Search / henry king

Henry Meyer, T Cadell & W Davies after Sir Thomas Lawrence, William Evans

Purchased 2008

The Rt Hon. Henry Robert Stewart, Lord Viscount Castlereagh, MRIA & FRS

The Rt Hon. Henry Robert Stewart, Lord Viscount Castlereagh, MRIA & FRS, 1814

Francis Holl after Henry William Pickersgill

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

The Right Honourable Henry Goulburn MP, c. 1850

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Henry Bathurst, Earl Bathurst, 1810

Henry Meyer after Thomas Phillips

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Regarding Henrys

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Sarah Engledow ponders the divergent legacies of Messrs Kendall and Lawson.

Set of 129 Royal Christmas Cards and three miscellaneous items, 1951-2001

Portrait, offset print (tipped in), letter press (greeting), pen and ink (signature), embossed (royal emblem) on cardboard

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

Amanda King is a Sydney-based visual artist and producer and director of film documentaries.

1 portrait in the collection

Martin King

Martin King, an artist who specialises in making works on paper, was born in 1957 in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Inge King AO

Inge King AO (1915–2016), sculptor, was at the forefront of the development of non-figurative sculpture in Australia and remained one of Australia’s outstanding sculptors into her 80s – a time in her life in which she continued to develop innovative work.

1 portrait in the collection

Bernard King

Bernard King (1934–2002), chef and television personality, grew up on a farm at Maleny in Queensland and appeared in his first talent quest at the age of eight.

1 portrait in the collection

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman'

William King

William Francis King (1807-1873), aka 'The Flying Pieman', accomplished a series of bizarre athletic feats during the 1840s.

1 portrait in the collection

King George V

George Frederick Ernest Albert, The Duke of Cornwall and York and later King George V (1865-1936), was the son of Edward VII, the man for whom the Edwardian era was named.

4 portraits in the collection

Inge King

Recorded 1965

Deel, 2018

by Stefanie King

Jim King, Kings Parking, n.d.

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil, fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Skyhooks, Hordern Pavilion

Skyhooks, Capitol Theatre, Sydney

Skyhooks, Sydney Harbour

Skyhooks, Sydney Showground

Easybeats

Easybeats

The Church

Midnight Oil

Fans at an Easybeats concert, Sydney Stadium

INXS

Bon Scott, AC/DC with fans

Midnight Oil

Easybeats

Split Enz

The Cockroaches

Philip Gidley King

Philip Gidley King (1758-1808), naval officer and governor, joined the navy in late 1770 and served in the East Indies and American waters.

1 portrait in the collection

Mr King (Bernard King), c. 1979

Jon Waddy

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Captain James King

James King (c. 1750-1784), naval officer, was born in Lancashire and educated at Clitheroe Grammar School before entering the navy in 1762.

1 portrait in the collection

Phillip Parker King

Phillip Parker King RN (1791–1856) has been described as the first Australian-born person to succeed in the world outside the colonies.

1 portrait in the collection

Leah King-Smith

Contributing artists

Born: 1957, Gympie, QLD
Works: Brisbane

Radio Birdman (cover shot for Radios Appear album)

Cold Chisel

Radio Birdman

Radio Birdman

Charles Kean, c. 1865

H N. King

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Inge King, 1968

Mark Strizic

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V)

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman', c. 1869

John Davis

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

Anna Josepha King, c. 1826-1832

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

Purchased 2018

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), 1901

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on original studio backing card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Michael Hutchence, INXS

The Divinyls performing on Countdown

Peter Garrett, Midnight Oil

Peter Garrett, Midnight Oil

Michael Hutchence, INXS

Portrait, oil crayon and collage of printed magazine cuttings

Portrait of Philip Nitschke, 1998 (re-worked 2009)

Amanda King

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

John Wolseley, old master, 2020

Martin King

Portrait, watercolour, tempera, wax, hard cover book and thread

Gift of the artist 2023. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Phillip Parker King, 1854

Thomas Woolner

Portrait, cast plaster

Purchased 2000

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, c. 1863

John & Charles Watkins

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite photograph on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020

Lieutenant King, 1789

William Skelton after J. Wright

E.O. Hoppé, Raphael Tuck and Sons Ltd

Purchased 2010

H.M. King George V at his desk, c. 1921

Portrait, postcard print on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020

Captain James King, engraving after Webber, 1784

Francesco Bartolozzi after John Webber

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

Henry G. Dan AM

Henry Gibson Dan AM (1929–2020), universally known as Seaman Dan, was a Torres Strait Islander singer/songwriter who grew up on Thursday Island.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Weigall Jnr

Henry Weigall Junior (1829-1925) was the son of sculptor, cameo engraver and medallist Henry Weigall (1800-1883).

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot (1920-1999), photographer, was born Henry Tichauer. The son of a middle-class Jewish family, he changed his name after fleeing Germany and being 'volunteered' out of England on the Dunera.

2 portraits in the collection

Henry Bosch, National Security Commission

Henry Bosch AO

Henry Bosch AO is the former Chairman of the National Companies and Securities Commission and was Chairman of the Working Group on Corporate Practices and Conduct.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Henry H. Glover

English lithographer and watercolourist Henry Heath Glover (c. 1810-1858) emigrated to South Australia in 1848 with his two sons - one of whom, Henry Heath Glover Junior (1828-1904) was also an illustrator and printmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Kendall

Henry (Thomas Henry) Kendall (1839-1882) was once regarded as the finest poet Australia had produced.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Room

Henry Room, painter, grew up in Birmingham, connected with a prominent evangelical family.

2 portraits in the collection

Henry Searle

Henry Searle (1886–1889), a sculler known as the ‘Clarence River Comet’, took up rowing as a boy as a means of getting himself and his siblings to and from school.

1 portrait in the collection

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated

Sir Henry Norman

Sir Henry Norman was Governor Queensland at the Constitutional Convention, Sydney, 1891.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson (1867-1922), one of Australia's defining authors, is best known for his short stories and ballads depicting the hardship of bush life.

6 portraits in the collection

Henry Meyer

Henry Hoppner Meyer, thought to be the son of an engraver, was a nephew of the painter John Hoppner.

2 portraits in the collection

Henry Reynolds

Henry Reynolds (b. 1938), historian, studied at the University of Tasmania before taking up a lectureship at Townsville University College (later James Cook University) in 1965.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry (Harry) Donnan (member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)

Henry Donnan

Henry (Harry) Donnan (1864-1956) notched up a total of 94 first class cricket matches between 1887 and 1901.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Hopkins

Henry Hopkins (1787–1870), merchant and philanthropist, opened his first shop on Elizabeth Street in Hobart soon after arriving in the colony in September 1822.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Mundy

Artist Henry Mundy arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1831 and took up a position as teacher of drawing, French and music at Ellinthorp Hall, a school near Ross established ‘with a view to the improvement of Young Ladies’.

4 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

Henry Crock AO

Henry 'Harry' Crock AO (1929-2018), surgeon and educator, attended school and university in Perth and studied further in Melbourne, where he won the Rector's Medal for Debating at Newman College as well as academic honours including the Gold Medal for Anatomy and the Ryan Scholarship and Medal in Medicine and Surgery.

1 portrait in the collection

A. Henry Fullwood

Albert Henry Fullwood (1863-1930), artist, trained in art in his native Birmingham before moving to Sydney in 1883, aged 20.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Edwards

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

Henry Wade

Henry Wade (1810–1854), surveyor, was trained in surveying at Dublin College before being employed as a civilian assistant by the Royal Engineers Corps.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Sean Henry

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on cabinet card

Portrait of Henry Kendall, c. 1890-1894

S. Milbourn Jnr

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Jules Henry Roy Rousel

Jules Henry Roy Rousel (1897-1985) studied at the Royal Art Society School from 1912 to 1918 and the Slade School and RAS in London from 1935-1938.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Henry Brougham Loch

Henry Brougham Loch (1827-1900), governor, served in the British military and was involved in campaigns in India and the Crimea and missions to China.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Stafford Northcote

Henry Stafford Northcote, Baron Northcote of Exeter (1846-1911), governor general, was educated at Eton and Oxford and joined the Foreign Office in his early twenties.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Samuel Sadd

Henry Sadd was born in London and exhibited engravings there before emigrating to the USA some time around 1840.

8 portraits in the collection

Hon. Sir Henry Parkes GCMG

The Hon Sir Henry Parkes GCMG (1815-1896) was five times premier of New South Wales between 1872 and 1891, and a consistent advocate for union of the colonies (Federation).

4 portraits in the collection

Richard Henry Horne

Poet Richard Henry Horne (1802–1884) arrived in Melbourne in 1852 hoping to make money on the goldfields but ended up instead in a variety of less remunerative prospects.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Henry Wylie Norman

Sir Henry Wylie Norman (1826–1904), governor and army officer, was born in London, the son of a merchant who conducted his business chiefly in India and the Caribbean.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry "Seaman" Dan, 2009

Nathan Kelly

Purchased 2010

The Cape of Good Hope ( Sir Henry Barkly)

Sir Henry Barkly GCMG KCB

Sir Henry Barkly GCMG KCB (1815-1898) started his career in business and politics before serving terms as governor of British Guiana and then Jamaica.

4 portraits in the collection

Henry John Rous

Henry John Rous (1795–1877), naval officer, racing enthusiast and politician, arrived in Sydney in February 1827 as the commander of the frigate HMS Rainbow.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Henry Huxley

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) travelled to Australia as a member of the expedition conducted by Owen Stanley on the Rattlesnake between 1846 and 1850.

