaurateur Gilbert Lau (b. 1943) is renowned as the consummate host of the Flower Drum - for remembering your last visit, who you were with and what you ate.

1 portrait in the collection

John Flynn OBE DD

John Flynn OBE DD (1880-1951) was a Presbyterian Minister, founder and superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission (AIM).

1 portrait in the collection

H B. Hall

Henry Bryan Hall grew up in England and began his trade as an apprentice to the engravers Benjamin Smith and Henry Meyer.

1 portrait in the collection

Betina Fauvel-Ogden

Portrait, coloured chalk on artist board

Betina Fauvel-Ogden was born in Adelaide and lives and works in Melbourne.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Charles Wheeler

Purchased 2019

fresh from the Channel Fleet (Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson)

Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson GCB GCMG

Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson GCB GCMG (1843–1910) was appointed governor of New South Wales in January 1902 having distinguished himself in the course of various conflicts as an officer of the Royal Navy.

1 portrait in the collection

Rosemary Madigan

Rosemary Madigan (1926–2019) was one of Australia's most respected sculptors.

3 portraits in the collection

Judith Pungarta Inkamala

Rhonda Sharpe, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Judith Pungarta Inkamala (b. 1947), senior potter, is an Arrernte woman who was born in Hermannsburg, 130 km west of Alice Springs.

3 portraits in the collection

My Two Lovely Faces Looking at Each Other and Smiling for Love, 2022

Portrait, soft sculpture made with recycled woollen blankets, bush dye, wool, cotton, feathers

Purchased 2023

Girl with Big Stick, Cooloman and Bird, 2022

Rhonda Sharpe, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

Portrait, soft sculpture made with recycled woollen blankets, bush dye, wool, cotton, feathers

Purchased 2023

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa (b. c. 1943), Pintupi painter, grew up around the Western Australia-Northern Territory border and was initiated at Yumari, near his birthplace.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Deane AC KBE KC

Sir William Deane AC KBE KC (b. 1931), High Court judge, was governor-general of Australia from early 1996 to mid-2001.

1 portrait in the collection

General Cosgrove, Dili, East Timor 1999, 2006

Rick Amor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Andrew Cannon and L. Gordon Darling AC CMG 2006

Samantha Nimunburr Wyborn, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

Rex Battarbee

Rex Battarbee OBE (1893-1973), art teacher, had no formal training in art before he won the Melbourne Centenary Prize for Watercolour in 1934.

1 portrait in the collection

D.A.S. Campbell (David Alexander Stewart Campbell)

D.A.S. Campbell (David Alexander Stewart Campbell), 1963

Sir William Dargie CBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Mary Newlinds and Sheena Simpson in memory of their father, D.A.S. Campbell, 2014

Gloria Tamerre Petyarre

Portrait, pastel on paper

Gloria Tamerre Petyarre (c. 1938-1945), an Anmatyerre woman from Aknangkere Country, near Alice Springs, is one of Australia's most acclaimed Aboriginal painters.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Klippel, c. 1990

Rosemary Madigan

Purchased 2020

Ryan Presley: Paradise won

Current exhibition

Marri Ngarr artist Ryan Presley's site-specific commission Paradise won is prominently positioned at the Gallery’s entrance. This ambitious new work invites conversations about the ongoing legacies of colonisation and celebrates First Nations survival and autonomy.

Ada Bird Petyarre, 1990

Anne Zahalka

Portrait, type C Duraflex print on paper

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

Walala Tjapaltjarri

Walala Tjapaltjarri (c. 1965–1975) and his family shot to fame in 1984 when they left their nomadic desert life and joined family in the community of Kiwirrkura in Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Alison Alder

Artists and Collectives

One of Australia’s preeminent printmakers, Alison Alder explores social and political issues through her art practice from her studio in Mongarlowe on Yuin Country.

Justin Tjungurrayi, 2007

Portrait, inkjet print on cotton rag paper

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

Warumpi Band

The Warumpi Band burst onto the Australian music scene in 1984 with the release of their first album Big Name, No Blankets.

