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Purchased 2019
John Clarke (1948-2017), satirist and humourist, moved to Australia in the 1970s from New Zealand, where he had begun performing in university revues and was named Entertainer of the Year in 1976.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006
Angus Trumble pays tribute to John Clarke.
Gift of Helga Leunig 2013
Peter Russell-Clarke, cook, started his career as a freelance cartoonist, working for advertising agencies in Australia and overseas.
1 portrait in the collection
Sarah-Jane 'Sass' Clarke AM (b. 1974) and Heidi 'Bide' Middleton AM (b.
1 portrait in the collection
Peter Russell-Clarke on colour in painting and cooking.
Purchased 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Recorded 2022
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
Purchased 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Karen McLeod Adair and Anthony Adair 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Purchased 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Sandefur 2019
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2017
Purchased 1999
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Helen Brack 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Helen Brack 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Purchased 2015
Purchased 2009
An interview with the acclaimed pediatrician Dr. John Yu who describes the process of having his portrait sculpture created by artist Ah Xian.
Dr John Yu (b.1934), retired paediatrician and hospital administrator, was born in Nanking, China and moved to Australia with his parents when he was three years old.
3 portraits in the collection
John Kay (1742–1826), caricaturist and painter of miniatures, was born near Dalkeith, Scotland, and started out his working life at thirteen as an apprentice to local barber.
3 portraits in the collection
John Noone, photographer and lithographer, began advertising the services of his ‘Photographic Establishment’ in the Melbourne Argus in September 1858, and worked from two separate addresses on Collins Street from this time until 1862.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir John Hay (1816-1892), pastoralist and politician, graduated in law in his native Scotland before emigrating to New South Wales with his new wife, Mary, in 1838.
1 portrait in the collection
John Darling (1923-2015), businessman, company director and media producer was the son of Harold Gordon Darling, chair of BHP.
1 portrait in the collection
Melbourne-born track and field athlete John Landy AC CVO MBE (1930–2022) came to the nation’s attention as a young man in the mid-1950s, as he followed his first Olympic competition at Helsinki in 1952 with a series of extraordinary races over the course of the next four years.
1 portrait in the collection
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
John O'Gready (1937-1999) was a photographer for John Fairfax & Sons from the 1960s to the late 1980s and seems to have mainly covered sporting events.
1 portrait in the collection
John Fairfax (1805-1877) was a newspaper publisher whose purchase of the Sydney Morning Herald in 1841 began a family association with the paper that would last for over five generations and nearly 150 years.
3 portraits in the collection
John Laws CBE (b. 1935), radio talkback commentator, broadcast to 65 stations around Australia on Sydney’s 2UE and other channels between 1957 and 2007.
2 portraits in the collection
John Kaldor, textile designer and manufacturer, was born in Hungary. He came to Australia with his family in 1948.
1 portrait in the collection
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
John Young, mezzotint engraver, studied under Valentine Green then worked with several of the painters who collaborated with Green, notably Benjamin West, John Hoppner and Johann Gerhard Huck.
1 portrait in the collection
John Citizen is the artistic alter ego of Australian artist Gordon Bennett (1955-2014), painter and multi-media artist, addressed issues of identity and power in a postcolonial context.
1 portrait in the collection
John Mawurndjul (b. 1952) is a Kuningkju-speaking man who lives near Maningrida, one of the Northern Territory's oldest and best-equipped art centres.
2 portraits in the collection
John Flynn OBE DD (1880-1951) was a Presbyterian Minister, founder and superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission (AIM).
1 portrait in the collection
John Passmore (1904-1984), painter, studied with Julian Ashton in Sydney between the ages of fourteen and twenty-nine, and took some instruction from George Lambert.
1 portrait in the collection
John Connell (c. 1759–1849), free settler, merchant and landowner, came to New South Wales aboard the Earl Cornwallis, which arrived in Sydney in June 1801.
1 portrait in the collection
John Frith, cartoonist, was born and schooled in England before coming to Sydney in 1929.
4 portraits in the collection
John Murphy, engraver, was born in Ireland and appeared as an engraver in London in about 1778.
1 portrait in the collection
John Waters (b. 1948), actor, sang with London band the Riots before moving to Australia at the age of twenty.
1 portrait in the collection
John Shortland (1739-1803), naval officer, was a member of a family of which six members were associated with the colonisation of Australia and New Zealand.
1 portrait in the collection
John Lucas started his career as an apprentice to the engraver Samuel William Reynolds.
1 portrait in the collection
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
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
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
John Tebbutt (1834-1916), astronomer, was born into a family of pioneering free settlers and was well educated.
1 portrait in the collection
John Caldwell, (b.1942) is best known as a painter of landscapes in watercolour, began painting in 1969 while living in London.
2 portraits in the collection
John Dowie AM (1915–2008), artist and teacher, is best known for his public sculptures held in most Australian capital cities.
1 portrait in the collection
Little is known of John Chapman, who engraved fine allegorical subjects after the designs of J Smith and Richard Corbould and worked closely with Thomas Macklin on his Shakespeare series.
2 portraits in the collection
John Marsden (1950–2024), author of Tomorrow, when the war began, is credited with encouraging generations of young people to read.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2004
John Bertrand AO (b. 1946) is a successful yachtsman, Olympian, sports administrator, businessman and philanthropist.
1 portrait in the collection
John Dunn (1802-1894), flour miller and philanthropist, eked out a mean living as a mill manager in England before migrating to South Australia with his wife and son in 1840.
1 portrait in the collection
John Allan (1866-1936) was a Deakin shire-councillor for many years and president in 1914-15.
1 portrait in the collection
John Thomas Barber, army officer, insurer, miniaturist and philanthropist, took the additional name of Beaumont in 1812.
1 portrait in the collection
John Slaytor (b. 1966) is a Sydney based commercial photographer and an accredited member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography.
1 portrait in the collection
John Spooner (b. 1946), editorial cartoonist and illustrator, graduated in law before turning to political illustrating and cartooning in the early 1970s.
3 portraits in the collection
John Vickery (1906-1983), illustrator, designer and painter was the only Australian to be part of the New York School in 1960s which includes painters such as Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell and Willem de Kooning.
1 portrait in the collection
John West (1809–1873), clergyman and newspaper editor, was accepted for service in Van Diemen’s Land by the Colonial Missionary Society in 1838.
1 portrait in the collection
John Witzig, photographer, writer and designer, contributed his first piece to Surfing World in 1963.
5 portraits in the collection
John Gould (1804–1881) is known as the ‘father of Australian ornithology’ for his Birds of Australia, published in seven volumes between 1840 and 1848.
1 portrait in the collection
John Williamson (b. 1945), singer songwriter, was born and raised in Victoria's Mallee region.
1 portrait in the collection
John Shirlow (1869-1936) etcher, was the first Australian to make etching the basis of his career.
1 portrait in the collection
John Knatchbull (c. 1792-1844), naval captain and convict, served in the British navy before being convicted of stealing and transported to New South Wales.
1 portrait in the collection
John Austin was born and developed his skills as a photographer in England.
2 portraits in the collection
John Elliott (b. 1951), photographer, country music devotee, broadcaster and writer, grew up in Blackall in central western Queensland.
24 portraits in the collection
John Frost (1784-1877), political convict, became a radical agitator while working as a draper and tailor in his native Newport, Monmouthshire.
1 portrait in the collection
John Button (1933-2008), Labor politician, studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne and made his name as a barrister in Melbourne before becoming involved in the Victorian branch of the Labor Party in the late 1950s.
2 portraits in the collection
As a young reporter for the Melbourne Age, John Hamilton (b.1940 UK, migrated to Aust.
1 portrait in the collection
John Alston Wallace (1824–1901), storekeeper, hotelier and mining entrepreneur, came to Melbourne in 1852 to try his luck on the goldfields.