2 portraits in the collection

William Henry Harvey

William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), botanist, formed a boyhood passion for natural history which was encouraged at Ballitore School, County Kildare.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Lawson,

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil, gouache and fibre-tipped pen on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Henry Bosch, National Security Commission,

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil and gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Aubrey Beardsley

Frederick Henry Evans

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

William Johnson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Henry Lawson, c. 1915

William Johnson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Portrait of Henry Vernon Crock AO, 1988

David Smith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Henry Vernon Crock AO in memory of David Smith 2007
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Henry Baynton Somer Gullett AM MC

Portrait, pencil, charcoal, pen and ink on paper

Henry Baynton Somer ‘Jo’ Gullett AM MC (1914-1999), soldier, politician, ambassador, farmer and author, was the son of Sir Henry Gullett, who was one of the Australian official historians of the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Lawson, c. 1919

Lionel Lindsay

Purchased 2010

Henry Lawson, 1915

William Johnson

Purchased 2009

Henry Reynolds, 2012

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team)

George Henry Stevens Trott

George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott (1866–1917) was the captain of the Australian cricket team which toured England and then to the USA and New Zealand from June to November 1896.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Wade, c. 1841

Portrait, oil on paperboard

Gift of the Wade and Hannah families 2013

Henry (Harry) Donnan (member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

H Parker Rolfe

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

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

Henry Fullwood (Uncle Remus), 1919

George Lambert

Portrait, pencil on paper

Gift of Denis Savill 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Henry Lawson, 1919

Lionel Lindsay

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2011

Henry Edwards, c. 1874

Bradley and Rulofson

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Henry Mayer, 1965

Hugo Wolfsohn

Portrait, sepia toned carbon print on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Elaine Mayer and Ms Vicky Mayer 2011

Henry Lingham, early 1900s

Mendelssohn of Melbourne

Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Henry Mayer, 1965

Hugo Wolfsohn

Portrait, pen and ink on music sheet paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Elaine Mayer and Ms Vicky Mayer 2011

Henry Krips, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Henry Baynton Somer ‘Jo’ Gullett

Recorded 1990

Henry Figueira, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney

Henry Figueira, Glebe Island Bridge, Sydney, 1995 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Portrait, oil on galvanised iron

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.

Young Mo (Roy Rene), 1977

Martin Sharp

Gift of Richard Wherrett 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Susan Lord, c. 1840

Purchased 2015

Martha Kermode, c. 1840

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

Robert Kermode, c. 1840

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

Carol Jerrems, 1973

Henry Talbot

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2015

Major Thomas Lord, c. 1840

Portrait, enamel on copper plate

Purchased 2015

Portrait of William Manning, c. 1821

Henry Bone

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2017

Political Cartooning

Portrait story

An interview with cartoonist Ron Tandberg about the tradition of caricature.

Sir Henry Barkly

Portrait story

An interview with former National Portrait Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers, who describes the portrait of Sir Henry Barkly by Thomas Clark.

'The crimson thread of kinship' Henry Parkes

'The crimson thread of kinship' Henry Parkes, c. 1898

Nelson Illingworth

Portrait, painted terracotta

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

Henry Bolte, 1969

Les Tanner, Gus McLaren

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Henry Parkes, 1892

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Sir Henry Barkly, c. 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Portrait of Henry Hopkins, c. 1845

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2013

Portrait of His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria

Portrait of His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria, c. 1864

Thomas Clark

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2007

Henry Chamberlain Russell and family at Sydney Observatory

Henry Chamberlain Russell and family at Sydney Observatory, c. 1895

Charles Bayliss

Gift of Joanna Russell Maher (née Windeyer) 2018

Sir Henry Parkes, c. 1889

Portrait, glass plate positive

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Adrian McGlusky 2013

Henry Parkes, 1900

Percy Spence

Portrait, pencil and pastel over brown ink wash on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Thomas Henry Huxley, c. 1870

Maull & Co Photographers

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on brown cardboard presentation mount

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

J.H. Roy Rousel, 1915

Appleby Studio

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

JH Roy Rousel, 1915

Teslar Studios

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on brown cardboard presentation mount

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Gaol

William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Gaol, c. 1849

Henry H. Glover

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Matthew Burnett, c. 1865

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

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.

The Hon. Sir Francis Forbes, c. 1860

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

The Hon. Sir James Dowling, c. 1860

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

The Honorable Sir Frederick Darley, c. 1887

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

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

Jane Mander Jones, 1853

Henry Robinson Smith

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

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

Henry Squires, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

George Trott (George Henry Stevens (Harry) Trott, member of the 1896 Australian Cricket Team), 1896

H Parker Rolfe

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

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

William Henry Harvey, c. 1850

Thomas Herbert Maguire

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

A Low Comedian. "Keep your eye on your Father" [Henry Richard Harwood], 1874

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Private practice

David Smith portrayed Dr Henry Crock without the accoutrements of an orthopaedic surgeon, adding to the National Portrait Gallery's collection of eminent Australian medical practitioners.

H. B. Gullett, c. 1939

Nora Heysen AM

Portrait, pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family in memory of Penne Hackforth-Jones 2014

Reverend Robert Ross MD, Sydney, New South Wales

Reverend Robert Ross MD, Sydney, New South Wales, n.d.

John Cochran after Henry Room

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

H. Searle Professional Champion Sculler of the World (Henry Searle), 1889

Antoine Fauchery, Richard Daintree

Purchased 2014

Sir Henry Barkly KCB, Governor of the Colony of Victoria (Plate 1)

Sir Henry Barkly KCB, Governor of the Colony of Victoria (Plate 1), 1858

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper laid on cardboard

Purchased 2014

Sir James Martin, c. 1880s

Henry Samuel Sadd after Freeman Brothers

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Men of the Day No.19 "A great Med'cine-Man among the Inqui-ring Redskins" (Thomas Henry Huxley), 1871

Batchelder & Company Photo

Purchased 2015

Richard Henry Horne, mid 1860s

Alfred Thompson, Vanity Fair Magazine

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Men of the Day No. 5 "As straight as a reed" (Henry John Rous), 1870

Purchased 2015

The Australian Commonwealth (Henry Stafford Northcote), 1904

Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Cape of Good Hope ( Sir Henry Barkly), 1887

Purchased 2015

Chelsea Hospital (Sir Henry Wylie Norman), 1903

Purchased 2015

The Cape High Commissioner (Sir Henry Brougham Loch), 1894

John Cochran after Henry Room

Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Captain R.C. Morgan, Missionary ship 'John Williams'

Captain R.C. Morgan, Missionary ship 'John Williams', n.d.

Thomas Atkinson, Samuel Mullen after Henry Weigall Jnr

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010

The Right Reverend Lord Bishop of Melbourne (Dr. Charles Perry)

The Right Reverend Lord Bishop of Melbourne (Dr. Charles Perry), 1876

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Aborigines, the last of the race, Tasmania

Aborigines, the last of the race, Tasmania, c. 1866

Henry Frith

Purchased 2006

Sammy (Samuel Wood), 1892

Henry Seppings-Wright, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, coloured chalk with black ink highlight on artist board

Purchased 2010

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

Charles Wheeler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

The considered life

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2010

Andrew Sayers asks whether a portrait can truly be the examination of a life.

Malcolm and Angus Young, AC/DC

Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

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

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on original lithograph title sheet

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Australian Aboriginal Cricketers, 1867

Patrick Dawson

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

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

Unknown artist Publisher Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2014

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, page 2

Henry Moore, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, c. 1955 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Fits of delicacy and despair

Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.

The Catholic Hierarchy of Australia, 1869

Archibald McDonald, Henry Samuel Sadd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882

'The Australian Cricketers' from The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News June 1882, 1882

Portrait, engravings on paper

Purchased 2009

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot), 1999

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

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated, 1891

Portrait, engraving on paper (4 sheets)

Purchased 2009

King Henry VIII

Unknown artist

Portrait, ink, charcoal and conté on paper

King Edward Terrace

Behind the street name

Visiting the gallery

King Edward Terrace was named in honour of King Edward VII (1841-1910)

Study for John Bell as King Lear, 1998-2001

Nicholas Harding

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

Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and King James II

Sir Peter Lely

King Charles I

Gerrit van Honthorst

Henry James

John Singer Sargent

Willie ‘Bomba’ King, 2019

Jason McNamara

Mr King was once on Countdown, 2010

by Ben Searcy

Anthonis Mor (Antonio Moro)

Sir Henry Lee

Dickinson Monteath Studio

The Dickinson Monteath Studio operated at 296 Collins Street Melbourne during the 1930s and into the 1940s.

1 portrait in the collection

Bringing down a kingdom

Lust

The king and the showgirl

The Capel Family

Cornelius Johnson

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

Richard Pratt, Cardboard King, n.d.

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil, fibre-tipped pen and gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Gooseberry, widow of King Bungaree, 1836

William Fernyhough

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

King Kamanda, 2015

by Ella Rubeli

An international troupe of two

It's Complicated

Office romance

Blue Wolf, 2014

by Imogen Henry

Portrait, etching, hand coloured on paper

Finalist, MDPA 2014

The great South Sea caterpillar transformed into a Bath Butterfly (Sir Joseph Banks)

The great South Sea caterpillar transformed into a Bath Butterfly (Sir Joseph Banks), 1795 (printed 1851)

James Gillray

Gift of Douglas Stewart Fine Books 2013

Our only concern is the void, 2013

by Nik Lee

Winner, MDPA 2013

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

Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel

Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Mashman Bros Ltd

Portrait, cast plaster, painted

Mashman Bros Ltd was established by William and Henry Mashman in Sydney in 1885.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir George Reid, c. 1895

Nelson Illingworth

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Geoffrey Rush, 2006

by William Yang

Portrait, coloured chalk on artist board

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

Charles Wheeler

Purchased 2019

Rt. Honourable Lord Hawkesbury, 1808

Edward Scriven, J B Ball & J DeCamp after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012

Lola Montes, c. 1845

Joseph Karl Stieler

Purchased 2010

Thomas Clark

Thomas Clark, teacher and painter, arrived in Victoria from England in about 1852, having been anatomical draftsman at King's College London and headmaster of the Birmingham School of Design.

1 portrait in the collection

The Mosh Pit

Portrait, charcoal heightened with white chalk on paper

More photographs by Bob King, Stuart Spence, 'pling, Tony Mott, and Wendy McDougall.

Sir Sidney Kidman, 1932

Samuel Woolf

Purchased 2009

Portrait 27

March - May 2008

Magazine

This issue of Portrait Magazine feature Lucian Frued, John Witzig, colonial death portraits, William Kinghorne, Henry Crock, and more.

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary)

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary), 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

G. H. Dancey

George Henry Dancey began his career as a stained glass designer in the UK and Australia, but ended it as the chief cartoonist for Melbourne Punch over 23 years to 1919..

1 portrait in the collection

Francis Lymburner, 1941

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851

Magna Carta

On this day eight hundred years ago at Runnymede near Windsor, King John signed Magna Carta.

William Evans

The ‘Mad Dentist of Wynyard Square’ in court, 18 December 1865

The draftsman and engraver William Evans reproduced many of Sir William Beechey’s portraits including that of King George..