2 portraits in the collection

Untitled (portrait of Barbara Blackman), 1976

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Purchased 2009

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, 2002

Tim Johnson

Portrait, oil and polymer vinyl paint on canvas

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002

Potters' Portrait Pot, 2009

Hermannsburg Potters, Irene Mbitjana Entata, Virginia Mbitjana Rontji, Lindy Panangka Rontji, Rahel Kngwarria Ungwanaka, Rona Panangka Rubuntja, Dawn Ngala Wheeler, Judith Pungarta Inkamala, Anita Ratara Mbitjana, Hayley Panangka Coulthard, Clara Ngala Inkamala

Portrait, fired terracotta clay, underglaze

Commissioned 2009

Franchesca Cubillo

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

Ada Bird Petyarre

Ada Bird Petyarre (c. 1930–2009), painter and printmaker, was an Anmatyerre woman from the Northern Territory, and one of seven sisters who all became notable artists.

1 portrait in the collection

George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on gessoboard

George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga (1957–2007) was a Yolngu singer, activist and a founding member of the Warumpi Band.

2 portraits in the collection

Rachel, 2021

Thea Anamara Perkins

Purchased 2022

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

Louise Hearman

Portrait, oil and ink on canvas

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

Yami Lester speaks at Uluru Handback Ceremony

Yami Lester OAM

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

1 portrait in the collection

Girl (portrait of Barbara Blackman), 1969

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Purchased 2009

Anna Volska

Anna Volska (b. 1944), actor, came from Poland to Australia with her mother when she was seven.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Albert Namatjira

Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira (1902–1959) is one of Australia's most celebrated and important artists.

6 portraits in the collection

Warwick Thornton, 2019 (printed 2022)

Susan Stitt ACS

Gift of the artist 2022

Hélène Kirsova

Hélène Kirsova (1910–1962), dancer and founder of Kirsova Ballet, the first professional ballet company in Australia.

4 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Charles Blackman, 1979

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Gift of Warwick Evans 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Judith Wright with Barbara Blackman, c. 1956

Portrait, oil on paper laid down on board

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

Franchesca Cubillo, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

HV (Doc) Evatt, 1935

Arnold Shore

Gift of Elizabeth Evatt and Penelope Seidler 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House, 1984 (printed 2021)

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2021

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Arthur Boyd AC OBE (1920–1999), painter, potter and printmaker, was one of Australia’s greatest artists.

14 portraits in the collection

George Burarrwanga, Warumpi Band, 1984 (printed 2021)

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2021

Barbara Blackman AO

Barbara Blackman AO (b. 1928), writer, poet and arts patron, was only fifteen when the ABC Weekly published one of her poems.

5 portraits in the collection

Gloria Petyarre, 1994

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Hermannsburg Potters

The Hermannsburg Potters are a collective of highly respected senior women artists of the Western Arrarnta (Arrernte) community.

1 portrait in the collection

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi (c. 1956–2013) was an influential Pintupi/Warlpiri artist who developed a distinctive abstract monochromatic style across the course of her career.

1 portrait in the collection

Rick Smolan

Rick Smolan (b. 1949) began his career as a photographer for Time, Life and National Geographic.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Rhoda Roberts, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Gift of the artist 2004

Finest quality

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of Chinese-Australian businessman and philanthropist Quong Tart.

Warwick Thornton

Warwick Thornton (b. 1970) is a Kaytetye man, writer, director and cinematographer.

2 portraits in the collection

Bob Brown

Bob Brown (b. 1944), environmentalist, doctor and former politician, is an environmental campaigner and former Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens.

2 portraits in the collection

Hermannsburg Potters, 1999

Portrait, inkjet print (black and white) on paper

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robyn Davidson (near Uluru), 1979 (printed 2014)

Rick Smolan

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Judith Inkamala, 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ali Cobby Eckermann and Lionel Fogarty at the Hawkesbury River

Ali Cobby Eckermann and Lionel Fogarty at the Hawkesbury River, 2014

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2015

Richard Tognetti AO

Richard Tognetti AO (b. 1965), violinist, conductor and composer, trained with William Primrose in Wollongong and Alice Waten in Sydney before undertaking further studies with Igor Ozim in Switzerland.

2 portraits in the collection

Dorothy Robinson Napangardi, 2010

Portrait, inkjet print on cotton rag paper

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

Ali Cobby Eckermann

Ali Cobby Eckermann (b. 1963), Yankunytjatjara/Kothaka author and poet, was born in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Walala Tjapaltjarri, 2009

Portrait, inkjet print on cotton rag paper

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

Ginger Riley

Ginger Riley Munduwalawala (c. 1937-2002), stockman and artist, was born in south-eastern Arnhem Land, in the coastal salt-water country of the Mara people.