1 portrait in the collection
John Olsen AO OBE (1928–2023), painter, was one of the major figures in 20th-century Australian art.
8 portraits in the collection
John Schaeffer AO (1940–2020), businessman, connoisseur and philanthropist, was a founding benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery.
1 portrait in the collection
John Hinde AM (1911-2006), film reviewer and reporter, had a couple of false starts in journalism before being hired by the ABC's news and current affairs department in 1939.
1 portrait in the collection
John Brack (1920–1999), artist, grew up in Melbourne and studied at the National Gallery School at night while working as a junior insurance clerk.
9 portraits in the collection
John Schank (1740–1823), naval officer, joined the Royal Navy at age 17, having served in the merchant service as a boy.
1 portrait in the collection
When John Webber R.A. (c. 1752-1793), the son of a Swiss sculptor, living in London, submitted his work to the Royal Academy Schools, one of the first to admire his paintings was Dr Daniel Solander, the Swedish naturalist who had accompanied Cook and Banks on the first voyage.
5 portraits in the collection
Sir John O’Shanassy KCMG (1818–1883), politician and businessman, arrived in Melbourne from Ireland in 1839.
3 portraits in the collection
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
John Williams AO OBE, (b. 1941), guitar virtuoso, had his first guitar lessons from his father, and from the age of eleven attended summer schools with the Spanish maestro Andrés Segovia in Italy.
1 portrait in the collection
John Bell AO OBE (b. 1940), actor and director, is one of Australia's best-known theatre personalities.
3 portraits in the collection
John Wolseley was born in Somerset, England in 1938 and moved to Australia in 1976.
3 portraits in the collection
John Nixon (1949–2020), installation artist and painter, studied at the Preston Institute of Technology and the National Gallery School in the late 1960s and 1970.
1 portrait in the collection
John Hillcoat (b. 1960), filmmaker, was born in Brisbane and grew up in Canada, the USA and Europe.
1 portrait in the collection
John Farnham (b.1949) has sustained a successful career in the Australian music industry for more than 40 years.
1 portrait in the collection
John Perceval AO (1923-2000) was a painter and ceramic artist. Early on, along with Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd and Albert Tucker, he was part of a loose group of largely self-taught Australian artists, now known as the Angry Penguins, who rebelled against the conservatism of the art establishment.
10 portraits in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2004
Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), Arctic explorer and governor, served under Matthew Flinders on the Investigator and later said that this experience fired his passion for exploration.
5 portraits in the collection
John Cargher AM (1919-2008), music broadcast presenter, grew up in England, Germany and Madrid.
1 portrait in the collection
John Olsen AO (b. 1945), diplomat and former politician, grew up in South Australia and began his public career as its youngest-ever mayor, assuming that office in Kadina in 1974.
1 portrait in the collection
John Tsiavis (b. 1977) is a photographer working across portraiture, entertainment, editorial and advertising projects.
6 portraits in the collection
The Hon. John Howard OM AC (b. 1939) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007.
1 portrait in the collection
Professor John Shine AC (b. 1946), biochemist and philanthropist, was born in Brisbane and completed his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at the Australian National University in Canberra in the 1970s.
1 portrait in the collection
John Lewin was Australia's first free-settler professional artist. He arrived in Sydney in 1800, intervention from influential patrons having secured him the assurance of rations.
1 portrait in the collection
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
John Eason (1799–1858) was a shipwright who worked in Van Diemen’s Land during the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir John Warcup Cornforth AC CBE FRS (1917-2013) won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions.
1 portrait in the collection
John Cobley (1914-1989), doctor, historian and television host, studied at State schools, won a scholarship to the University of Sydney and graduated in medicine and science in 1937.
1 portrait in the collection
John Gollings made his first photographs and received darkroom tuition at age eleven; he later studied Arts/Architecture at Melbourne University, supporting himself through architectural and wedding photography.
3 portraits in the collection
John Williams (1796-1839), missionary, began his working life in 1810, apprenticed to an ironmonger, but in 1814 he underwent an Evangelical conversion and became a member of the Tabernacle Church (Calvinistic Methodist).
1 portrait in the collection
John Burton (1915-2010), public servant, author and academic, was educated in Sydney and at the London School of Economics, where he gained his doctorate on a Public Service Scholarship in 1942.
1 portrait in the collection
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
John Bulmer (1833-1913), missionary and clergyman, came to Australia in 1852 and worked as a cabinetmaker in Melbourne for two years before going to the goldfields.
1 portrait in the collection
John Bradfield (1867-1943), engineer, was a key figure in the development of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and inner city transport network.
1 portrait in the collection
Piper (life dates unknown), also known as John Piper, was a Wiradjuri man who acted as a guide to Thomas Mitchell’s surveying expedition along the Murray and Darling Rivers into present-day Victoria in 1836.
2 portraits in the collection
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell KG GCMG PC (1792 –1878) was Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1839 to 1841 and served twice as Prime Minister of Great Britain, in 1846-1852 and 1865-1866.
1 portrait in the collection
John Sumner AO CBE (1924–2013), described as the 'father of Australian drama', was born in England and trained and worked in repertory theatre there before World War 2.
2 portraits in the collection
The exhibition includes such striking works as Portrait of Fred Williams, and Barry Humphries in the character of Edna Everage, the enigmatic Portrait of Hal Hattam, a group of revealing self portraits including the mysterious Inside and Outside, as well as endearing portraits of the artist's children.
John Flaus (b. 1934) is an Australian broadcaster, actor, script editor and lecturer, known for Mary and Max (2009), Trust Frank (2020) and Tracks (2013).
1 portrait in the collection
Johnny Bulunbulun (1946-2010), Ganalbingu (Yolgnu) painter and printmaker, grew up on the island of Milingimbi and in Bulman in southern Arnhem Land.
1 portrait in the collection
Recorded 1973
Recorded 1962
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001
Recorded 1962
Recorded 1961
Recorded 2018
Recorded 1962
Recorded 1962
Recorded 1960
Recorded 1960
Gift of Mike MacPhail 2010
Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018
Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2010
John Elderfield lauds the portraiture of Paul Cézanne, the artist described by both Matisse and Picasso as ‘the father of us all’.
John Zubrzycki meets Australian paint pioneer Jim Cobb.
John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
Olivia Newton-John AC DBE (1948-2022) came to Australia as a five-year-old with her father, Brin Newton John, who had worked on the Enigma project at Bletchley, and her mother, Irene Born, who was the daughter of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born.
1 portrait in the collection
William John Wills (1834-1861) came to Victoria with his brother in early 1853.
3 portraits in the collection
Sir John Carew Eccles AC FRS FAA (1903-1997), neuroscientist, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1963 for his discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Hamilton 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Sir William John Macleay (1820-1891), pastoralist, politician, collector and promoter of science, had just begun to study medicine in his native Scotland when family circumstances dictated his migration to New South Wales.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir John Forrest (1847-1918), explorer and politician, trained as a surveyor and led an 1869 expedition in search of Ludwig Leichhardt.
2 portraits in the collection
John Edward Thornett MBE (1935–2019), former rugby union international, grew up in Sydney and was educated at Sydney Boys’ High where, in addition to being school captain, he excelled at rugby, swimming and rowing.
1 portrait in the collection
John Raphael Smith worked in various drapery establishments and painted miniatures before turning to engraving in London.
1 portrait in the collection
John Allen Manton (1807–1864), Wesleyan minister, arrived in Australia in 1831.
1 portrait in the collection
Lieutenant John Watts (1755-1801) joined the Navy in 1770 and embarked with James Cook in 1776 on the fatal voyage of the Resolution.
1 portrait in the collection
John Hunter (1737-1821), naval officer and governor, came to Sydney as second captain of the Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet.
3 portraits in the collection
Edward John Eyre (1815-1901), explorer and administrator, emigrated to New South Wales from England when he was 17.