3 portraits in the collection

Henry Louis Bertrand, ca. 1865 photographed by the Milligan Brothers. Collection of the State Library of NSW

A passion eating into your vitals

The salacious and sordid details of Henry Kinder’s death transfixed Sydneysiders with a case combining murder with seduction, mesmerism, blackmail and poisoning.

Location

Plan your visit

We’re on King Edward Terrace in front of the High Court and next to the National Gallery of Australia. We are open every day of the year from 10am to 5pm, except 25 December.

Godfrey Miller, 1949

Kerry Dundas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

William John Wills

William John Wills (1834-1861) came to Victoria with his brother in early 1853.

3 portraits in the collection

Robert O'Hara Burke

Robert O'Hara Burke (1821-1861), explorer, came to Australia in 1853 and joined the Victorian police force.

4 portraits in the collection

Garry Shead and Tom Thompson, 1993

Adam Knott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Garry Shead and Tom Thompson, 1993

Adam Knott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

G Ziegler

Very little is known as yet about the artist G Ziegler, who may have been related to the painter Henry Bryan Ziegler.

1 portrait in the collection

William Griffith

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

William Griffith (c. 1808-1870) emigrated to Australia around 1840 and moved to Parramatta with his wife, Susan, whom he had married ten days after landing in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Joseph La Trobe, 1853

Thomas Woolner

Purchased 2006

Peter Elliott AM

Peter Elliott AM (1927–2014) was an obstetrician, gynaecologist and gynaecological oncologist as well as a significant art collector and patron.

6 portraits in the collection

Oliver Cromwell

Robert Walker

Sir Robert Helpmann, c. 1965 (printed 2015)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jozef Vissel 2015

John Davis

Magazine article by Celina Fox, 2006

Alan Davies' and Peter Stanbury's The Mechanical Eye in Australia lists Sydney photographer John Davis (life dates unknown) as having a carte-de visite studio on King Street, and as working from addresses on Pitt and George Streets between 1870 and 1873..

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of an English Woman c. 1532-5 (detail)

A new perspective

An exhibition devoted to Hans Holbein's English commissions shows the portraitist bringing across the Channel new technical developments in art - with a dazzling facility.

Hon. Edward Cohen

Goupil & Cie after Carl Kahler

Edward Aaron Cohen (1822–1877), merchant, politician and community leader, came to Australia with his mother and nine siblings in 1833, his father, Henry, having been transported to New South Wales that year.

1 portrait in the collection

The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day

The Lawn at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day, c. 1889

Purchased 2009

Balang T E Lewis

Percy Leason's Aboriginal Portraits

Balang T.E. Lewis (1958–2018), a Murrungun man, was an actor, singer, songwriter and cultural leader.

2 portraits in the collection

William Johnson (1873—1948) by Percy Leason

Recognition

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

Rayner Hoff, 1924

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Longstaff

Sir John Longstaff, born in Clunes, Victoria, studied at the NGV school from 1883 to 1887 and thenceforth at Corman's in Paris.

1 portrait in the collection

Willow Legge

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Willow Legge (b. 1934) is a British artist who studied sculpture at Chelsea School of Art from 1951 to 1956 under Willi Soukop and Bernard Meadows.

1 portrait in the collection

A Commissioner of Customs "Faithful to Francis" [The Hon. Edward Cohen M.L.A.], 1874

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Alfred George Stephens

Batchelder & Company Photo

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

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Summers, late 1860s

Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

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.

The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC

The Hon. Susan Crennan AC KC (b. 1945) is a leading barrister and former High Court judge.

1 portrait in the collection

Gwendolene Pratt

Gwen Pratt FRAS (b.1917) is a traditional painter and portraitist in oil, watercolour and pastel.

1 portrait in the collection

Geoffrey Rush, 1997

Montalbetti + Campbell

Purchased 1999

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

Return (Balang T.E. Lewis), 2016

Philip Myers

Gift of the artist 2019

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (1872-1938), governor, was appointed to the position of Governor of NSW in 1899.

1 portrait in the collection

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Neil Armfield, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Adelaide, Königin von Grossbritranien u Irland

Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg Meiningen

Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg Meiningen (1792–1849) was the consort of King William IV of England.

1 portrait in the collection

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Portrait, spray paint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

Neil Armfield (study), 2010

Portrait, spray paint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2010

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

William Fernyhough

Portraits from prime time

William Henry Fernyhough (1809-1849) was a sketcher, silhouette artist, lithographer and draughtsman who immigrated to Sydney in 1836.

13 portraits in the collection

Ryder Jack Susman in a Williamstown hairdresser by Abigail Varney

PROMO

Previous exhibition, 2014

This exhibition goes behind-the-scenes and into the spotlight with professional photographers and the stars of Australian television, music and comedy. Whether negotiating the logistics of a big publicity shoot or quietly capturing moments on set during filming, the photographers' stories are intriguing and compelling.

Ralph Heimans

Portraiture. Power. Influence.

Current exhibition

The exhibition will feature some of the most significant portraits in the artist’s career to date, from early major works such as his painting of HM Queen Mary of Denmark through to his most recent.

Johann Zoffany

Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer

Johann Zoffany, painter of portraits and conversation pieces, grew up in the court of the Prince von Thurn und Taxis in Germany, where his father was employed.

1 portrait in the collection

On train from New York to Memphis, July 4, 1956 by Alfred Wertheimer

Elvis At 21

Previous exhibition, 2013

Elvis at 21 is a photographic exhibition capturing Elvis’ rise to fame in the year 1956, before security and money built walls between him and his fans.

Robert O'Hara Burke, c. 1860

Melbourne and Sydney Photographic Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Parking

Plan your visit

Parking is available in our underground car park every day of the week. Fees apply.

Tom E Lewis [Balang T E Lewis], n.d.

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2021

Richard Howe

Richard Howe (1st Earl Howe, 1726–1799), naval commander, served in the Royal Navy for over fifty years, seeing action in the Seven Years War, the American Wars of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.

1 portrait in the collection

Minnie Walton, c. 1874

Fradelle & Marshall

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Queen Mary

George Frederick Ernest Albert, The Duke of Cornwall and York and later King George V (1865-1936), was the son of Edward VII, the man for whom the Edwardian era was named.

3 portraits in the collection

A G Stephens, c. 1910 (printed later)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

The fat of the land

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

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

Lucy Escott, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

William B. Latimer

William Latimer (1851-1934) was a portrait photographer who worked in Melbourne in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Favourite portraits

National Portrait Gallery staff introduce their favourite portraits from the exhibition.

William Lanne

William Lanne (1834-1869), also known as King Billy or William Laney, is said to have been Truganini's third partner.

3 portraits in the collection

Max

Rachel Mounsey

London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company

The London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company was founded in 1854 by George Swan Nottage.

2 portraits in the collection

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

Upcoming exhibition

The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015). The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

William Dampier

William Dampier (1651-1715), seafarer and writer, had spent a good deal of time at sea as a buccaneer and merchant sailor before he spent three months in 1688 around King Sound (northern Western Australia) on the Cygnet.

1 portrait in the collection

Karla Dickens

Karla Dickens (b. 1967), Wiradjuri artist, graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the National Art School in Sydney in 2000 and has since built a diverse practice across the mediums of painting, photography, mixed media and installation.

2 portraits in the collection

The Lawson

Moustaches

It’s curious that one of the writers most associated with the toughness of Australian bush life was himself not an exponent of the matted, rugged bushman sort of beard.

Reginald Jerrold-Nathan

Reginald Henry Jerrold-Nathan (1889-1979) arrived in Australia from London in 1924, having studied under John Singer Sargent and William Orpen at the Royal Academy, where he was awarded a medal for portrait painting.

2 portraits in the collection

George A. Highland

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

Contributing artists

Find out more from each of the artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history.

Richard Fitzgerald

Richard Fitzgerald (1772-1840), convict, public servant and settler, spent four years of his seven-year sentence imprisoned (probably on a floating 'hulk') at Portsmouth before arriving in Sydney in 1791, along with his private assets.

1 portrait in the collection

Rev. Fred Nile, Festival of Light, Sydney

Fred Nile MLC

The Rev. Fred Nile MLC (b. 1934) Leader of the Christian Democratic Party was born and raised in King's Cross, Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Elliott and Fry

Elliott & Fry, a photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, was founded in 1863 at 55-56 Baker Street, London by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry.

2 portraits in the collection

Victor Greenhalgh

Victor Greenhalgh (1900-1983) was a sculptor and teacher who greatly influenced tertiary art education; he was one of the first Victorian sculptors to adopt a modern style.

5 portraits in the collection

Noel McGrowdie

Noel 'Digger' McGrowdie (1920-1961), jockey, was born in Brisbane and educated at a Christian Brothers School in Toowoomba before being apprenticed in Brisbane at the age of fourteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Turner

Charles Turner (1773-1851), engraver, was born in Oxfordshire and moved to London at the end of the 1780s.

2 portraits in the collection

Carl Kahler

Carl Kahler was born in Austria and trained in Munich, Paris and Italy, where he won several important prizes.

2 portraits in the collection

Paul Fitzgerald AM

Paul Fitzgerald AM, a Melbourne-based artist, made his career as a professional portraitist.

4 portraits in the collection

Visiting the gallery

How to get here

Plan your visit

Maps and public transport information for your visit.

HRH Prince Alfred

Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844–1900) was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria.

4 portraits in the collection

Livingston Hopkins

Livingston Hopkins, cartoonist, was born in Ohio and fought in the American Civil War before beginning his cartooning career in New York.

3 portraits in the collection

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy AO

Graham Kennedy AO (1934-2005), entertainer, began his career in Melbourne radio in 1949.

2 portraits in the collection

The Parkes

Beards

It wasn’t uncommon for the pro-beard fraternity of the mid nineteenth century to cite beards as a sign of wisdom on the grounds that Socrates and other ancient philosophers had worn them.

Sir William Beechey

Sir William Beechey, portrait painter and pupil of Johann Zoffany, was greatly influenced by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

1 portrait in the collection

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Small Holdings (The Earl Carrington Baron Charles Robert Carrington)

Small Holdings (The Earl Carrington Baron Charles Robert Carrington), 1907

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite on card

Gift of Ronald Walker 2002

Lady Barkly, 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

Purchased 2014

Ola Cohn OBE

Ola Cohn OBE (1892-1964), sculptor, was born in Bendigo and studied in Melbourne and London, where Henry Moore, her lecturer in sculpture, predicted that she would progress to make 'works of a very high order'.

