- About us
- Support the Gallery
- Venue hire
- Publications
- Research library
- Organisation chart
- Employment
- Contact us
- Make a booking
- Onsite programs
- Online programs
- School visit information
- Learning resources
- Little Darlings
- Professional learning
Helen Edwards, a member of Portrait Artists Australia, has been a finalist in the Black Swan Prize four times, the Shirley Hannan Portrait Prize in Bega once and has been selected for the Salon des Refusés of the Archibald twice.
1 portrait in the collection
Recorded 2013
Gift of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Dr Robert (Bob) Edwards AO (1930-2023) made a remarkable contribution to the cultural sector in Australia.
1 portrait in the collection
Henry (Harry) Edwards (1827–1891), actor and entomologist, arrived in Melbourne in 1853 after a short-lived attempt at studying for a career in law.
1 portrait in the collection
Ross Edwards (b. 1943), composer, became determined upon a life of composition as a child.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of the artist 2013, to mark the 70th birthday of composer Ross Edwards (23 December 2013)
Commissioned with funds provided by Art Exhibitions Australia 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Gift of Meg Stewart 2024
Helen Grieve (1931–1981), child actress, was born in Sydney. Her first film role was in The Overlanders (1946), opposite Chips Rafferty.
1 portrait in the collection
Dr Helen Caldicott (b. 1938), physician, author and activist, was born Helen Broinowski in Melbourne and gained her degree in Medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1961.
1 portrait in the collection
Helen Reddy (1941–2020), singer/songwriter, is best known for her anthem for women’s liberation, 'I am Woman', inspired by Australian feminist and rock journalist Lillian Roxon.
1 portrait in the collection
Helen Garner (b. 1942), author and journalist, is one of Australia's best-known writers.
8 portraits in the collection
Recorded 1982
Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.
Dame Helen Blaxland DBE (1907–1989), conservationist and fundraiser, studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Dr Helen Caldicott 2022
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2007
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Purchased 2006
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Leo Christie 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift in memory of Tesse Lang by her husband Moshe Lang and family 2024. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The story behind the creation of the portrait of Helen Garner by Jenny Sages.
The exhibition Sages examines the process of portrait making through four large-scale portraits of women by Jenny Sages, paired with intimate preparatory drawings.
Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007
Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Helen Brack 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Helen Brack 2012
Recorded 2013
I had my medium format camera to take like a nice portrait of the family and just happened to see Helen in this really natural pose, shutting the gate to keep the dog away from the spit.
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Antonia Blaxland (1929-1989), photographer, was the great-great granddaughter of Gregory Blaxland, leader of the successful Blue Mountains expedition in 1813.
1 portrait in the collection
Roderick Shaw (1915-1992) is perhaps best known for his worker paintings of the social realist school, such as Cable Layers (in the Art Gallery of NSW).
2 portraits in the collection
This issue of Portrait Magazine features portraits by Rick Amor, colonial charicatures, Les Murray, Peter Porter, Helen Garner and more.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Mary Shedley, Mrs Christine Moriarty, Mrs Josephine Lawrence and Mrs Helen Beare 2010
Purchased 2012
Domesticity’s creative maelstrom
Australian Galleries Director Stuart Purves tells the story of two portraits by John Brack.
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.
For Tom Roberts - Australia's best nineteenth-century portrait painter - neither a proto-national portrait gallery nor more popular collections of portrait heads, were sufficient public celebrations for the notables of Australian history
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Residency prize winner, MDPA 2015
Esther Erlich (b. 1955), a Melbourne-based painter, has been exhibiting since the early 1980s, often with the Libby Edwards Galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and the Barry Newton Gallery in Adelaide.
3 portraits in the collection
Keep it in the family
Purchased 1999
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.
The newly-established National Portrait Gallery Foundation met for its inaugural meeting last Friday 15 May in Canberra.
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.
In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.
Bridget Elliot (b. 1958), photographer, is acknowledged for her significant portraits of Australian composers and musical performers.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Yousuf Karsh - the most famous portrait photographer in the world - has photographed the statesmen, artists, literary and scientific figures who have defined the 20th century and shaped our lives, In this, his 90th year, the National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to present an exhibition of Karsh's photography of 20th century figures.