3 portraits in the collection
John Firth-Smith (b. 1943) is a Sydney abstract painter. In the early 1960s he won a number of 'young artist' prizes for his paintings of yachts on Sydney Harbour, but by 1968 his work was becoming increasingly abstract, featuring large fields of opaque colour.
2 portraits in the collection
John Pascoe Fawkner (1792-1869), sometimes called the 'Founder of Melbourne', was a pioneer and adventurer.
2 portraits in the collection
Sir John (‘Black Jack’) McEwen CH GCMG PC (1900-1980) was leader of the Australian Country Party and deputy prime minister from 1958 to 1971.
2 portraits in the collection
John Lort Stokes (1812–1885), explorer, naval officer and surveyor, joined the navy at age twelve and age thirteen was assigned to HMS Beagle as a midshipman.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of R Ian Lloyd 2010. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
Emeritus Professor Derek John Mulvaney AO CMG (1925–2016), one of Australia’s foremost prehistorians, has often been described as the father of Australian archaeology.
1 portrait in the collection
Based in Sydney, John Janson-Moore (b. 1968) is a visual artist, photographer and filmmaker, working across a broad spectrum of media, encompassing portraiture, documentary and conceptual art.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased 2008
Charles John Cerutty CMG (1870-1941), public servant, began his career at the age of eighteen as a clerk in the Victorian Department of the Treasurer.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Purchased 2005
Sir William John Lyne (1844-1913), politician, was a Premier of New South Wales and a minister in the first Australian parliament.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2005
Wilfrid John Peisley, born in Bathurst, won a number of prizes at regional shows before gaining a scholarship to the East Sydney Technical College at the age of seventeen.
1 portrait in the collection
John Henniker Heaton (1848-1914) worked as a jackaroo upon his arrival in New South Wales in 1864, but soon turned to journalism, writing for the Cumberland Mercury, Goulburn Penny Post and the Sydney based weekly the Town and Country Journal.
1 portrait in the collection
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
John David Armstrong (1857–1943) was a sideshow and vaudeville performer known as ‘The Australian Tom Thumb’.
2 portraits in the collection
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
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2013
Edmond John (Ned) Hogan (1883-1964), farmer and premier, left school early and engaged in road-making, timber-cutting, farm-labouring and rabbiting in addition to farm chores at home.
1 portrait in the collection
Tech entrepreneur Tan Le and photographer John Tsiavis.
Purchased with funds provided by Dr Gene Sherman AM and Patrick Corrigan AM 2016
Sir J.W. Downer was a delegate from South Australia to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney, 1891.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jim Paterson 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001
Gift of the artist 2008
Purchased 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Purchased 1999
Gift of the artist 2005
Purchased 1999
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Gift of Kym Bonython AC DFC AFC 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013
Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd presents 61 of some of Australia’s most respected and significant painters working in the studio environment.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mr and Mrs John Burton 2007
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rabbi John Levi AC 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of an anonymous donor 2007
Gift of the artist 2015
Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2002
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Liibus family 2015
Sir John Kerr AK KCMG LSt J PC GCVO QC (1914-1991) was the eighteenth Governor-General of Australia.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
Sir John Michael Higgins GCMG (1862-1937), metallurgist, government adviser and company director, was the son of a miner and was indentured to a pharmacist at 14.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Gift of Eleanor Thornton 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2022
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000
William John Pickett Bedford (1805–1869) was the eldest of three children of Anglican clergyman, William Bedford (1781–1852), and his wife, Eleanor, and came to Van Diemen’s Land with his family in 1823 following the appointment of his father to a chaplaincy in the colony.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
John Thomas Lang (1876–1975) served two terms as premier of New South Wales in the 1920s and 1930s.
5 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004
Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Thomas de Kessler 2001
Purchased 2014
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
Purchased with funds provided by Harold Mitchell AC 2015
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004
General Sir John Monash GCMG KCB (1865-1931) was one of Australia's great military leaders.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
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
Herbert John Louis (Bert) Hinkler (1892-1933), aviator, worked with a photographer and in sugar mills before joining the Queensland Aero club and taking a correspondence course in mechanics.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Gift of the Bardas families, in memory of Sandra Bardas OAM and David Bardas AO 2024. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Gift of Karen Vickery 2022
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2022
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012
Gift of the artist 2022
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Mollison AO 2007
Gift of the artist 2023. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Thomas de Kessler 2001
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.
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Roslyn Lawson 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Purchased 2012
Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004
Purchased 2009
Purchased 2009
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2018
Gift of the artist 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2005
Ah Xian's porcelain portrait of paediatrician Dr. John Yu reflects Yu's heritage and interests.
Purchased 2007
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Dr Sarah Engledow explores the early life and career of John Brack.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Purchased 2007
Purchased 1999
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
Gift of Timothy Fairfax AC 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2020
Purchased 1999
Commissioned with funds provided by Art Exhibitions Australia 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013
Gift of Frank Croll and Dr Joan Croll AO 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Gift of Dr Joan Croll AO 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2011
Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
An extensive selection of portraits by John Brack were on display at the National Portrait Gallery in late 2007.
Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010
Purchased 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2017
Purchased 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Recorded 1967
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Purchased 2010
Purchased 2010
Purchased 2020
Gift of John and Vivien Thornett 2014
Purchased 2017
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Doris Passmore 2003
Gift of John and Jean Mulvaney 2000
Purchased with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Paul and Wendy Greenhalgh 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of Dr J J C Bradfield 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Cast 1999 from terracotta donated by Paul and Wendy Greenhalgh 1999
Purchased 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
An exploration of the role of artists such as John Webber who, whilst a member of Cook’s crew over many voyages, created paintings and drawings of the situations and people the explorers encountered.
An exhibition of photographs by John Witzig, drawings by Nicholas Harding and film footage by Albe Falzon, expressive of the free-spirited, hot-blooded energy of Australian surfers under the cloud of conscription to Vietnam.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Gift of Professor David Phillips 2023
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Purchased 2023
Purchased 2022
Purchased by the Commonwealth Government with the generous assistance of Robert Oatley AO and John Schaeffer AO 2000
A pair of portraits by John Brack; Portrait of Kym Bonython and Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap combine to create a quirky depiction of their subject.
Gift of the family of Aimée Viola Horsley, daughter of J.C. Williamson 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the artist 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
The National Portrait Gallery's acquisition of the portrait of Edward John Eyre by pioneering English photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Take a close look at a portrait with a hidden message in its hands. For Year 7 – 9 students.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Gift of John Colin Monash Bennett 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Presented by Sir Roy Strong and the late Dr Julia Trevelyan Oman in memory of their friendship with Gordon Darling and Marilyn Darling 2006
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Enid Hawkins 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Rt Hon John Adrian Louis Hope KT GCMG GCVO PC, 7th Earl of Hopetoun (1860–1908) was the first governor general of Australia.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2016
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Gift of John Spender KC 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
Sarah Engledow steps up to the footlights and applauds the storyline behind Nicholas Harding's portraits of actor John Bell.
Andrew Sayers discusses the portrait of Dr Joan Croll AO by the Australian artist John Brack.
Purchased 2000
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Elsie Martin 2000
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.
Purchased 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Alan Foulkes in memory of Mark Graham Cleghorn 2012
Gift of the Musgrave Family 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2013
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012
In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Gift of the artist 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Purchased 2015
The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
Gift of the artist 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Leo Schofield AM 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008
Joanna Gilmour recounts the story of ill-fated sea voyages in the early stages of the Antipodean colony.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
Gift of Ronald Walker 2002
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Gift of Ronald A Walker 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007
Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001
Purchased 2010
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009
Robin Sellick's portraits of Australian sportspeople include Harry Kewell, Adam Scott, Shane Warne, Mark Webber and John Newcombe.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001
Purchased 2011
Diana Warnes explores the lives of Hal and Katherine 'Kate' Hattam through their portraits painted by Fred Williams and Clifton Pugh.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014
Purchased 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by the Founding Patron, L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2000
Australian Galleries Director Stuart Purves tells the story of two portraits by John Brack.