2 portraits in the collection

Sherbet, 1974 (printed 2002)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Daniel Solander

Daniel Solander (1733-1782), naturalist, was a student of Carl Linnaeus, the Swede who devised and systemised the classification of plants and animals used today.

3 portraits in the collection

Marianne Egan

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

William Ashton, c. 1940s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Coral Browne

Coral Browne (1913-1991) was an Australian actress who left for England in 1934.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir William Windeyer

Sir William Windeyer (1834-1897) was a politician and judge. One of the first undergraduates to study at the University of Sydney, he developed a particular interest in education and the rights of women - he was responsible for the Married Women's Property Act of 1879, and was Founding Chairman of the university's Women's College.

4 portraits in the collection

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co was founded in Melbourne in 1864 by Henry James Johnstone and a photographer known as ‘Miss O’Shaughnessy’, who had previously been in partnership with her mother in their own photographic business in Carlton.

12 portraits in the collection

John Tindale

John Tindale was born in Warwickshire in 1809 and came to Sydney in 1820 to join his father, a convict who had been transported to NSW in 1812 and who received a free pardon in 1816.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Faces of the Twentieth Century

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.

Karsh

Previous exhibition, 1998

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.

Livingston Hopkins, n.d.

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Self portrait, 1894

Livingston Hopkins

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Reveries

Photography and mortality

Previous exhibition, 2007

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.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022)

9 September 2022

Media

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.

John Bell as King Lear oil on Belgian linen, 2001 by Nicholas Harding

Lear unbuttoned

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Sarah Engledow steps up to the footlights and applauds the storyline behind Nicholas Harding's portraits of actor John Bell.

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (future Queen Elizabeth II)

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

Charles Wheeler

Portrait, coloured chalk on artist board

Purchased 2019

King Barak, last of the Yarra Tribe, 1899

Barak, respected elder

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

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

D. H. Souter

David Henry Souter (1862-1935) was a cartoonist, painter and art editor.

2 portraits in the collection

The Lambert

Beards

Barbering manuals of the turn of the century might describe this style as a ‘Van Dyck’, named after the Dutch painter Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) who is known to have adopted this look.

Cocky McGrath

The long life and few words of a vice-regal cockatoo

Richard von Marientreu

Richard von Marientreu was born in Poland and attended military academies in Cracow and Vienna before leaving for Prague, where he studied at the Academy of Painting.

2 portraits in the collection

Daryl Braithwaite

Daryl Braithwaite (b. 1949) finished an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in 1969, and joined Sherbet shortly afterward.

3 portraits in the collection

Sydney (Sir Daniel Cooper), 1882

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

Nicholas Chevalier, c. 1867

Magazine article by Alison Weir, 2011

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Icons and imagery

Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.

Study for portrait of Bob Ellis, 1999

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Gift of the artist 2001

Study for portrait of Bob Ellis, 1999

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Gift of the artist 2001

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

Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh)

Unknown artist

Francois Verheyden, Vanity Fair Magazine

Fetteresso (Sir Robert Duff), 1883

Portrait, steel engraving with later hand-colouring on paper

Purchased 2015

Wylie, 1840-1841

Robert Neill

Purchased 2018

Ola Cohn, 1961

Jean Goldberg

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

George and Jemima Billet with family, c. 1852

C.H.T. Costantini

Purchased 2016

Portrait of William Manning, c.1821 by Henry Bone

Of beef in burgundy

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

Angus Trumble reveals the complex technical mastery behind a striking recent acquisition, Henry Bone’s enamel portrait of William Manning.

Peter Brock AM

Peter Brock (1945-2006), a professional racing driver from 1972 to 1997, was undoubtedly Australia's best known and most popular motor sports personality.

1 portrait in the collection

Nell Gwyn

Simon Verelst

Very fine and very like

When did notions of very fine and very like become separate qualities of a portrait? And what happens to 'very like' in the age of photographic portraiture?

Miranda Otto

Miranda Otto (b. 1967), actress, is the daughter of the prominent Australian actor Barry Otto.

3 portraits in the collection

John Gaden AM

John Gaden AM (b. 1941), actor, studied arts and law at the University of Sydney, but when he joined the Sydney University Players, he abandoned his other pursuits for the stage.

1 portrait in the collection

Maurice O'Shea

Maurice O'Shea (1897-1956) is remembered as a key figure in the formation of the modern Australian wine industry.

1 portrait in the collection

Rick Carey

Portraits of Australian Visual Artists

Rick and Thelma Carey comprise Australian country music's most famous double act, Rick and Thel.

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.

Sir Robert Helpmann CBE

associated with Nicholas Hilliard

Sir Robert Helpmann CBE (1909–1986) was a dancer, actor and choreographer.

3 portraits in the collection

Queen Elizabeth I

Ethel Turner, 1928

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Governor Sir Robert Duff with Lady Duff, Lord Hopetoun and Vice-Regal Party

Sir Robert William Duff

Sir Robert William Duff (1835–1895) was governor of New South Wales from May 1893 until March 1895.

2 portraits in the collection

Self portrait in plus fours, c. 1939 (cast 2003)

Lyndon Dadswell CMG

Portrait, cast bronze

Purchased 2004

Ern McQuillan Senior

Ern McQuillan (Senior) (1905-1988), boxing trainer, was born in Newtown, Sydney, and worked there all his life.

1 portrait in the collection

The inside story

The photographers reveal the technical side of their work and reflect on changes in their profession. Now everyone has a camera in their pocket, is everyone a photographer? What is it like to sustain a career as a photographer in the entertainment industry? How do you work with celebrity subjects, negotiate the complex logistics of big shoots, and create captivating portraits under pressure?

Lyndon Dadswell, with his sculpture 'Native'

Lyndon Dadswell CMG

Lyndon Dadswell CMG (1908-1986) studied at the Julian Ashton School before working with Rayner Hoff from 1926 to 1929 and Paul Montford from 1929 to 1935.

3 portraits in the collection

Thomas Phillips

Thomas Phillips was born in Dudley, Warwickshire and initially trained as a glass painter before moving to London, aged 20, with a letter of introduction to the painter Benjamin West.

6 portraits in the collection

Gustavus Brooke

Gustavus Vaughan Brooke (1818-1866), actor, was a seasoned theatre performer by his early teens; at fourteen, he played Richard III.

1 portrait in the collection

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

The photographers

The eight photographers represent diverse styles, specialities and career paths. Abigail Varney, Peter Brew-Bevan, Martin Philbey, John Tsiavis, Michelle Day, Julian Kingma, and Giovanni Lovisetto.

Adrian Feint, 1939

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Bath Butterfly

The caricaturist and engraver James Gillray's biting satires about Sir Joseph Banks.

Harry Belafonte

Dorothy Wilding

John Schaeffer AO - art collector and philanthropist

John Schaeffer AO - art collector and philanthropist, 2014

Evert Ploeg

Purchased with funds provided by Harold Mitchell AC

The 1890s to the 1940s

Mo and beard timeline

Although the tough, weathered, hard-drinking bushmen of the kind mythologised by writers like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson are popularly associated with the character of late nineteenth century Australia, it was also a time when alternative ideas about identity began to come into play.

Maurice O'Shea, 1951 (printed 2003)

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

Purchased 2005

Ready , set... shoot

The exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus offers various interpretations of sporting men and women by five Australian photographers.

Longest reign

Carl Kahler, Goupil & Cie

Queen Elizabeth II is now the longest-reigning British sovereign

The Derby Day at Flemington, c. 1890

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Sir William Charles Windeyer, 1892

Tom Roberts

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

Noel McGrowdie, 1957 (printed 2003)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

John Le Gay Brereton

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

Miss Florrie Ford (Christmas pantomime with toy cat)

Florrie Forde

Florrie Forde (1875–1940), singer and music hall performer, was born in Melbourne and was sixteen when she sang publicly for the first time, in Sydney, in late 1891.

9 portraits in the collection

Norman Lindsay, 1921

Previous exhibition, 2002

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Angela Belgiorno-Zegna, 2001 by Salvatore Zofrea

Intimate Portraits

Intimate Portraits is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints that explore the less public side of portraiture

Valentine Green

Valentine Green, engraver, spent two years in a solicitor’s office in Evesham before abandoning the law and becoming a pupil of Robert Hancock, an engraver in Worcester.

1 portrait in the collection

Werner Baer, 1947

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

William Dobell, 1942

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton), c. 1872

Maull & Co Photographers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia and Electress Palatine

Robert Peake the Elder

Don Burrows

Don Burrows AO MBE (1928-2020) is Australia’s best–known jazz musician.

2 portraits in the collection

Centenary of ANZAC

John Murphy after George Romney

Just now we pause to mark the centenary of ANZAC, the day when, together with British, other imperial and allied forces, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli at the start of the ill-starred Dardanelles campaign.

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

Tom Roberts, Goupil & Cie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Opening of the first Parliament of the Australian Commonwealth, 9th May 1901

Opening of the first Parliament of the Australian Commonwealth, 9th May 1901, 1903

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Penny Amberg and Andrew Bond 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Rev. Edward Puckle

The Reverend Edward Puckle (c. 1800-1898), Anglican clergyman, took holy orders in Exeter and officiated in Cornwall before sailing on the Randolph to Canterbury, NZ in 1850.

1 portrait in the collection

Jack Charles

Recorded 2022

George Moore

George Moore (1923-2008), champion jockey, was born in Mackay, Qld and was apprenticed in Brisbane in 1938.

1 portrait in the collection

Maritime disaster leaves poignant picture

Devotion

Absence rends the heart asunder

Will Dyson

Will (William Henry) Dyson, cartoonist, caricaturist, writer and draughtsman, was born in Alfredtown, near Ballarat, and studied for a short time in Melbourne, where he worked closely with his older brother Ambrose.

