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David Williamson AO (b. 1942), playwright, studied and lectured in mechanical engineering and psychology before achieving success with his works for the stage.

4 portraits in the collection

John Williamson

'Playwriting, people and punchlines'

John Williamson (b. 1945), singer songwriter, was born and raised in Victoria's Mallee region.

1 portrait in the collection

David Williamson

Portrait story

Australian playwright, David Williamson tells us tales from his career.

Malcolm Williamson AO CBE

Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson AO CBE (1931–2003), composer, was born in Sydney, and was educated at Barker College, Hornsby, and then at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he studied piano and French horn as well as composition under Sir Eugene Goossens.

1 portrait in the collection

David Williamson

In their own words

Recorded 1976

James Cassius Williamson

James Cassius Williamson (1845-1913), actor and theatrical entrepreneur, worked and performed in theatres in his native USA before coming to Victoria under contract to George Selth Coppin in 1874.

1 portrait in the collection

Malcolm Williamson, 1948

an unknown artist

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Diane Williamson and Marion Foote 2013

David Williamson, 1974 (printed 2001)

Gordon Glenn

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Purchased 2001

David Williamson, 2012

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

David Williamson, late 1970s

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

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

The Vivisector - David Williamson, 2017

Danelle Bergstrom

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

J.C. Williamson, c. 1913

John Longstaff

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Gift of the family of Aimée Viola Horsley, daughter of J.C. Williamson 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Williamson, Springbrook, Qld, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Grow the Portrait Gallery of Australia

9 June 2016

The Portrait Gallery is calling for contributions to support in the acquisition of superb portraits for the national collection.

New partnership with Stripy Sock

5 July 2016

We have a new partnership with Canberra-based leading mobile application development consultancy, Stripy Sock.

Simon Griffiths

Simon Griffiths has been acclaimed in numerous publications as Australia's leading food and garden photographer.

1 portrait in the collection

Arthur Boyd’s Mysterious Eyes

6 May 2016

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a focus exhibition of captivating portraits by renowned artist Arthur Boyd, titled Mysterious eyes: Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945.

Elizabeth Sarah Roberts

Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts (née Williamson, 1860–1928), artist, was born in Launceston, the daughter of Caleb Williamson, a successful merchant, and his wife, Elizabeth.

1 portrait in the collection

Tough & Tender Media Release

14 July 2016

Photographs from internationally acclaimed artists Robert Mapplethorpe, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Collier Schorr and Chris Burden along with contemporary Australian artists, Rozalind Drummond and Warwick Baker will call the National Portrait Gallery home during our extraordinary winter exhibition Tough and Tender.

David McAllister to join National Portrait Gallery collection

26 April 2016

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister AM will join the Portrait Gallery’s national collection in a newly-commissioned portrait taken by illustrious Australian photographer, Peter Brew-Bevan.

George A. Highland

Previous exhibition, 2019

George A Highland (1874-1954), theatrical producer, grew up in England, where, as a choirboy, he came to the attention of Arthur Sullivan.

1 portrait in the collection

Eye to eye

Eye to Eye is a summer Portrait Gallery Collection remix arranged by degree of eye contact – from turned away with eyes closed all the way through to right-back-at-you – as we explore artists’ and subjects’ choices around the direction of the gaze.

John Sumner AO CBE

John Sumner AO CBE (1924–2013), described as the 'father of Australian drama', was born in England and trained and worked in repertory theatre there before World War 2.

2 portraits in the collection

Gillian Armstrong AM

Gillian Armstrong (b. 1950) studied theatre and film-making at Swinburne Technical College and was a star student at the newly-established Australian Film and Television School in the early 70s.

2 portraits in the collection

Gillian Armstrong AM, 1973

Gordon Glenn

Archived media releases 2017

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Hugo Weaving as Horatio Farrat by Ben King Film: The Dressmaker, 2015

If you love movies, you’ll love Starstruck!

8 August 2017

In an unprecedented partnership, the National Portrait Gallery and National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) present a new star-studded exhibition, Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits.

Ada Crossley, c. 1900

Rotary Photo Company Ltd

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Roger Neill 2009

Who is Lillie Roberts?

Devotion

Talented wife for a talented husband

John Bell AO OBE

John Bell AO OBE (b. 1940), actor and director, is one of Australia's best-known theatre personalities.