Gift of Penelope Seidler AM 2021
Gift of the Haigh family 2005
Kate Gollings describes an encounter between three generations of Australian photographers; David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings.
John Elliott talks about his photographic portrait practice, including his iconic image of Slim Dusty arm-in-arm with Dame Edna Everage.
Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.
Gift of the artist 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007
Gift of Sara Kelly 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2022
Purchased 2009
Brothers in harms
John is a very unique character so I really wanted to capture that uniqueness.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Heidi 'Bide' Middleton AM (b. 1971) and Sarah-Jane 'Sass' Clarke AM (b.
1 portrait in the collection
Shane Maloney (b. 1953) is the creator of the popular 'Murray Whelan' series of six crime novels, beginning with Stiff (1994) and The Brush-Off (1996) and currently ending at Sucked In (2007).
1 portrait in the collection
Learn about artist John Brack, who said that portraits involve three people: the painter, the sitter and the viewer. For Year 6 – 8 students.
Thousand mile stare provides a unique portrait of people of rural Australia
Katherine Russell examines the art of Australian artist Paul Newton, referencing the portraiture of John Singer Sargent.
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2018
Purchased 2010
Purchased 2017
Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
James Reading Fairfax (1834 -1919) was the second of John Fairfax's sons to join him in business.
1 portrait in the collection
Stand by your man
Elizabeth Fairfax (née Jesson, 1778–1861), colonial free settler, was born in Birmingham and around 1800 married William Fairfax, whose family had previously held estates in Barford, Warwickshire.
1 portrait in the collection
Janette Howard (b. 1943), wife of former prime minister the Hon. John Howard OM AC, was born in Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
An interview with the photographer.
View the full collection of portraits in the exhibition.
The Zammitt Family is part of a massive series of mine that I've been doing since early 2020, documenting COVID in and around Sydney.
Twice rebelled against, and twice vindicated, William Bligh occupies an ambivalent space in Australian history. Angus Trumble, former Director of the National Portrait Gallery, explains.
Dempsey’s people: a folio of British street portraits 1824–1844 is the first exhibition to showcase the compelling watercolour images of English street people made by the itinerant English painter John Dempsey throughout the first half of the nineteenth century.
Sarah Reading (1808-1875) came to Sydney from England in 1838 with her husband, John Fairfax (1805-1877), who had left school at the age of twelve and been apprenticed to a printer and bookseller.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Purchased 2013
Deborah Paauwe (b. 1972), photographer, was born in the USA and came to Adelaide in 1985 after a childhood spent travelling around the world with her missionary parents.
1 portrait in the collection
Featuring 130 works across painting, film, photography, screen printing, sculpture, and then some – it explores our inner worlds, outer selves, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and more.
Lady Hay, née Chalmers (c. 1806-1892) was reported at the time of her death to have been about ten years older than Hay.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016
The Seekers, John Farnham and Lee Kernaghan
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008
Dora Toovey, born in Bathurst, trained in Sydney under Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo, James R Jackson (whom she married) and John Passmore.
2 portraits in the collection
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2019
An interview with the indomitable Joan Croll, subject of John Brack's portrait.
Purchased 2015
Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax CMG (1909-1993), pastoralist, was the son of JHF Fairfax.
1 portrait in the collection
Terry Clune (b. 1932), gallerist, established Terry Clune Galleries with Frank MacDonald at 59 McLeay Street Potts Point in 1957.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Sasha Grishin AM (birth date undisclosed) is the Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History at the Australian National University.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of John McLean 2008
The perfect match
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Tom Carroll (b.1961), former professional surfer, made the finals of the 1979 Pipe Masters on his first ever world tour, finishing 24th in the world that same year.
1 portrait in the collection
This issue features Jude Rae, Arthur Boyd, Darren McDonald, John Singer Sargent, Tom Wills the 'inventor' of Australian Rules Football and more.
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
This issue features Paul Kelly, Rineke Dijkstra, John Brack, the National Photographic Portrait Prize and more.
Rudy Komon (1908-1982) was an art dealer and gallery director. After working as a journalist in Czechoslovakia, where he served with the Czech resistance during the war, he emigrated to Sydney and opened an antique store.
3 portraits in the collection
James Oswald Fairfax AC (1933-2017) was the eldest son of Sir Warwick Fairfax.
1 portrait in the collection
Former National Portrait Gallery Director, Andrew Sayers, describes John Brack's portrait of Kym Bonython.
Gift in memory of Frederick John Cato Kumm 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
This issue of Portrait Magazine features Robert Hannaford, Walter Lindrum, John Brack, judicial portraits, Vincent Lingiari and more.
The two portraits that I've chosen to compare and contrast and to bring together a self portrait by John Brack in 1955, and William Yang, Self Portrait #2.
This issue features Martin Schoeller, Bess Norriss Tait, Emanuel Solomon and the sisters of St Joseph, Rennie Ellis and AC/DC, John Brack and more.
This issue of Portrait Magazine feature Lucian Frued, John Witzig, colonial death portraits, William Kinghorne, Henry Crock, and more.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Witzig 2006
This issue of Portrait Magazine features the exhibition Masters of Fare, Greg Weight's photographic collection, John Elliott, Barbara Blackman and more.
David Campbell (1952–1984) decided to become an artist while a student at Erina High on the New South Wales Central Coast.
3 portraits in the collection
Thomas Purves (1909-1969), known as Tam, founded the Australian Galleries in Smith Street, Collingwood, Melbourne with his wife Anne in 1956.
1 portrait in the collection
Defiant commitment
The exhibition begins with Barry's childhood in Camberwell, Melbourne and chronicles his days as a struggling actor in Australia and England, his creation of characters including Barry McKenzie, Dame Edna Everage, Sandy Stone and Sir Les Patterson
This issue of Portrait Magazine features David Moore, Midnight Oil, Dr Joan Croll by John Brack, the acquisition of the Captain Cook portrait, and more.
This issue of Portrait Magazine features the exhibition The world of Thea Proctor, porcelain sculpture of Dr. John Yu, Pat Mackie, the Kylie Minogue exhibition and more.
Nigel Boonham is a British sculptor. He studied under John Ravera from 1973-1977 and later worked in the studio of sculptor Oscar Nemon.
1 portrait in the collection
Paul Cézanne, Bill Henson and Simone Young, Australian cinema’s iconic women, and feminist portraits by Kate Just.
This issue features the new National Portrait Gallery building, James Cook and John Banks, Cate Blanchett, Irina Baranova, Annette Kellerman, Shepard Fairey and more.
From infamous bushranger to oyster shop display, curator Jo Gilmour explores the life of George Melville.
This issue features Claudia Karvan & Jimmy Pozarik, Agus Suwage & Contemporary Portraiture from Asia, Fred Williams, Zhong Chen, John Bell, The French Antipodes and more.
Max Loudon was photographic assistant to, and darkroom manager for, Athol Shmith and John Cato before becoming a photographer for Rolling Stone Australia.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
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.
Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Fred Lowry (1836-1863) was a stockman before he turned to cattle and horse duffing.
1 portrait in the collection
This issue features Kate Beynon, Philosopher Cynthia Freeland, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, John Tsiavis & Chris Lilley, UK's BP Portrait Award, Purchasing power in colonial Sydney and more.
This 1910 portrait of Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts by Tom Roberts was brought into the Gallery's collection with the assistance of the Acquisition Fund in 2013.
Mabel Forrest (née Mills, 1872–1935), writer, was born near Yandilla on the Darling Downs and grew up on various cattle stations in the district, publishing her first poem at age ten.