11 portraits in the collection

Rick Carey, WA, 1998 (printed 2004)

John Elliott

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Bernie McGann, 1999

Sage

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999

Clive Shakespeare, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Daryl Braithwaite, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Garth Porter, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Tony Mitchell, 1975 (printed 2001)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Alan Sandow, 1975 (printed 2001)

Previous exhibition, 2003

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

Governor Sir Robert Duff with Lady Duff, Lord Hopetoun and Vice-Regal Party, 1893

Kerry & Co

an unknown artist, The Australasian Sketcher

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

The Sculling Match at Sydney for the Championship of the World

The Sculling Match at Sydney for the Championship of the World, 1877

Portrait, wood engraving on paper

Purchased 2015

Alfred Hill, 1936

Rayner Hoff

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated on wooden base

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000

The Honourable J.J. Carlton with Cravat, 2000

Esther Erlich

Portrait, pastel and gouache on paper laid down on backing sheet

Gift of an anonymous donor 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ann Mary Windeyer, 1847

G Ziegler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Joanna Russell Maher (née Windeyer) 2018

Sir Asher Joel

Sir Asher Joel (1912-1998), public relations entrepreneur and state politician, started out as a copyboy at Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.

1 portrait in the collection

William Nicholas

William Nicholas was born near London and is believed to have trained with English printmaker A.M Huffam.

2 portraits in the collection

John Farnham, 1996

Polly Borland

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000

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

Don Burrows at work, 1998

Barry Walsh

Purchased with funds donated by Patrick Corrigan 2000

L Gordon Darling AC CMG

Pierre Langlume after Jacques Etienne Victor Arago

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

2 portraits in the collection

'Timbere sauvage de la nouvelle galles du sud en grand costume (Relache au Port Jackson)'

'Timbere sauvage de la nouvelle galles du sud en grand costume (Relache au Port Jackson)', 1822

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Judith O'Conal-Prinz

Judith O’Conal grew up in Sydney’s Rocks area and became interested in art as she repeatedly passed the plaque advertising the Julian Ashton School.

1 portrait in the collection

In the most correct style

Nearest & Dearest

Desirable outcomes, undesirable origins

Sherbet, 1974

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

Billy Cook and Pride of Egypt, 1954

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Elvis in Australia

Die-hard Elvis fans from Canberra and surrounding areas share their insights into the phenomenon that was Elvis Presley.

Neil Murray, Bolac, VIC, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1962

Victor Greenhalgh

Portrait, cast bronze

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Bunting in honour of Sir John Bunting and the Menzies Foundation 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Eric Westbrook

Eric Westbrook was the Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1956 to 1973.

1 portrait in the collection

Queen Victoria

Victoria (1819–1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901.

8 portraits in the collection

John Sherwin

John Keyse Sherwin, draughtsman and engraver, worked as a cutter of ships' bolts until 1769, when one of his drawings was awarded a silver medal at the Society of Arts.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Archbold, Durham, 1826 by John Dempsey

Street fare

The late Georgian and early Victorian working classes often bought their food in ale-houses, chop-houses and ‘penny pie shops’, or purchased their meals day after day in the streets.

Julia Matthews

Julia Matthews (1842-1876), actress and singer, came to Australia as a girl with her parents, and made her debut at Sydney's Royal Victoria Theatre in 1854, aged twelve.

1 portrait in the collection

Hugo at home (Hugo Weaving), 2011

Nicholas Harding

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

Dr Solander, 1772

Portrait, copper-line engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Ern McQuillan Senior, c. 1980s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Joseph Banks and Dr Solander, 1778

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010

New South Wales (Earl Beauchamp), 1899

Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

John Farnham AO

John Farnham (b.1949) has sustained a successful career in the Australian music industry for more than 40 years.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Richard Owens

Giovanni Vendramini, T Cadell & W Davies after William Evans, Sir William Beechey

Sir Richard Owen (1804–1892), naturalist, anatomist and palaeontologist, was born in Lancaster and apprenticed to surgeon-apothecaries there before completing his studies in medicine in Edinburgh and London.

1 portrait in the collection

George Rose, 1811

Portrait, oil on canvas on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Mary Ware, c. 1854

Robert Dowling

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

Janice McIllree

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

Robert Emerson Curtis, 1943

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America

The first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America, 1878

A & G Taylor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

The sculptor (George Lambert and Arthur Murch)

The sculptor (George Lambert and Arthur Murch), c. 1929

Purchased 2015

Anna Meares, 2018

by Narelle Autio

Portrait, watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by King & Wood Mallesons 2018

M.O. Ranger 3: Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'

M.O. Ranger 3: Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground', 2001

eX de Medici

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Portrait of Charles Blackman, 1979

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on studio mount

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

Mary Windeyer, c. 1891

Freeman Brothers

Gift of J.B. Windeyer 2018

William Lanne, c. 1866

J.W. Beattie after Charles Woolley

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by
Allanah Dopson & Nicholas Heyward 2009

Raimond Gaita

Raimond Gaita (b. 1946) arrived in Australia in 1950 with his Romanian father and German mother, and was brought up largely by his father near Barninghup, Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke

Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke (1811-1892), politician, studied and tutored in law at Oxford before coming to Australia in 1842.

4 portraits in the collection

George Nicholas CBE

George Nicholas CBE (1884-1960), pharmacist and philanthropist, grew up in South Australia and Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

John Bell, 1962 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

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

Arthur Boyd in his studio at Bundanon, 1993

Adam Knott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Wylie

Wylie (c. 1824–unknown) is thought to have been born near King George’s Sound in south-west Western Australia, which would make him a Noongar man.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC

Barthélemy Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC (1895-1974) was one of Australia's great aviation administrators.

3 portraits in the collection

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal, 1807-1817

Purchased 2009

Dame Mary Gilmore, c. 1938

Lyall Trindall

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Heads of the People

Previous exhibition, 2000

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

Lisa McCune

Lisa McCune (b. 1971) actor, made her stage debut at fifteen in a production of The Wizard of Oz in Perth.

1 portrait in the collection

Mickey Johnson, c. 1896

Previous exhibition, 2017

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

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.

Mark Strizic

A Journey in Photography

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Chris Lilley

Chris Lilley, satirist and actor, was educated at Pymble Public School and Barker College before gaining his degree from Macquarie University.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Sidney Kidman

Sir Sidney Kidman, pastoralist (1857-1935), is Australia's 'cattle king'.

2 portraits in the collection

George Lambert

George Lambert (1873–1930), artist, was born in St Petersburg and lived in Germany and England before coming to Australia with his family at the age of fourteen.

7 portraits in the collection

Hugo Weaving AO

Francesco Bartolozzi after Nathaniel Dance

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

Omai, A Native of Ulaietea, 1774

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

The crime writer Shane Maloney, 2004

Rick Amor

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Julian Rossi Ashton, 1933

Eric Wilson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Philip Bacon AM 2012

Thomas and John Clarke, bushrangers, photographed in Braidwood Gaol

Thomas and John Clarke, bushrangers, photographed in Braidwood Gaol, 1867

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on laid down on a section cut from a nineteenth century album page

Purchased 2019

Headspace 4

Facing Memory

Previous exhibition, 2003

Facing Memory: Headspace 4 provides us with valuable insights into the thoughts, creative processes and art-making practices of secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 from sixty-two schools in the Australian Capital Territory, regional New South Wales and Victoria

Nelson Illingworth

Nelson Illingworth trained in sculpture in England and worked as a modeller at the Royal Doulton potteries for nine years before moving to Australia.

3 portraits in the collection

Michael Boddy

Portrait, montage of gelatin silver photographs on paper

Michael Boddy (1934–2014), writer and actor, was born in England and educated at Cambridge before arriving in Australia as a 'ten quid migrant' in 1960.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Helpmann, 1969

David Moore

Purchased 1998

Bradley and Rulofson

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Bradley & Rulofson was a partnership between photographers Henry W Bradley (1813–1891), a native of North Carolina, and Canadian-born William H Rulofson (1826–1878).

1 portrait in the collection

Gnoung-a-gnoung-a Mour-re-mour-ga (dit Collins)

Gnoung-a-gnoung-a Mour-re-mour-ga (dit Collins), 1807-1817

Purchased 2009

Peter Skrzynecki OAM

Portrait, pencil on paper

Of Polish/Ukrainian descent, Peter Skrzynecki was born in 1945 in Germany and came to Australia with his parents in 1949.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Asher Joel, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Hon. Saul Samuel

Francis Jukes after John Cleveley

The Hon Sir Saul Samuel Bart KCMG CB (1820-1900), merchant, politician, company director and landowner, was the first Jewish legislator in New South Wales and the first Jew to become a minister of the Crown.

1 portrait in the collection

View of Owhyhee in the Sandwich Islands in the south Seas (The Death of Cook)

View of Owhyhee in the Sandwich Islands in the south Seas (The Death of Cook), 1787-1788

Portrait, aquatint, hand coloured on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012

Anna Meares, 2018

Narelle Autio

Portrait, oil and hand-stitching on canvas

Commissioned with funds provided by King & Wood Mallesons 2018

James Morrison with flugelhorn, 1994

Kerrie Lester

Purchased 1999. Courtesy of the Corrigan family and Stuart Purves.

Mary Windeyer, 1850s

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on ivory

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

Brian Schmidt

Recorded 2017

A blackguard rehearsing - Max Cullen, 2001

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Nigel Naseby 2007
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Barton and Watson, 1902

G. H. Dancey

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

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

Raimond Gaita, 2012

Dave Tacon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Lisa McCune, 2000 (printed 2012)

Rob Tuckwell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Edward Trickett

Edward 'Ned' Trickett (1851- 916), sculler and hotelier, was the best sculler in New South Wales by 1875.

1 portrait in the collection

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1978 (printed 2017)

Robert McFarlane

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Master Molteno, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Les Tanner

Les Tanner was one of Australia’s best-known caricaturists. Born in Glebe, New South Wales, he is said to have taken up drawing portraits as early as age five, and as a teenager contributed cartoons to the school newspaper.

4 portraits in the collection

Rayner Hoff

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

George Rayner Hoff (1894-1937), sculptor, was born in England and trained at the Royal College of Art, London.

2 portraits in the collection

Sideshow Alley

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.

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

Creator versus character - Chris Lilley, 2009

John Tsiavis

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2011

Bart Cummings AM

James Bartholomew (Bart) Cummings OAM (1927-2015) was Australia's most successful thoroughbred racehorse trainer.

1 portrait in the collection

Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts (b. 1968), actress, was born in England and came to Australia from Wales at the age of fourteen.