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
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.
Edith Knox (1855–1942), matriarch, was a daughter of Janet and Scottish-born merchant and businessman Joseph Scaife Willis, who was president of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and a founding director of the Sydney Exchange Co.
1 portrait in the collection
Robert Klippel AO (1920–2001) is considered by some to be the most significant sculptor Australia has yet produced.
5 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
Gift of Kym Bonython AC DFC AFC 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Purchased 2013
The National Portrait Gallery is deeply saddened by the news of the untimely death of Carla Zampatti AC, an Australian icon and a woman who contributed so significantly to defining the identity and style of Australian women.
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.
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
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
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.
Purchased 2015
Evonne Goolagong Cawley AC MBE (b. 1951), Wiradjuri tennis champion, was the number one women's tennis player in the world in 1971 and 1976.
3 portraits in the collection
Gift of Timothy Fairfax AC 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Gift of Frank Croll and Dr Joan Croll AO 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Mrs Caroline Philippa Parker 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Dr Joan Croll AO 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Hugo Weaving AO (b. 1960), actor, spent his childhood in England, Australia and South Africa before returning to live in Australia in 1976.
1 portrait in the collection
Florence Broadhurst (1899-1977), designer, grew up in rural Queensland, where she won a singing competition in 1915 and performed regularly in various towns.
2 portraits in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015
Janice McIllree (nee Wakely) (1935-2022), fashion model and photographer, began her modelling career in Melbourne in 1954, having graduated from Sydney's Mannequin Academy in 1952.
4 portraits in the collection
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.
Gift of the artist 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2020
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
This is the first major exhibition to examine photographic portraiture in Australia, from its beginnings in the early 1840s to the present day
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019, the iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato, Angélica Dass’ Humanæ project and more.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Dame Nellie Melba GBE (1861–1931), world-renowned soprano, was born Helen Porter Mitchell in Melbourne.
8 portraits in the collection
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
Robert Manne (b. 1947), academic and writer, grew up in Melbourne, the child of European Jewish refugees.
1 portrait in the collection
Christina 'Chrissy' Amphlett (1959–2013), singer/songwriter, was best known for her energetic performances as the lead singer of rock band the Divinyls, often in her trademark school uniform and fishnet stockings.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2010
Margaret Michaelis, photographer, was born Margarethe Gross, of Polish Jewish parents at Dzieditz, near Bielsko.
2 portraits in the collection
The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Recorded 2022
Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018
On 1 July 2013 the National Portrait Gallery began operating as a statutory authority.
Accomplished illustrator, painter, writer and diarist, set designer and one of the most distinguished photographers of the twentieth century, Cecil Beaton is renowned for his portraits of well known faces from the worlds of fashion, literature, and film.
Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.
Commissioned with funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AO and Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007
Sue Ford (née Winslow, 1943–2009), photographer, filmmaker and photo-media artist, grew up in the beachside suburbs of Melbourne and became interested in photography while on holiday in Europe at age 17.
2 portraits in the collection
Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.
Mrs Lucy Hughes Turnbull AO has accepted an invitation to become the new Chief Patron of the National Portrait Gallery.
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.
Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Ron Robertson-Swann (b. 1941), sculptor, teacher and painter, studied at the National Art School (NAS) under Lyndon Dadswell in the late 1950s.
1 portrait in the collection
Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘identity’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.
Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Sam Meers AO, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.
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.
Jenny Sages (b. 1933), artist, was born to Russian Jewish parents in Shanghai and came to Australia with her family in 1948.
34 portraits in the collection
The National Portrait Gallery have selected the finalists for the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2015.
Hilary McPhee AO (b. 1941), writer and editor, began her career at Meanjin before starting a small magazine, Theatre.
1 portrait in the collection
Actor, presenter and broadcaster Noni Hazlehurst AM (b. 1953) studied drama at Flinders University in South Australia, and after graduating gained roles in the television cop shows Division 4, Homicide and Matlock Police.