1 portrait in the collection
William Ridley, stipple engraver, worked as an illustrator for a variety of magazines.
5 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004
Bernard Katz (1911-2003), winner of the 1970 Nobel prize for medicine with Ulf von Euler and Julius Axelrod, was naturalised as an Australian citizen in 1941.
1 portrait in the collection
Harry Borden is an English photographer who has specialised in photographing celebrities, among them Kylie Minogue.
1 portrait in the collection
Tiny token, big love
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Bart Willoughby (b. 1960) is a Pitjantjantjara and Mirning singer/songwriter who is one of the Stolen Generations.
2 portraits in the collection
Denton Corker Marshall is based in Melbourne with offices in London and Jakarta.
Emily Ross (née Fairfax) (1832-1871) was the eldest child of newspaper publisher John Fairfax - who founded the Fairfax news dynasty in Sydney in 1841 - and his wife Sarah.
1 portrait in the collection
Elizabeth Sarah Ellen Carter (née Hill, 1845-1927) was one of the eight children born to Sydney cabinetmaker and undertaker John Hill jnr and his wife Elizabeth - the step-daughter of ex-convict boatman, John Cadman.
1 portrait in the collection
On this day eight hundred years ago at Runnymede near Windsor, King John signed Magna Carta.
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
Purchased 2004
The National Portrait Gallery will, next Tuesday, unveil an exciting new acquisition of irrefutable importance to all Australians. Portrait of William Bligh, in master’s uniform c. 1776, attributed to John Webber, is one of the earliest portraits of the contentious, historical figure, and extends the Gallery’s remarkable collection of early colonial portraits.
Purchased 2009
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.
A penny for their thoughts
Domesticity’s creative maelstrom
My Favourite Australian is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.
Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001
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
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018
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.
Robert Oatley talks about the repatriation of the John Webber portrait of Captain James Cook.
Jean Isherwood OAM (1911–2006), artist, was born in Marrickville and won a scholarship to the National Art School at East Sydney Technical College at the age of fourteen.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
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.
Purchased 2018
Giles Auty introduces British painter John Wonnacott who will talk at the National Portrait Gallery on 2 November 2002.
This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia
Josonia Palaitis trained as an art teacher in Sydney in the early 1970s, and experimented with diverse painting styles before settling into the photorealist mode for which she became best known.
1 portrait in the collection
Pamela MacFarlane was born in Dunedin, NZ and completed a Master's degree in Zoology at the University of Otago in the 1940s.
1 portrait in the collection
Francis Gardiner (Christie) (1830-c. 1903), bushranger, came to New South Wales with his family as a child.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rob and Paula McLean 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Kathleen 'Kate' Hattam (1923–2004), stylesetter and art collector, was born in London and served with the Women’s Royal Air Force during the Second World War, stationed in radar at Beachey Head.
1 portrait in the collection
Fiona Stanley, Fiona Wood, Fred Hollows, Patrick McGorry and John Yu
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Gift of the artist 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Charles Abraham, son of a London architect, trained at the Royal Academy schools under the sculptor Sierier, and for a further three years in Paris and Rome.
1 portrait in the collection
Captain Robert Clark Morgan (1798-1864), Christian mariner, whaler and diarist, entered the Royal Navy at the age of eleven, leaving at sixteen for the merchant marine and beginning a career in whaling, a pursuit he relished.
1 portrait in the collection
From the age of thirteen Chester Porter QC (1926–2021) knew he wanted to be a barrister.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Jean Porter and family 2021. Donated through the Australia Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
Carl Cooper (1912-1966), ceramic decorator, contracted poliomyelitis in his twenties.
1 portrait in the collection
Polly Borland, born in Melbourne in 1959, began her photographic career in Australia before moving to London in 1989.
23 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Barbara Blackman 2009
James Wilson (1760–1840), naval officer, was the commander of a ship called the Duff, which in 1797 brought a group of missionaries from the London Missionary Society to Tahiti.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Drawn from the NPG’s burgeoning collection of cartes de visite, Carte-o-mania! celebrates the wit, style and substance of the pocket-sized portraits that were taken and collected like crazy in post-goldrush Australia.
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.
Barbara Blackman AO (b. 1928), writer, poet and arts patron, was only fifteen when the ABC Weekly published one of her poems.
5 portraits in the collection
William Robertson (1798-1874), pastoralist and entrepreneur, was a key player in the settlement of Victoria in the 1830s.
3 portraits in the collection
Professor Frank Fenner's outstanding career has been marked by two achievements of considerable magnitude, namely the eradication of smallpox and the introduction of myxomatosis in Australia for rabbit control.
4 portraits in the collection
Gift of the artist 2004
Ilsa Konrads arrived with her brother and parents from Lativa in 1949.
1 portrait in the collection
Reconnect and reflect with our new major exhibition, Australian Love Stories (in real life!) as we explore love, affection and connection in all its guises.
Curator Michael Desmond introduces the exhibition Truth and Likeness, an investigation of the importance of likeness to portraiture.
Gift of the artist 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Steve Irwin (1962-2006) achieved international fame as the 'Crocodile Hunter'.
1 portrait in the collection
Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘Me and my place’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.
Kylie Minogue, one of Australia's most famous cultural exports is now the subject of her own exhibition.
In focussing on the importance of gifts in the building of the collection, prominence must be given to the most spectacular of the National Portrait Gallery's acquisitions; the portrait of Captain James Cook RN by John Webber R.A.
The newly-established National Portrait Gallery Foundation met for its inaugural meeting last Friday 15 May in Canberra.
Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
David Naseby (1937–2022) was born in England and studied in the United Kingdom before coming to Australia in 1953.
8 portraits in the collection
On the day before the Hon. E. G. Whitlam, AC, QC, died last month, at the great age of 98, there were seven former prime ministers of Australia still living, plus the incumbent Mr. Abbott – eight in all.
Macfarlane Burnet and Patrick White
Australia has become recognised for the range and talent of its musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities in general associated with the music industry
I wanted to be a journalist. I was very idealistic and I had a big chip on my shoulder. I wanted to investigate the human condition, drawing attention to those in need with the hope of someday effecting positive change.
Lewis Pingo was an engraver at the Royal Mint. Pingo's father Thomas, an Italian-born medallist and die engraver, was one of the founders of the Royal Academy in 1768.
1 portrait in the collection
The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG.
Press releases and image downloads for media.
Nolan Heads will focus on the portraiture of one of Australia's most original painters and one of the few to have achieved an international reputation
Darren McDonald gained his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) degree from RMIT in 2000, having completed an associate diploma in painting at the same institution.
1 portrait in the collection
Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.
Fred Hilmer AO (b. 1945), economic policy and reform strategist, was the chief executive officer of John Fairfax Holdings from 1998 to 2005 and vice- chancellor of the University of New South Wales from 2006 to 2015.
1 portrait in the collection
Ann Moyal AM (1926-2019), historian, was educated in Sydney and Canberra, and gained her first class honours degree in Arts from the University of Sydney in 1947.
1 portrait in the collection
Clifton Pugh AO was one of Australia’s best-known artists of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and one of its leading advocates for the arts.
12 portraits in the collection
One of the versions of thick, macho moustache strongly associated in the Australian visual lexicon with sportsmen of the 1970s and 80s.
Walter Bowring, born and educated in Auckland, contributed cartoons to the New Zealand observer and The weekly press, exhibited with the Canterbury Society of Arts and studied with Orpen and John in London, where he contributed to Punch, before arriving in Sydney in 1925.
3 portraits in the collection
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 (1792–1878) arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1822 with his wife, Mary (née Brooks, c.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
The Rt Hon Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC (1903–1997) was Chief Justice of Australia from 27 April 1964 to 11 February 1981 – the longest serving Chief Justice of Australia.