3 portraits in the collection

Amy Castles

Amy Castles (1880–1951), soprano, was born in Melbourne and educated at schools in Bendigo, where her family lived from the early 1880s.

4 portraits in the collection

Betty Burstall AM

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cardboard (Paris Panel)

Betty Burstall AM (1926–2013) played a vital role in the development of theatre in Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Amy Castles, c. 1899

Falk Studios

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins 2012

Portrait of Mrs Tom Roberts, 1910

Tom Roberts

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2013

John Bell, 1962 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Portrait, pencil and crayon on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Ralph Heimans AM

Gift of the artist 2001

Amy Castles, c. 1902

The Swiss Studios, Melbourne

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cardboard (Paris Panel)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins 2012

Browning Mummery

Portrait, pencil and pastel on paper

Joseph Browning Mummery (1888-1974), was born in inner suburban Melbourne to a musically-inclined family who fostered his interest in singing.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Professor Derek Freeman, 1996

Ralph Heimans AM

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Betty Burstall, 1945

Arthur Boyd AC OBE

Purchased 1998

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin (1962-2006) achieved international fame as the 'Crocodile Hunter'.

1 portrait in the collection

John Dease

Conly John Paget Dease (1906-1979), actor and broadcaster, spent thirty years as one of the signature voices of the ‘Golden Age’ of Australian radio.

1 portrait in the collection

Louis Nowra

Louis Nowra (b. 1950), writer, grew up in dire family circumstances on a housing commission estate in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Margaret Fink AO

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and gouache on 64 canvas boards (nos. 108101-108164)

Margaret Fink AO (b. 1933), film producer, was a key figure in the renaissance of Australian cinema in the 1970s.

2 portraits in the collection

The Pavlova

About Face article

It is a painful truth, but one which must be faced up to, that the pavlova, that iconic Australian dessert, a staple since the 1930s, was actually invented in New Zealand.

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

Imants Tillers

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

Kev Carmody

Acclaimed singer songwriter and activist Kevin Daniel Carmody (Kev Carmody) is a Bundjalung/Lama Lama man born in Cairns in 1946.

2 portraits 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

All the world's a stage

General content

Joan Sutherland, Robert Helpmann and Raigh Roe

Gillian Armstrong, 1985

Stuart Campbell

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

Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche

Previous exhibition, 2000

Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche (1871–1936), actor, director and producer, was one of Australia’s most successful theatre exports.

2 portraits in the collection

Sporting Archibald

Celebrating the focus on sport during 2000, this special exhibition features our national sporting heroes and heroines immortalised on canvas

Artist in residence creates portraits using brainwave zctivity

29 June 2016

Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945

Digital media artist, George Khut, is creating a spectacular form of digital portraiture involving public participants.

Mysterious eyes

Previous exhibition, 2016

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

Janet Tavener

Finalist interviews

Mikala is the eldest of my three daughters. I have photographed her on many an occasion. Needless to say we are both extremely at home with the practice.

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

June Mendoza

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

Ada Jemima Crossley

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

Ada Jemima Crossley (1874–1929), singer, was one of several Australian-born divas to achieve an international reputation in the late nineteenth century.

2 portraits in the collection

123 Faces

Magda Keaney examines the 123 Faces project by Simon Obarzanek.

Arthur Boyd Portraits

Previous exhibition, 1999

This is the first in a series of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions to survey the portraits painted by artists who are not thought of, primarily, as portrait painters

Small worlds

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.

Charles Blondin, 1874

Timothy Noble

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Men of High Degree: Kev Carmody (Bundjalung/Lama Lama Peoples), 2023

Brenda L Croft, Prue Hazelgrove, Richard Crampton

Portrait, original wet plate collodion process tintype, digital scan to Ultrachrome pigment on paper

Purchased 2023

Barry Humphries

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Barry Humphries AO CBE (1934–2023), actor, writer and artist, was the world's all-time most successful solo theatrical performer.

12 portraits in the collection

Sir Les Patterson, 1999

Polly Borland

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Philanthropic donations enable otherwise unobtainable acquisition

20 October 2016

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Crikey!

Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

by Imants Tillers

General content

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AO, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

Talma Studios, Sydney