1 portrait in the collection

George Lambert, c. 1929

Annie May Moore

Moses Griffith after John Lewin

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Yango Mungo ye Yango of Bathurst's Plains

Yango Mungo ye Yango of Bathurst's Plains, 1824

Portrait, copper engraving, hand coloured on paper

Purchased 2011

Her Majesty, The Queen, Elizabeth II (Blue)

Her Majesty, The Queen, Elizabeth II (Blue), 2001

Polly Borland

Purchased 2021

Sir Rupert Hamer AC KCMG ED

Portrait, oil on masonite

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

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Elliott, 1964

Jon Molvig

Gift of Richard Elliott 2016. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Elaine Haxton, c. 1940s

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Marilyn Ball, Albatross, 2018 (detail) by Linde Ivimey

So Fine

Previous exhibition, 2018

This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.

Bob Ellis

Bob Ellis (1942-2016) was a journalist, columnist, screenwriter, film director and playwright.

3 portraits in the collection

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1983

William Yang

Purchased 2003

Christopher Brennan

Previous exhibition, 1999

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

2 portraits in the collection

A Tribute to William Dobell

Adapted from A Tribute to William Dobell an exhibition presented by the Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, The National Gallery of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial. Dobell is of course, celebrated for his achievements in portraiture, winning the Archibald prize (1943, 1948 and 1959), the Wynne Prize (1948), and representing Australia at the 1954 Venice Biennale. Curator Mary Eagle concludes her essay in the catalogue of the exhibition thus, "Overall I see a dissonance in Dobell’s art and life

Naomi Watts, 2003

Peter Brew-Bevan

Gift of the artist 2004

Portraits for Posterity

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.

Frank Hinder

Francis Henry Critchley Hinder (1906-1992) was a pioneer of abstract art in Australia.

18 portraits in the collection

William Barak

Previous exhibition, 2009

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2009

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Dr Stella Cornelius AO OBE, 1989

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Gift of the Cornelius family 2019

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

Jessie Street, 1929

Reginald Jerrold-Nathan

Gift of the Street family and the Jessie Street National Women's Library 2010

David Wenham AM

David Wenham AM (b. 1965), actor, studied drama at the Nepean College of Advanced Education (now the University of Western Sydney), graduating with a BA in Performing Arts in 1987.

1 portrait in the collection

Julian Ashton CBE

Julian Rossi Ashton CBE (1851-1942), art teacher, artist and critic, trained in art in London and at the Académie Julian in Paris before coming to Australia to work on the Illustrated Australian News in 1878.

4 portraits in the collection

Ivy Shore

Portrait, digital print on watercolour paper

Ivy Shore (1915–1999), painter, was born in Melbourne, daughter of a South Australian suffragette, Elka, and engineer John Williams.

2 portraits in the collection

Barry Jones, 1998

Tristan Humphries

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000

Glossy - Faces Magazines Now

Previous exhibition, 1999

Magazines are the portrait galleries of the 90s... Glossy is about magazines. The exhibition presents the work of eight photographers, Australian by birth or long-term residency, who are producing portraits for publication in magazines around the world.

Angkor Wat

Nothing quite prepares the first-time visitor to Cambodia for the scale and grandeur of the monuments of the ancient Khmer civilisation of Angkor.

Bob Ellis, 1999

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Leigh Bowery

Leigh Bowery (1961-1994), London-based designer and nightclub performer, was born in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, and attended school in Melbourne before briefly studying fashion design at RMIT.

2 portraits in the collection

Neil Murray

Neil Murray (b. 1956), singer/songwriter, grew up in country Victoria, studied art and became a teacher.

2 portraits in the collection

Shigeo Sawada, c. 1915

Kan Studios

Gift of Ron Wylie 2007

Baron Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller

Sir Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller KCMG (1825–1896), botanist, trained in pharmacy and botany in his native Germany before emigrating to Adelaide in 1847.

1 portrait in the collection

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE

Dame Mary Gilmore DBE (1865–1962), poet, journalist and social reformer, was born near Goulburn and had an itinerant childhood as her father moved the family around New South Wales for work.

3 portraits in the collection

Julian Ashton Life Class, 1920

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Purchased 2015

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.

Mary Ware

Jeremiah Ware (1792–1878) arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1822 with his wife, Mary (née Brooks, c.

1 portrait in the collection

Jeremiah Ware

Magazine article by Jennifer Gason, 2003

Jeremiah Ware (1792–1878) arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1822 with his wife, Mary (née Brooks, c.

1 portrait in the collection

Nobel and his prize

To complement the exhibition Australians and the Nobel Prize, Jennifer Gason gives us a sense of the proceedings that occur during the award ceremony.

Pre-Raphaelite Profile

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

In 2006 the National Portrait Gallery acquired a splendid portrait of Victoria's first governor, Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe by Thomas Woolner.

Annie May Moore

Annie May Moore (1881-1931) was born in New Zealand and studied at the Elam School of Art and Design in Auckland.

5 portraits in the collection

Bungaree

Bungaree (c. 1775–1830), voyager, navigator and diplomat, was among the most significant Sydney-area Indigenous leaders of the early colonial period.

3 portraits in the collection

Jenny Howard

Jenny Howard née Daisy Blowes (1902-1996), stage performer, made her name in her native England as ‘the poor man’s Gracie Fields’, recording covers of Fields’s songs for a cut-price label and impersonating the star onstage.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir John Young

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

Sir John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar (1807-1876), governor of New South Wales from 1861 to 1867, was the son of a director of the East India Co.

1 portrait in the collection

Mrs Cameron and the V&A

In March 2003 Magda Keaney travelled to London to join the photography section of the Victoria & Albert Museum for three months.

Ron Robertson-Swann OAM

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

Frank Gardiner

Portrait, cast bronze on granite base

Francis Gardiner (Christie) (1830-c. 1903), bushranger, came to New South Wales with his family as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Brock, 2000-2001

Julie Edgar

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

The Swiss Studios, Sydney

Portrait, ceramic and cork

The Swiss Studios opened in King Street, Sydney in early 1898, operating from a building described as a 'pleasing reminder of one of those delightful old Swiss chalets, which one always associates with Alpine travel.' The elaborate establishment boasted a first-floor reception room, 'beautifully decorated and luxuriously furnished', 'tastefully arranged dressing rooms, one for ladies and the other for gentlemen', and a 'lofty, cool and well-lit gallery' where 'the best artists in the photographic line' were at work.

1 portrait in the collection

Billy Hughes bottle stopper, 1911-1921

Mashman Bros Ltd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Dr Stella Cornelius AO OBE

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

Stella Cornelius AO OBE (1919–2010), businesswoman and peace activist, was born to Jewish parents in Sydney and grew up moving around New South Wales as her father, a draper and tailor, found work during the Depression.

1 portrait in the collection

Elegance in exile

Previous exhibition, 2012

Elegance in exile is an exhibition surveying the work of Richard Read senior, Thomas Bock, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and Charles Rodius: four artists who, though exiled to Australia as convicts, created many of the most significant and elegant portraits of the colonial period.

George Perry

George William Perry (1824–1900) was born in London and arrived in Victoria via South Africa around 1852.

2 portraits in the collection

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC

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

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

John Richard Tindale, 1841

Maurice Felton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Mary Tindale, 1841

Maurice Felton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Tribute

Bob Ellis

Magazine article, 2016

Bob Ellis (1942–2016) was a journalist, columnist, screenwriter, film director, playwright, speechwriter and critic.

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

George Johnston OBE

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

1 portrait in the collection

Judy Davis

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

George Moore, 1957

Previous exhibition, 2019

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Risk Assessment for groups of students

For your peace of mind

School visit information

Find out about our environment, security checks, potential hazards and more.

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.

Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London

Announcing Shakespeare to Winehouse

24 November 2021

Archived media releases 2021

More than eighty treasures from the National Portrait Gallery London will travel to Canberra for a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from March 2022.

The Australian Cricket Team 1882

The Australian cricket team of 1882 was the third side to tour England and the team whose defeat of England at The Oval in August of that year initiated the 'The Ashes' Test series.

1 portrait in the collection

Supporters

$5,000 - $9,999

Sir John Gorton GCMG AC CH

The Rt Hon Sir John Gorton GCMG AC CH (1911–2002) was the nineteenth prime minister of Australia and the only senator yet to have served in the office.

5 portraits in the collection

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

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

The Right Honourable William Pitt

William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) was Tory prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 to 1801, and of United Kingdom from 1804 to 1806.

1 portrait in the collection

Wendy Sharpe

Portrait, oil on composition board

Wendy Sharpe undertook art studies in Sydney between 1978 and 1984 and held her first solo exhibition at the Nicholson Street Gallery in 1985.

3 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

Self Portrait (Textanude) by Arlene TextaQueen

Animated

Self Portraits Online

Previous exhibition, 2008

Animated is the National Portrait Gallery's first online exhibition.

Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom

Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom (1886–1970) manufacturer, philanthropist and zoo trustee, grew up with his eight siblings in Waterloo, Sydney, after the family left the failed family farm in Coonamble, New South Wales.

3 portraits in the collection

Happy New Year

This year (in March) we will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the formal establishment of the National Portrait Gallery. In the life of institutions, twenty years is not a long time.

Tom Roberts

Previous exhibition, 2005

Tom Roberts (1856–1931), artist, came to Australia from England at the age of 13, but returned eight years later to study art in London.

9 portraits in the collection

Peter Brew-Bevan Portraits

In this exhibition Sydney based photographer Peter Brew-Bevan brings together an intimate collection of works that highlight his passion for the genre of portraiture over the last 10 years

Sir Frank Packer

Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer KBE (1906-1974), media proprietor, grew up in Sydney and became a cadet journalist on the Daily Guardian, owned by his father RC Packer, in 1923.

2 portraits in the collection

Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet

Self Portraits in Australia

Louis-Claude Desaulses de Freycinet (1779–1842), hydrographer and cartographer, sailed with Nicolas Baudin on the Expédition aux terres australes, a journey of discovery, commissioned by Napoléon, to the unknown southern coast of New Holland.

1 portrait in the collection

To Look Within

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

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.

Noni Hazlehurst AM

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

First Australian first-class cricket team

The ‘first Australian first-class cricket team to tour England and North America’ was in fact the second Australian cricket side to contest matches internationally (a team of Indigenous players having done so in 1868), but it is considered the first official national representative team to tour overseas.