2 portraits in the collection
Eleanor Wingate (née Rouse, 1813–1898) was the second youngest daughter of colonial public servant and landowner Richard Rouse (1774–1852) and his wife Elizabeth (née Adams, 1772–1849), who’d come to Sydney as free settlers in 1801.
1 portrait in the collection
Boyd’s self-portrait at age 25 is joined by his equally emotive portraits of those around him.
Alana Landsberry (b. 1982) is a Sydney-based professional photographer who specialises in portrait, lifestyle, beauty and fashion photography.
2 portraits in the collection
Danelle Bergstrom (b. 1957) was born in Sydney. She studied art and art education at the Julian Ashton school (1974-1979) and at Alexander Mackie CAE.
2 portraits in the collection
Danila Vassilieff, born in Russia, arrived in Australia in the early 1920s having served in a Cossack cavalry regiment, been captured by Communist forces and escaped via Persia and India to China.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
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
John Beattie (1859-1930) came to Tasmania from Scotland at the age of nineteen, in 1878.
3 portraits in the collection
Joy Hester (1920-1960) was the only female member of the Angry Penguin movement, which included artists Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd.
1 portrait in the collection
West Australian-born Lesley Moline (née O’Toole) studied at Perth Technical College before moving to Melbourne in 1933.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2009
An interview with Australian astronaut, Dr. Andy Thomas, who describes the experience of space travel.
Charles Turner (1773-1851), engraver, was born in Oxfordshire and moved to London at the end of the 1780s.
2 portraits in the collection
Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them.
June Mendoza AO OBE (1924–2024) was born into a musical family in Melbourne and started sketching portraits while touring with her mother, a composer and pianist.
1 portrait in the collection
Neville Amadio AM MBE (1913-2006), flautist, played for some fifty years with iterations of the same Sydney orchestra, first called the 2FC Broadcasting Orchestra, then the ABC Orchestra then, from 1934, the Sydney Symphony.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
Gift of Pamela Glasson 2009
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)
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
Portraits of Australia’s pioneering psychologists and artworks by artists fascinated by the subconscious mind.
Ian 'Molly' Meldrum AM (b. 1946) has a long history of involvement and influence in the Australian rock music industry.
1 portrait in the collection
Rennie Ellis: Aussies All is a celebration of the life and work of the late Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.
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
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
Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax (1901-1987), grandson of Sarah and James Fairfax, was the only son of Sir James Fairfax, who had become a partner in the company in the 1880s.
1 portrait in the collection
Professor Peter Doherty (b. 1940), immunologist, shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1996 for his discoveries about how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Vincent Day and John Bradley 2017
Thomas de Kessler, artist, came to Australia from Hungary in 1950. Born into an academic and creative family, he spoke several languages and had attended art school before arriving in Melbourne.
3 portraits in the collection
In 2020 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Sally Robinson's remarkable portrait of author Tim Winton.
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family, the Ian Potter Foundation and John Schaeffer AO 2009
A great addition to themes such as Australian History, Sport, Australian Studies, Cultural Studies, English and Visual Arts. For Year 9 – 12 students.
Noah Taylor (b. 1969) left school at 16 to join Melbourne's St Martin's Youth Theatre.
1 portrait in the collection
Figurative abstract artist and designer Howard Tangye was born in Queensland in 1948 and lived and worked in London from the 1970s until recently.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012
Henry Hoppner Meyer, thought to be the son of an engraver, was a nephew of the painter John Hoppner.
2 portraits in the collection
David McKenzie Dow OBE (1870-1953) was official secretary for Australia in America in 1924-31, and acting commissioner-general in 1931-38.
1 portrait in the collection
Reg Campbell was a self-taught painter specialising in landscapes and portraits.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Mr Anthony Adair and Ms Karen MacLeod 2007
Martin Philbey (b. 1962) is a Melbourne-based photographer who has amassed an archive of 100,000 images over his twenty-year career.
4 portraits in the collection
Sir Eric Neal trained as an engineer at the South Australian School of Mines.
1 portrait in the collection
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
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008
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.
Robert Oatley's continuing benefaction has helped the National Portrait Gallery acquire works that add another layer to the story of Captain Cook.
James Quinn was born in Melbourne and trained at the NGV School before studying in Paris from the mid-1890s to 1902.
1 portrait in the collection
Michael Anderson, sheep farmer and Aboriginal land rights activist, was born in Brewarrina, NSW.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.
Right-hound man
Dr Chistopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian author Christos Tsiolkas taken by John Tsiavis.
Adam Chang (Hong Jun Zhang) (b. 1960), in a Sydney based portrait painter.
2 portraits in the collection
May Emmeline Wirth (1894–1978), circus performer, was once described as the ‘greatest lady bareback rider of all time’.
1 portrait in the collection
Robin Smith (1927-2024) grew up in rural New Zealand, and studied arts and fine arts at Canterbury University before beginning to write and illustrate adventure and natural history stories.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2009
Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Kelvin Kong AM is a Worimi doctor who grew up in Port Stephens, New South Wales.
1 portrait in the collection
Guy Stuart (1942-2024) studied under John Brack at Melbourne Grammar School between 1956 and 1960.
1 portrait in the collection
Kerry Walker AM, actor, graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1974 and made her professional stage debut in a melée in Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet with the Australian Ballet.
1 portrait in the collection
Charles Blackman OBE (1928–2018), artist, studied at East Sydney Technical College and worked as a press artist for the Sun newspaper before moving to Melbourne, where he came to the attention of arts patron John Reed.
9 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Diana de Kessler 2009
Michael Meszaros has worked full-time as a sculptor for thirty years.
5 portraits in the collection
Born in Sydney, Garry Shead studied at the National Art School in 1961-2.
4 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Canberra-born artist Tony Clark moved to London with his family in 1960.
1 portrait in the collection
Harold 'Hal' Hattam (1913-1994), doctor, artist and art collector, came to Australia from his native Scotland at the age of seven.
1 portrait in the collection
This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Lucio Galletto OAM (birth date undisclosed) was born into a family of farmers and restaurateurs in north-west Italy.
1 portrait in the collection
Jacqueline Mitelman (b. 1952), photographer, was born in Scotland and moved to Australia with her family at the age of five.
23 portraits in the collection
This is the first in a series of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions to survey the portraits painted by artists who are not thought of, primarily, as portrait painters
Betina Fauvel-Ogden was born in Adelaide and lives and works in Melbourne.
2 portraits in the collection
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
Purchased 2003
Jessie Whyte (née Walker, 1779–1864). Born in Berwickshire, Scotland, Jessie married George Whyte (d.
1 portrait in the collection
Nathan Kelly (b. 1976), photographer, studied fine arts at the Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney before being named as one of Australia’s top 30 photography graduates by Australian Commercial Photography magazine.
3 portraits in the collection
Edward Richards, photographer, has lived and worked in Canberra for most of his life.
1 portrait in the collection
Harry Hopman (1906-1985), tennis professional, won seven major Australian titles in the 1930s, notably four mixed doubles with his first wife, Nell Hall.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2013
These full-length figures in watercolour, gouache and pencil date mostly from the 1820s, and almost all come from the collection of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart.
Sandra Bruce explores a new acquisition that has within it a story of interconnectivities in the Australian art world.
In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.
Gift of BHP Billiton 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Sir Donald Bradman AC (1908-2001), Australia's preeminent cricketer, is regularly named the greatest player the game has ever known.
2 portraits in the collection
Maude Shipp (1895-1964), vaudevillian, debuted as ‘Little Maude Shipp, the Wonderful Baby Performer’ around May 1900, as a member of the troupe managed by her father, Edwin ‘Teddy’ Shipp (c.
1 portrait in the collection
Toni Wilkinson emigrated with her family from London to Perth in the early 1970s.
6 portraits in the collection
Gift of the Karmel family in memory of Lena and Peter Karmel 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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.
