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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Search / brennan keats

Mr and Mrs Horace Keats in the "Christopher Brennan Cycle", 1945

Dora Toovey

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of Anne and Brennan Keats 2009

Heartfelt

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.

Janet Keats

Biography

Janet le Brun Brown (Keats) (1900-1985), soprano, was born on her family's property, Riggsdale, near Goulburn, but on account of frailty she was sent to live with her grandparents in Inverell, Moree and Dungog before going to boarding school in the Blue Mountains and Gosford.

1 portrait in the collection

Horace Keats

Biography

Horace Keats (1895-1945) came to Australia from his native England in 1915 as accompanist to vaudeville performer Nella Webb.

1 portrait in the collection

Angela Brennan

Biography

Angela Brennan (b. 1960) is a highly regarded contemporary Australian painter and ceramicist.

1 portrait in the collection

Nigel Brennan

Biography

Nigel Brennan studied photography at Griffith University and works primarily in photo-documentary.

1 portrait in the collection

Christopher Brennan

Biography

Christopher Brennan (1870–1932), poet, was born to Irish parents in Sydney.

2 portraits in the collection

Jonno and Api, 2016

by Joseph Brennan

Image

Christopher Brennan, 1927

Annie May Moore

Portrait, carbon print on paper

Purchased 2014

Saint Catherine (Catherine Hamlin), 2006

Nigel Brennan

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Purchased 2008

Portrait of Louise Forthun in front of a Stephen Bram

Portrait of Louise Forthun in front of a Stephen Bram, 1992

Angela Brennan

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of the artist 2021. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.

Natalie Imbruglia

Biography

Natalie Imbruglia (b.1975) is a singer and songwriter. After leaving school in 1991, Natalie Imbruglia appeared in several television commercials and then joined the television soap Neighbours as the character Beth Brennan.

1 portrait in the collection

Gordon Watson AM

Biography

Gordon Watson AM (1921-1999), pianist and teacher, taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music from 1964 to 1986 and was head of its keyboard department when he retired.

1 portrait in the collection

Bruce Dawe

Biography

Bruce Dawe AO (1930-2020), poet and teacher, was born in Fitzroy and worked as a labourer, clerk, sawmill hand, farmhand and postman before joining the RAAF in 1959.

1 portrait in the collection

John Le Gay Brereton

Biography

John Le Gay Brereton junior (1871–1933), writer and academic, was born in Sydney, the son of a doctor, also John, who had emigrated to Australia in the late 1850s.

1 portrait in the collection

"Poet of the Hawkesbury" Robert Adamson, 2012

Geoffrey Dyer

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of the artist 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Fay Zwicky, c. 1981 (printed 2018)

Jacqueline Mitelman

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Purchased 2018

Fay Zwicky

Biography

Fay Zwicky (1933–2017), poet and academic, grew up in a cultivated environment in Brighton, Melbourne, where her European Jewish family had lived for four generations.

1 portrait in the collection

Lady Mary Hay

Biography

Lady Hay, née Chalmers (c. 1806-1892) was reported at the time of her death to have been about ten years older than Hay.

1 portrait in the collection

Alfred George Stephens

Biography

Alfred George Stephens (1865–1933), editor, journalist and publisher, was born and educated in Toowoomba.

1 portrait in the collection

Michael Kelly, 1998

Rick Amor

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper.

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

Robert Adamson

Biography

Robert Adamson (1943–2022), poet and publisher, divided his childhood between Neutral Bay and the Hawkesbury River, where his grandfather lived.

2 portraits in the collection

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

This 1910 portrait of Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts by Tom Roberts was brought into the Gallery's collection with the assistance of the Acquisition Fund in 2013.

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.

A G Stephens, c. 1910 (printed later)

an unknown artist

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Poets' Portraits

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

The Portrait Gallery's paintings of two poets, Les Murray and Peter Porter, demonstrate two very different artists' responses to the challenge of representing more than usually sensitive and imaginative men.

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

Annual Appeal

From 2015 to 2017 the Acquisition Fund was focussed on Reg Richardson AM by Mitch Cairns, a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2014, and a great example of minimalist portraiture.

Why do painted portraits still matter?

Magazine article by Sandy Nairne, 2006

Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

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.

Beautiful bones

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Sarah Engledow reflects on the shared life and writing of Dorothy Porter and Andrea Goldsmith.

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.

Peter Wilmoth, age 12, with copies of Our World 1974 Courtesy of the author

Paper, boy

Magazine article by Peter Wilmoth, 2016

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

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