1 portrait in the collection

Egbert S. Wills

Emily Spencer Wills (1842–1925), Cedric Spencer Wills (1844–1914), Horace Spencer Wills (1847–1928), and Egbert Spencer Wills (1849–1931) the second, third, fourth, and fifth children of Horatio Wills and his wife Elizabeth, were all born at Lexington, spending their childhoods there and at Bellevue, the property acquired by Horatio Wills near Geelong in 1852.

1 portrait in the collection

Horace Spencer Wills and Cedric Spencer Wills

Cedric S. Wills

1 portrait in the collection

Emily S. Wills

1 portrait in the collection

Horace S. Wills

1 portrait in the collection

Jenny Sages

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

Robert Neill

Robert Neill arrived in Van Diemen’s Land from Edinburgh in 1820 with his free-settler parents and two siblings.

1 portrait in the collection

Arthur Murch

Arthur Murch, artist, is best-known as a painter in a colourful cubistic style, but he was occupied with sculpture throughout his career.

8 portraits in the collection

Margel Hinder AM

Margel Hinder AM (née Harris) (1906-1995), sculptor, trained in Buffalo and Boston in the 1920s.

1 portrait in the collection

Claude Spurgeon Charlick

Claude Spurgeon Charlick (1893-1974), businessman, was managing director of the Adelaide firm Charlick Ltd for nearly forty years.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Edward Wheewall Holden

Sir Edward Wheewall Holden (1885-1947), industrialist and politician, was the son of Henry Holden, industrialist and civic leader, and the grandson of James Alexander Holden, Adelaide leather and saddlery business owner.

1 portrait in the collection

Stephen Murray-Smith

Stephen Murray-Smith (1922-1988), writer and editor, was educated at Geelong Grammar and the University of Melbourne before serving in New Guinea during World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

J.C. Williamson, c. 1913

John Longstaff

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

R. M. Williams AO CMG

RM (Reginald Murray) Williams AO CBE (1908-2003), saddlery, boot and clothing manufacturer, miner and author, moved to Adelaide from his birthplace near the Flinders Rangers when he was 10.

1 portrait in the collection

Stephen Murray-Smith, 1980

Fred Williams

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lyn Williams AM 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

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.

Contact us

Our team

Find a contact at the National Portrait Gallery.

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2014

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.

Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks, c. 1814

Thomas Phillips

Purchased 2011

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) is one of the most intriguing and talented figures in colonial Australian art.

4 portraits in the collection

Sir Oswald Brierly

Previous exhibition, 2009

Sir Oswald Brierly (1817–1894), marine painter and adventurer, studied art, naval architecture and navigation in England before his fascination with seafaring caused him to sign up as staff artist on the Wanderer – a schooner owned by entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd, who was about to embark on a round-the-world trip.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

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

Portrait 50 hits the shelves

1 September 2015

Archived media releases 2015

With contributions from Julia Gillard, Fiona Gruber, and Dr Karl James, the National Portrait Gallery’s 50th edition of Portrait has something for everyone.

Betsy (Bessie) Lee

Betsy (Bessie) Lee Cowie (1860–1950), 'Australia's Temperance Queen', spent the early part of her life in Daylesford, Victoria, one of the five children of Henry Vickery, a butcher and miner, and his wife Emma.

1 portrait in the collection

James Donovan

Previous exhibition, 2010

James T Donovan (1861–1922), journalist, Catholic historian and amateur singer, was born into an Irish Catholic family in Sydney and grew up in Womerah Avenue, Darlinghurst.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

Malcolm J. McCusker AC CVO KC

Previous exhibition, 2020

Barrister and philanthropist Malcolm James McCusker AC CVO KC was born in Subiaco, Western Australia in 1938.

1 portrait in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

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.

Dora Byrne, 1951

Richard von Marientreu

Portrait, cast bronze relief medallion

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

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.

Flash

Australian Athletes in Focus

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

Lady Anne Maria Barkly

Archived media releases 2014

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

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2014

22 August 2014

Press releases for media.

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.

In a good paddock

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Celebrating a new painted portrait of Joseph Banks, Sarah Engledow spins a yarn of the naturalist, the first kangaroo in France and Don, a Spanish ram.

Emile Sherman

Previous exhibition, 2003

Emile Sherman (b. 1972), film producer, graduated from the University of New South Wales before beginning his career with a documentary about his great-great-uncle Chatzkel, a Lithuanian Jew who lived through both world wars and the Bolshevik revolution.

3 portraits in the collection

Australians in Hollywood

Although perceived to be a recent phenomenon, the 'Aussie invasion' of Hollywood can actually be traced as far back as the early 1900s

Nicholas Harding

Nicholas Harding (1956–2022) was one of Australia's most highly regarded artists, known for his portraits and drawings, and his light-filled, vigorously painted images of the bush and the coast.

5 portraits in the collection

Horatio S. Wills

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Horatio Spencer Howe Wills (1811–1861), pastoralist, politician and newspaper proprietor, was born in Sydney, several months after the death of his father, Edward Spencer Wills, a merchant and shipowner who'd arrived in New South Wales under a life sentence for highway robbery in 1799.

2 portraits in the collection

General Birdwood, the Idol of Anzac, taking a dip in the sea after a hard days work 1915

In the thick of it

Projecting the splendour of the empire, and the resolve of its subjects, the bust of William Birdwood keeps a stiff upper lip in the National Portrait Gallery.

Elizabeth Roberts

Elizabeth Roberts (1812–1833) was the daughter of Warwickshire-born William Roberts (1754–1819) and his wife, Jane (née Longhurst, c.

1 portrait in the collection

Talking heads

In their own words lead researcher Louise Maher on the novel project that lets the Gallery’s portraits speak for themselves.

Sir Edgar Barton ‘EB’ Coles

Sir Edgar Barton ‘EB’ Coles (1899-1981) was the longest-serving chief executive of the Coles retail group.

2 portraits in the collection

Olivia Newton-John, 1978 (printed 2017)

Gary Heery

Portraits in the Landscape

Purchased 2017

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

Georg von Neumayer, c. 1860

Johnstone & Co

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Masters of Fare

Previous exhibition, 2004

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

The 1780s to the 1840s

Mo and beard timeline

Eighteenth century men differed from those of the preceding centuries in their preference for beardlessness.

Lillie Langtry, c. 1885

W & D Downey

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Someone to watch over you

Magazine article by Carrie Kibbler, 2013

Carrie Kibbler looks at how portraiture fits into the Australian Artbank Collection.

HM Queen Elizabeth II, 2001

Polly Borland

Purchased 2002

Thomas Woolner

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

Thomas Woolner, sculptor, studied first with the brothers Henry and William Behnes, painter and sculptor respectively, and later at the Royal Academy, at which he was to become professor of sculpture in his fifties.

5 portraits in the collection

String of Pearls

Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.

Oz and beyond

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.

The consolations of religion

A bushranger meets his maker, 6 January 1826

James McCabe provides proof that hanging wasn’t necessarily a fate reserved for the perpetrators of murder and other deeds of darkest hue.

Arthur T. Woodward

Arthur Thomas 'A T' Woodward (1865–1943), painter and art scholar, was born in Birmingham, England.

1 portrait in the collection

Leigh Bowery, 1984

Robyn Beeche

Gift of Claudia Hyles, Dr Christiane Lawin-Bruessel, Gwenda Matthews, Gael Newton, Anne O'Hehir, Susan Smith and Dominic Thomas in memory of our friend, Robyn Beeche 2016

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery

Visual Stories

Access support for a general visit to the Gallery.

C.H.T. Costantini

Archived media releases 2013

Charles Henry Theodore Costantini (also Constantine, Constantini and Costantine) was a Paris-born surgeon of Italian descent who was twice transported to the Australian colonies in the 1820s.

1 portrait in the collection

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award media information

28 August 2013

The National Portrait Gallery recently announced the finalists for the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2013.

Hattie Shepparde, 1872

Bardwell's Royal Studio

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Martha Mary Robertson, 1866

Magazine article by Jane Kinsman, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Themes and variations (Annelies) A13, 1946

Listening to form

National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman discusses the portraiture of Henri Matisse.

Lord Kitchener

Imperial strategist

Once central to military strategy and venerated in patriotic households, Lord Kitchener is now largely forgotten.

William St. Leonards Robertson, c. 1869

Archived media releases 2018

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Finalists announced for National Photographic Portrait Prize

14 November 2018

The National Portrait Gallery would like to congratulate the forty finalists for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019.

The Textiles Scientist, 2018 by Kate Atkinson

Textiles Scientist Voted the People’s Favourite

27 March 2019

Archived media releases 2019

The black and white portrait of an elderly woman with sidelong glance and irreverent, contemplative smile has taken out the people’s choice award in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Richard Divall OBE in the church mantle of the Order of Malta

Richard Divall AO OBE

Archived media releases 2013

Frà Professor Richard Divall AO OBE (1945–2017), conductor, composer and scholar, grew up in Manly and was educated at Manly Boys’ High School.

1 portrait in the collection

Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, August 1955 by Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon People media information

8 August 2013

Press releases and images downloads for media.

Bloodlines

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).

Paul Kelly and The Portraits media information

18 June 2013

Archived media releases 2013

Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.

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.

Queen Elizabeth II

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2012

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, who subsequently became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

4 portraits in the collection

The importance of being bearded

Joanna Gilmour discovers that the beards of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills were as epic as their expedition to traverse Australia from south to north.

Sarah and Ann Jacob, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Purchased 2018

Cook in context

Robert Oatley's continuing benefaction has helped the National Portrait Gallery acquire works that add another layer to the story of Captain Cook.

Not perspiring, but glowing.

The cultural history of radiance.

Angus Trumble explores the creative manifestations of radiance.

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.

Ralph Heimans AM

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Sydney-based painter Ralph Heimans AM (b. 1970) is one of the world's foremost contemporary portraitists, having created a body of work that has expanded and redefined the possibilities of what is sometimes perceived as an inflexibly traditional genre.

19 portraits in the collection

Expect the unexpected

Joanna Gilmour revels in accidental artist Charles Rodius’ nineteenth century renderings of Indigenous peoples.

Form and reality

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

A photographic portrait by Kerry Dundas captures the contemplative mind of visionary painter Godfrey Miller.

Anna F. Walker

Archived media releases 2020

Anna Frances Walker (1830–1913), botanical artist and collector, was one of the thirteen children of Thomas Walker, a high-ranking colonial public servant, and his wife Anna Elizabeth, the daughter of merchant and landowner John Blaxland.