Accomplished illustrator, painter, writer and diarist, set designer and one of the most distinguished photographers of the twentieth century, Cecil Beaton is renowned for his portraits of well known faces from the worlds of fashion, literature, and film.
George Coppin (1819-1906), comedian, entrepreneur and politician, cut his teeth in the world of the English itinerant theatre.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008
Miranda Otto (b. 1967), actress, is the daughter of the prominent Australian actor Barry Otto.
3 portraits in the collection
Purchased 2012
Colin Lanceley (b. 1938), painter, printmaker and sculptor, arrived in Australia from New Zealand as a baby.
2 portraits in the collection
Introduction The National Portrait Gallery’s photographic exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus explores various interpretations of Australian sporting men and women.
A bromance in banter
Paul Newton (b. 1961), is a Sydney-based portrait painter noted for his ability to capture likeness and sensibility.
6 portraits in the collection
This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.
Robert Henderson Croll (1869-1947), author, worked as a clerk in the Victorian public service for over 40 years, but is better remembered for his books and journalism.
2 portraits in the collection
Dean Beletich (b. 1968), artist and photographer, studied at Newcastle Art School, the National Art School Sydney and the University of Newcastle from 1987 to 1991.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir Howard Florey OM KBE FRS FAA (1898–1968) pioneered the development and use of antibiotics.
2 portraits in the collection
Australian photographer Karin Catt has photographed world leaders, a host of rock stars and Oscar-winning compatriots Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett.
Dalu Zhao, Beijing-born artist, worked during the Cultural Revolution in Heilongjiang Province, like his countryman Jiawei Shen.
1 portrait in the collection
Adela Russell Walker (1847–1932), the youngest of her parents' thirteen children, was born in Longford and was 22 when she married George Coleridge Nixon, who was the son of Francis Russell Nixon – an amateur artist and Anglican Bishop of Tasmania from 1843 to 1862.
1 portrait in the collection
Rex Battarbee OBE (1893-1973), art teacher, had no formal training in art before he won the Melbourne Centenary Prize for Watercolour in 1934.
1 portrait in the collection
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?
From 1967 until 1981 Matthew Perceval lived and painted in France and during those years produced a large body of portrait paintings.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Hattam family in memory of Hal and Kate Hattam 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Gordon Watson AM (1921-1999), pianist and teacher, taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music from 1964 to 1986 and was head of its keyboard department when he retired.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Melbourne Spurr, born in Decorah, Iowa, arrived in Hollywood around 1917.
2 portraits in the collection
A one-in-a-thousand woman
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.
Johannes Heyer was born at Germantown (Grovedale) near Geelong in Victoria.
1 portrait in the collection
Jessica Smith looks at the 'fetching' portrait of Tasmania's first Anglican Bishop, Francis Russell Nixon by George Richmond
Samuel Johnson Woolf, American painter, lithographer and illustrator, was born in New York City and named after the English essayist Samuel Johnson.
1 portrait in the collection
Georgette Lizette (Googie) Withers AO (1917–2011), stage, film and television actor, was born in India and studied drama at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.
1 portrait in the collection
Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R
William Mora (1953–2023), art dealer and gallerist, was the eldest son of artist Mirka Mora and restauranteur and gallery owner Georges Mora.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003
Davida Allen is a Queensland artist. As a student at Brisbane's Stuartholme School in the 1960s she had Betty Churcher as an art teacher.
2 portraits in the collection
Jane Franklin (née Griffin, 1791–1875) came to Van Diemen’s Land in 1837 following the appointment of her husband, Sir John Franklin, to the position of lieutenant-governor of the colony.
2 portraits in the collection
The Rt. Hon John Malcolm Fraser AC CH PC (1930-2015) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983.
5 portraits in the collection
Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy 2004
Purchased 2009
Purchased 2010
Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.
When John Webber R.A. (c. 1752-1793), the son of a Swiss sculptor, living in London, submitted his work to the Royal Academy Schools, one of the first to admire his paintings was Dr Daniel Solander, the Swedish naturalist who had accompanied Cook and Banks on the first voyage.
1 portrait in the collection
Bushranger Ben Hall and his cronies held around 40 people hostage in a pub north-west of Goulburn, telling their captives ‘don’t be alarmed; we only came here for a bit of fun’.
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
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013
Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Justin Garrick & Dharini Ganesan Rasu, Dino Nikias & Dimitra Nikias, Jim Windeyer, Claudia Hyles OAM, Sotiria Liangis AM & John Liangis, The Hon Mary Finn, Bill Farmer AO & Elaine Farmer, Tim Efkarpidis, Bob Nattey & Charlotte Nattey, Jennifer Bott AO, Keith Bradley, Dr Sam Whittle & Heather Whittle 2017
The Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO QC DCL (1919-2011), academic, writer and former Governor-General, was educated at Scotch College and the University of Melbourne before serving in the navy in the Second World War.
3 portraits in the collection
Roy de Maistre (Roi (Leroy) de Mestre) CBE (1894-1968), painter, studied music at the Sydney Conservatorium, but was also a student at the RAS School with Dattilo Rubbo and later the Sydney Art School with Julian Ashton.
1 portrait in the collection
Julia Margaret Cameron was of the most important photographers of the nineteenth century.
1 portrait in the collection
Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.
Purchased 2013
Purchased 2013
William Buckley (1780-1856), known as 'the wild white man', was transported for life in 1802 for receiving stolen cloth.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AO, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018
Purchased 2001
The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled twenty new portrait commissions of Australian leaders and individualists as part of its twentieth birthday celebrations in a new exhibition, 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.
In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
If music be the food of love
Gift of Grietje Croll in memory of her late husband Robert Devereaux Croll and with the endorsement of his daughter Helen Croll 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2009
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
Jean Shepeard was an actress and artist who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
1 portrait in the collection
In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.
British novelist and poet, Michael Rosen, weaves a tale about his early encounters with creativity and the self-portrait of a childhood friend.
Gift of David Crooke 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Jenny Watson (b. 1951), painter and lecturer, studied painting at the NGV school and completed her Dip.
2 portraits in the collection
Raelene Sharp (b. 1957), artist, was born in Melbourne and began her career as a graphic artist in advertising.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2005
Clyde Cameron (1913-2008), Labor politician and historian, worked as a shearer and union organizer before serving as a Member for Hindmarsh between 1949 and 1980.
1 portrait in the collection
The World of Thea Proctor is the Portrait Gallery's second major biographical exhibition - that is, the second exhibition to focus exclusively on the life and work of a single individual
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999
When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.
Tim Storrier AM (b. 1949), painter, studied at the National Art School from 1967 to 1969.
4 portraits in the collection
Fred Williams OBE, painter and etcher, was one of the most important Australian artists of the twentieth century.
14 portraits in the collection
Those of you who are active in social media circles may be aware that through the past week I have unleashed a blitz on Facebook and Instagram in connection with our new winter exhibition Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits, 1824−1844.
Gift of John Lane 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Gift of Frank Watters OAM 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Sir Kenneth Gillespie (1929–2010), dancer, teacher and founder of the Tasmanian Ballet, left his native Launceston at age sixteen to join the Borovansky Ballet in Melbourne.
1 portrait in the collection
Don Watson (b. 1949), writer, is an authority on aspects of Australian history, culture, politics and language.
1 portrait in the collection
Angus delves into the biographies of two ambitious characters; Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir John Pope-Hennessy.
Jessie Robertson (1835–1849) was the eldest of the seven children of pastoralist and businessman, William Robertson (1798–1874), and his wife Margaret (née Whyte, 1811–1866).
1 portrait in the collection
Frederick George Reynolds was born in London, the son of a watercolourist, Frederick G Reynolds senior, who was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy.
1 portrait in the collection
This exhibition offers a comprehensive display of Clifton Pugh's portraits revealing his development and growth from tonal paintings to a unique style that was in demand from politicians, artists, academics and Australian personalities.