1 portrait in the collection

Judy Davis

Previous exhibition, 2007

Judy Davis (b. 1955), actor, director and two-time Oscar nominee, has won many acting accolades, including eight AACTA awards, three Emmy awards, two BAFTAs and two Golden Globes.

3 portraits 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.

Professor Marcia Langton AO

Professor Marcia Langton AO (b. 1951), anthropologist, geographer and academic, is a descendant of the Yiman and Bidjara nations of Queensland.

3 portraits in the collection

Richard Tognetti, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Zhou Xiaoping

Archived media releases 2019

Zhou Xiaoping, born and educated in China, is a Melbourne-based artist.

1 portrait in the collection

National Portrait Gallery takes out top gong in MAPDA awards

16 May 2019

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to be named the winner of the Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards in the category of exhibition major catalogue level B, for our publication So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history.

Bryan Brown, 2008

Adam Knott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Rachel Perkins

Previous exhibition, 2013

Arrernte/Kalkadoon woman Rachel Perkins (b. 1970) is the daughter of First Nations activists Eileen and Charlie Perkins.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Kelly and The Portraits

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.

The chase, 1952

Portrait, tempera on masonite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rob and Paula McLean 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Thousand Mile Stare

Portrait photography by John Elliott

Previous exhibition, 2004

Thousand mile stare provides a unique portrait of people of rural Australia

The family, c. 1955

Portrait, oil on board

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

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM

Previous exhibition, 2014

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM (1937-2022), Arrernte and Anmatjere woman, Aboriginal activist, former actress and nun, was born at Artekerre soak on Utopia Cattle Station in the Northern Territory, the daughter of Allan and Ruby Kunoth.

2 portraits in the collection

2021 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.

Dan the man

Magazine article by India Bednall, 2015

Martin Philbey’s portrait of Dan Sultan.

Hard truths

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Jennifer Higgie reveals how Alice Neel reinvigorated 20th century portraiture with her honest and perceptive depictions of the human experience.

William Johnson (1873—1948) by Percy Leason

Recognition

Percy Leason's Aboriginal Portraits

Previous exhibition, 1999

Originally conceived as an anthropological record, Percy Leason’s powerful 1934 portraits of Victorian Aboriginal people are today considered to be a highlight of 20th century Australian portraiture

On active service

Magazine article by Sam Bowker, 2007

The National Portrait Gallery has acquired an evocative depiction of soldier Peter Cosgrove by the Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor Rick Amor.

Open Air

Portraits in the Landscape

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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.

Announcing... Portrait23: Identity

15 November 2022

Media

In this major new exhibition marking the National Portrait Gallery’s third decade, 23 Australian artists and collectives have been invited to create portraits without constraints or boundaries.

Zhang Xiaogang

Featured Artists

Born 1958, Kunming, Yunnan Province. Lives and works in Beijing.

The People’s Choice Awards

16 June 2020

Archived media releases 2020

The votes have been counted, and the winners of the National Portrait Gallery’s People’s Choice Awards for the Prize exhibitions are...

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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

Previous exhibition, 2009

In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.

Arnold Shore

Previous exhibition, 2006

Arnold Shore, a lifelong inhabitant of Melbourne, was apprenticed to a stained glass and leadlight company called Brooks, Robinson soon after leaving school at the age of twelve.

2 portraits 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.

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

Richard Tognetti #1510, 2018

by Louise Hearman

General content

Commissioned with funds provided by Peter Weiss AO 2018

True Stories

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2005

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

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

The National Portrait Prizes

29 January 2020

Archived media releases 2020

The National Portrait Gallery today announced finalists for the inaugural Darling Portrait Prize, a national new $75,000 prize for Australian portrait painting, and released selected images from the final prize pool for the popular National Photography Portrait Prize.

2023 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.

2022 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Previous exhibition, 2023

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Mia Wasikowska as Robyn Davidson at Hamelin Pool, 2013 by Matt Nettheim

Hump days

Magazine article by Jessica Bolton, 2017

Jessica Bolton navigates the parallel tracks documenting Robyn Davidson’s astonishing journey.

Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, 1983

Harold Thornton