1 portrait in the collection

Announcing... Pub Rock

11 August 2020

An exhibition that celebrates the people, places and sounds of Australian pub rock and its enduring impact on the nation’s identity, opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 5 September, 2020.

The Obama effect

Magazine article by Kim Sajet, 2018

Kim Sajet reflects on two portraits with a power that extends beyond gallery walls.

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.

Portrait of Kang Sehwang, 1783 by Yi Myeonggi

The artist, the scholar and the gentleman

Magazine article by Kwon Hyeeun, 2019

Kwon Hyeeun introduces Korean portraits of Kang Sehwang, and five generations of the Kang family.

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide, c. 1862

Stephen Edward Nixon

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2019

Purchased 2018

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Sibly irresistible

Alexandra Roginski reveals a forceful feminist figure in the colonial period’s slippery science, phrenology.

Talma Studios, Sydney

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Talma Studios opened in Sydney in March 1899 in a George Street premises next door to the GPO.

1 portrait in the collection

Hop, skip, shoot

Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.

In bloom

Magazine article by Susi Muddiman, 2017

Susi Muddiman delights in Michael Zavros’ stunning portrait of the honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO.

Lady Jane Grey, c.1590-1600 (also known as The ‘Streatham’ portrait) Artist unknown

The Royal she

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2019

Traversing paint and pixels, Inga Walton examines portraits of select women in Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.

Janet Dawson

Explore The Popular Pet Show

When soulmates Janet Dawson and Michael Boddy moved from Sydney to a property, Boddy was clear about why: ‘Our marriage is one long conversation - we moved to the bush so we could talk to each other without so many interruptions.’

Relaxed mornings

Visual Stories

Access support for a visiting the Gallery before the general 10:00am opening time.

Private virtues public lives

The Illustrated London News after Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

Announcing... Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence.

30 November 2023

Media

In March 2024, the National Portrait Gallery will launch a major exhibition of the work of Ralph Heimans AM, the Australian artist who’s painted some of the world’s most recognisable people.

Queen Victoria, 1901

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Costantini's convictions

Jo Gilmour uncovers endearing authenticity in the art of a twice-transported Tasmanian.

Queen Victoria

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Last Sunday I had the privilege of appearing at the Canberra Writers’ Festival in conversation with Julia Baird. The subject of our session was Julia’s recent biography, Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman who Ruled an Empire.

A real Pratt

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.

Albert Jonas and John Xiniwe of The African Choir, 1891 London Stereoscopic Co.

Back in black

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

A guy from Paris

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

Promise Fulfilled

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

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

Benny (42nd Street Series), 1979–80 by Larry Clark

City boys

Christopher Chapman immerses himself in Larry Clark’s field of vision.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

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.

The Stories Beneath

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

The Alcoa World Alumina Australia gift.

So Fine

17 May 2018

Archived media releases 2018

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce its winter exhibition is So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history. It will open to the public from 29 June 2018.

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

Risky business

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

Goods and chattels

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

I have been reading systematically through the ads in the earliest issues of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, such a rich vein of information about certain aspects of daily life in Regency Sydney.

Study for Aunty Mary King, 2010 by Mathew Lynn

The animating signature

Joanna Gilmore delights in the affecting drawings of Mathew Lynn.

Home truths

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.

Shadows of light

Magazine article by Mark Haworth-Booth, 2002

Mark Haworth-Booth explains why Bill Brandt is one of the most important British photographers of the Twentieth Century.

The selfie stick

Archived media releases 2018

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.

So Fine

28 June 2018

Ten women artists explore the possibilities of portraiture as a contemporary art form; and reinterpret and reimagine Australian history in the Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history.

In the round

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2009

Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.

Home and away

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.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Grateful admiration and brotherly love

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

In the earliest stages of the Great War, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton was turned into a military hospital, and arrangements made there to accommodate the different dietary and other requirements of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim patients.

Sir Thomas Gore-Browne, 1864

J Walch & Sons

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Sydney Cove medallion, 1789 by Josiah Wedgwood

The medallion

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

In recent years I have become fascinated by the so-called Sydney Cove Medallion (1789), a work of art that bridges the 10,000-mile gap between the newly established penal settlement at Port Jackson and the beating heart of Enlightenment England.

Four from the 30s

Australia's tradition of sculpted portraits stretches back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and continues to sustain a group of dedicated sculptors.

Giving and getting

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

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.

Poet of the Fleeting Moment

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Mark Strizic's work crosses a broad spectrum of photographic fields including urban, industrial, commercial, and architectural photography.

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

Heartfelt

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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

The artist and her family, c. 1854 by Martha Berkeley

Presence and absence

The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.

Through blue eyes

Magazine article by Richard Ormond, 2015

Works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan bring the desert, the misty seashore and the hot Monaro plains to exhibition Open Air: Portraits in the landscape.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885-86 by
John Singer Sargent

A feast of friends

John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.

Apollo's breath

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography

Waterfall in Australia, c. 1830 by Augustus Earle

Augustus serendipitous

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

The London-born son of an American painter, Augustus Earle ended up in Australia by accident in January 1825.

Mugshots

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.

Where the wild things are

Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.

Everybody's heard about the bird

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

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

Portrait of Truganini, daughter of the Chief of Bruny Island, Van Diemens Land, c. 1835

Black and white history

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

You beauty

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Joanna Gilmour explores the fact and fictions surrounding the legendary life of Irish-born dancer Lola Montez.

Pushpamala N

by Ajay Sinha

Artist essays

Pushpamala N. was born in 1956 in Bangalore. Her early training was in sculpture, but as her practice progressed she brought an early enthusiasm for narrative figuration into her photographic work.

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

Sea legged frogs

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.

Indexing, the art of

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2020

The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.

Venetia, Lady Digby, circa 1633-1634 by Sir Anthony van Dyck

Love in the extreme

Joanna Gilmour reveals love’s more intense manifestations in the tale of Lord Kenelm and Venetia Digby.

Hyperversity

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.

Some prime ministers

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

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

Skyhooks (Red Symons, Bob Starkie, Shirley Strachan, Greg Macainsh, Freddie Strauks) in Parker’s studio, Fitzroy, 1975 David Parker

Cool cool world

Penelope Grist unpacks photographs by David Parker, who captured the phenomenal emergence of the 1970s and 80s Melbourne music scene.

Meeting by Murder

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

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.

Poison pen

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

Material culture

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

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

Portrait of a Pioneer , 1917
Violet Teague

Off her own bat

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

Listomania

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Nicholas Harding

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Over the years the young Nicholas Harding got his hands on various mice and guinea pigs, but they served mainly to illustrate the concept of mortality.

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.

Finest quality

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

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

Abstraction and figuration

James Angus discusses his major sculpture commission Geo Face Distributor with Christopher Chapman.

In the galleries

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

Tiny Trace of a Colonial Giant

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

At just 7.8 x 6.2 cm, the daguerreotype of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa is one of the smallest works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Sandor Ferenczis 50th birthday dinner, Budapest, 1923

Less than six degrees of separation

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2011

Anne Sanders finds connections in Inner Worlds between Hungarian expatriates and the development of psychoanalysis in Australia.

Beyond the bow tie

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

The Cutmear sisters, Jane and Lucy, c. 1842

A man of superior attainments

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Dane reign

Magazine article by Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby, 2018

Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby bring eloquent context to Ralph Heimans’ portraits of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

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.

The stately lotus

I spent much of my summer holiday at D’Omah, on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. Lotus and waterlilies sprout in extraordinary profusion in artful ponds amid palms and deep scarlet ginger flowers.

Fine and dandy

Magazine article by Annette Twyman, 2021

Whether the result of misadventure or misdemeanour, many accomplished artists were transported to Australia where they ultimately left a positive mark on the history of art in this country.

Portrait of Elizabeth Gould with a raptor, possibly a red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), painted in her lifetime Artist unknown

Birds of a feather

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

The Window Seat, 1907 by Frances Hodgkins

Kiwi magpie

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2018

Penelope Grist finds inspiration in pioneering New Zealand artist, Frances Hodgkins.

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.

Reflections on portraiture

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

All dressed up

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?

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.

Some women you may not know

Alison Alder

‘Everybody’s lives are built by so many influences, and for me, it is writers, artists and activists who have influenced how I think about the world.’

The mind's eye

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2017

Christopher Chapman takes a trip through the doors of perception, arriving at the junction of surrealism and psychoanalysis.

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

Poise and Carats

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

Cover, first minute book of the Tasmanian Society of Natural History

Embrace your inner nerd

Explore The Popular Pet Show

The southern winter has arrived. For people in the northern hemisphere (the majority of humanity) the idea of snow and ice, freezing mist and fog in June, potentially continuing through to August and beyond, encapsulates the topsy-turvidom of our southern continent.

Robyn Sweaney

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.

A potpourri of portraits

Magazine article by Natalie Wilson, 2023

Archie 100 curator (and detective) Natalie Wilson’s nationwide search for Archibald portraits unearthed the fascinating stories behind some long-lost treasures.

Anangu landscape learning

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

Magazine article by Keith Christiansen, 2012

Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.

Emblems of beauty

Keith Christiansen introduces the exhibition The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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.

Getting a head

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2015

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

Sydney city (Patrick White and Tom Uren, Hiroshima Day demonstration), 1984

The activist A-list

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Dr Sarah Engledow examines a number of figures in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery who were pioneers or substantial supporters of the seminal Australian environmental campaigns of the early 1970s and 1980s.

Cultural kaleidoscope

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

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

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

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.

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

History

About us

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

The Long Awaited, 2008 by Patricia Piccinini

In the flesh

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

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

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Generous Janice

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

Through thick and thin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

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

Thrown together

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

Sunset in the drawing room at Chesney Wold by Hablot Knight Brown

Portraiture in a Bleak House

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

It may seem an odd thing to do at one’s leisure on a beautiful tropical island, but I spent much of my midwinter break a few weeks ago re-reading Bleak House.

Helen Blaxland judging flower arrangements, c. 1940s photographer unknown

Petal to the mettle

Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.

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

Prima facie

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

Studio portrait of Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War, 1914 by J Russell & Sons

All the way with K of K

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow bristles at the biographers’ neglect of Kitchener’s antipodean intervention.

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.

Christmas Island