2 portraits in the collection
The winners of the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Awards will be announced tomorrow morning at 10.00am at the National Portrait Gallery.
David Mitchell (1829-1916), builder, contractor and businessman, arrived in Melbourne in mid-1852 in the Anna.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2017
The National Portrait Gallery mourns the loss of one our most generous benefactors, Robert Oatley AO.
Featuring works by Australian and New Zealand photographers from the late 1970s up to the present day Reveries focuses on images made in the presence of or consciousness of death.
Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Press releases and image downloads for media.
Robert ‘Bob’ Jenyns (1944-2015) grew up in Victoria and gained his diploma in art from the Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1964.
1 portrait in the collection
Anne Maria Barkly (1838-1932) was the second wife of Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria from December 1856 to September 1863.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.
A photographic portrait by Kerry Dundas captures the contemplative mind of visionary painter Godfrey Miller.
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.
The National Portrait Gallery recently announced the finalists for the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2013.
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
Vanity Fair Portraits traces the birth and evolution of photographic portraiture through the archives of Vanity Fair magazine.
'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.
Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.
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.
In 2020 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Sally Robinson's remarkable portrait of author Tim Winton.
An extensive selection of portraits by John Brack were on display at the National Portrait Gallery in late 2007.
The Chairman, Board, Director and all the staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Benefactor, Mary Isabel Murphy.
The Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia is delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Karen Quinlan as its incoming Director.
At a meeting by teleconference of the National Portrait Gallery Foundation last week, I found myself reporting that our forthcoming exhibition So Fine is going to be “a humdinger,” whereupon Tim Fairfax chuckled and said that he hadn’t heard that expression for years.
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.
A new painting by Jiawei Shen captures the vision and resolve of the Gallery's founder, L. Gordon Darling AC CMG.
Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.
Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (1864–1947) was one of the most celebrated Australian expatriate artists of his generation, achieving a degree of success in Paris in the 1890s and early 1900s that was unmatched by his peers.
3 portraits in the collection
First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.
The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.
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.
Richard Flanagan (b. 1961) was born in Longford in northern Tasmania, the second youngest of the six children of Archie Flanagan, a primary school principal, and his wife Helen.
1 portrait in the collection
Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.
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.
The life and art of Australian artist Jenny Sages is on display in the exhibition Paths to Portraiture.
Inspiring Australians tell their own stories in a unique new gallery audio tour, developed in collaboration with the National Library of Australia.
Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.
Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.
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.
The exhibition Portraits for Posterity celebrates gifts to the Gallery, of purchases made with donated funds, and testifies to the generosity and community spirit of Australians.
Dr Sarah Engledow explores the early life and career of John Brack.
The Chairman, Board, Director and staff mourn the loss of the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural director.
Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2013 Prize.
Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.
Where do we draw a line between the personal and the historical? Although she died in Melbourne in 1975, when I was not quite eleven years old, I have the vividest memories of my maternal grandmother Helen Borthwick.
Diana O’Neil on Noel Counihan’s vivid 1971 portrait of Alan Marshall.
Christopher Chapman considers photographer Rozalind Drummond's portrait of author Nam Le.
David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.
An interview with the photographer.
The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.
The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.
The name of Florence Broadhurst, one of Australia’s most significant wallpaper and textile designers, is now firmly cemented in the canon of Australian art and design.
Pamela Gerrish Nunn explores New Zealand’s premium award for portraiture.
Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.
Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.
Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.
Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.
Robyn's parents had two terriers, Wuff and Snuff. In spite of Snuff’s ominous name and a couple of close shaves – once, he jumped out of a moving car, and another time, on a long road trip, he was accidentally left behind at a petrol station – he outlived Wuff.
How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be
A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.
Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.
Joanna Gilmour profiles the life and times of the shutter sisters May and Mina Moore.
Rebecca Harkins-Cross considers Carol Jerrems’ portraiture against the backdrop of social change in the 1970s.
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.
Inga Walton delves into the bohemian group of artists and writers who used each other as muses and transformed British culture.
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.
Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.
The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.
Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.