In this major new exhibition marking the National Portrait Gallery’s third decade, 23 Australian artists and collectives have been invited to create portraits without constraints or boundaries.
Peter Allen (1944–1992), singer/songwriter and entertainer, was born Peter Allen Woolnough in Tenterfield, NSW.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Rex Dupain 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Louise Forthun (b. 1959), artist, works primarily in painting and printmaking and has an aesthetic and conceptual focus on the architectural landscape of Australia's urban environments.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift in memory of Frederick John Cato Kumm 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Jan Nelson was born in Melbourne. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1983 and has been exhibited her work in both solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia since that time including at the MCA, Sydney, National Gallery of Victoria, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane and the Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide.
Purchased 2009
Sydney Ancher (1904-1980), architect, graduated from Sydney Tech College in 1930.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Gift of the Estate of John Oswald Wicking 2003
Geoffrey Shedley was a prominent South Australian architect, with a lifelong interest in drawing and sculpture.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009
Jean-François de Galaup la Pérouse, Comte de la Pérouse (1741-1788), navigator, joined the French navy as a boy, rising to the rank of captain and serving with distinction and humanity in campaigns against the English in Hudson Bay in 1782.
4 portraits in the collection
This is the first major exhibition to examine photographic portraiture in Australia, from its beginnings in the early 1840s to the present day
Harriet and Julia Swan were daughters of the successful Hobart merchant John Swan (1796–1858), who emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1823 with his wife and first four daughters.
1 portrait in the collection
Harriet and Julia Swan were daughters of the successful Hobart merchant John Swan (1796–1858), who emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1823 with his wife and first four daughters.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.
Ben Chifley was Australia’s 16th Prime Minister. A railway engine driver in his home town of Bathurst, New South Wales, Ben Chifley became one of the most highly regarded of Australia’s Prime Ministers.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased 2014
Francis Russell Nixon (1803-1879) photographer, artist and Anglican clergyman, arrived in Hobart in 1843 to take up the role of Bishop of Tasmania.
2 portraits in the collection
National Portrait Gallery Director Angus Trumble is ending his five-year tenure with a flourish, after announcing that Gallery publication Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits 1824-1844 has been awarded the 2018 William MB Berger Prize for British Art History.
Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Barrels, bliss and brotherhood
Gift of the Estate of John Oswald Wicking 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
Malcolm Robertson tells the family history of one of Australia's earliest patrons of the arts, his Scottish born great great great grandfather, William Robertson.
Purchased 2009
Gift of John Garran 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Purchased 2006
Roslyn Oxley AM, gallerist and art dealer, was born Roslyn Walton, the daughter of John Walton, owner of the department store Waltons.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Gift of Hon RL Hunter KC 2006. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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
The National Portrait Gallery acquired a beguiling silhouette group portrait by Samuel Metford, an English artist who spent periods of his working life in America.
Desperately seeking Woolner medallions
Purchased 2021
Gift of Dr Helen Caldicott 2022
Inspiring Australians tell their own stories in a unique new gallery audio tour, developed in collaboration with the National Library of Australia.
Sir Francis Forbes (1784–1841) was the first chief justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2021
Purchased 2021
Andrew Mezei (b. 1963), artist, was born to Hungarian refugee parents in Melbourne and grew up in their leather-goods workshop, observing their adherence to a tradition of fine European craftsmanship.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of John Schaeffer AO 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Gift of the University of Newcastle (Australia) 2007
Purchased 2005
To celebrate his family bicentenary, Malcolm Robertson looks at the portraiture legacy left by his ancestors.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr John Chambers 2003
Gift of the artist 2015
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
Brisbane-based Marian Drew (b. 1960) is a photographic artist and Adjunct Associate Professor in Photography at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018
Inga Walton sheds light on a portraiture collection usually only seen by students and teachers at Melbourne University.
The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ted and Gina Gregg 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Wayne Lynch (b. 1951), surfer and surfboard shaper, grew up in Lorne, Victoria, not far from Bells Beach.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Ian Lloyd was born in Canada and studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and Brooks Institute in California.
5 portraits in the collection
Anna Volska (b. 1944), actor, came from Poland to Australia with her mother when she was seven.
1 portrait in the collection
This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of self-portraits in Australia, from the colonial period to the present
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Bequest of Alan Boxer 2014
Bill Beach (1850-1935), sculler, came to New South Wales as a young boy with his English parents, who settled at Albion Park, NSW.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of the artist 2013
John Christian Watson, known as Chris Watson (1867-1941), Australia’s third Prime Minister, was born in Valparaiso, Chile, grew up in New Zealand and left school at 10 years of age to work on railway construction projects.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Palassis (Vlase, Vlazio or Vlasio) Zanalis (1902–1973) arrived in Western Australia as a twelve-year-old, accompanied by an uncle, from the Greek island of Kastellorizo in 1914.
1 portrait in the collection
A major new exhibition celebrating love in all its guises. Opening 20 March 2021.
Purchased 2017
George Fetting (b. 1964) is a Sydney-based photographer specialising in portrait, travel and editorial work.
8 portraits in the collection
Ralph Barton, American cartoonist and caricaturist, produced a body of work that epitomises American high life in the 1920s.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy and Rosalind Blair Murphy 2014
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
Gift of the artist 2023
Purchased 2017
Bequest of John J Holden 2005
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015
The Australian public was invited in 2008 to vote for their favourite Australian. After the votes were tallied an exhibition of the top-ten Popular Australians and the top-twenty unsung heroes was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.
Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.
Patrick Ryan (d. 1990) and Tim Burstall set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.
1 portrait in the collection
The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.
Chips Rafferty MBE (1909–1971), screen actor, was born John Goffage in Broken Hill and nicknamed 'Chips' as a boy.
5 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007
George John Watson (1829–1906), racing entrepreneur, was born at Ballydarton in Co.
1 portrait in the collection
Ross Watson specialises in interpolating representations of lithe semi-naked men into copies of paintings by masters such as Vermeer, Ter Borsch, David and Bronzino.
2 portraits in the collection
Isabella Louisa Parry (née Stanley, 1801–1839), amateur artist, community worker and collector, was the daughter of Sir John Stanley, first Baron Stanley of Alderley, a Whig politician and member of the Royal Society.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 1999. Courtesy of the Corrigan family and Stuart Purves.
George Barrington (1755-1804) was the best-known 'gentleman thief' of late eighteenth-century London.
3 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009
Harold Darling (1885-1950) was chairman of BHP from 1922 to 1950. Born in Adelaide, he entered his father's milling and grain business when he was 18.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased 2005
In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.
Robert Williams Pohlman (1811–1877), judge, arrived in Melbourne in 1840 and with his brother acquired a sheep station, Darlington (later Glenhope), near Kyneton.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of the artist 2001
Purchased 2005
'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.
Purchased 1998
Gift of Fiona Turner (née Robertson) and John Robertson 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Happiness to heartache
Gift of Mercy Health and Aged Care 2006
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
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.
Sir Sidney Nolan AC OM CBE (1917–1992) was one of the most original and inventive Australian artists of the postwar decades, and one of few Australian artists to achieve an international reputation in the twentieth century.
7 portraits in the collection
Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.
Desiderius Orban OBE (1884-1986) taught himself to paint while a student at the university of Budapest.
1 portrait in the collection
Lee Kernaghan (b.1964) is a country music singer and songwriter. Born in Victoria, son of travelling country music artist and impresario Ray Kernaghan, Lee Kernaghan grew up in the Riverina area of New South Wales.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021
Essington Lewis CH (1881-1961) was chairman of BHP from 1950 to 1952, having been the company's chief general manager from 1938 to 1950.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2002
Hugh Kingsley Ward MC (1887-1972), bacteriologist, was educated at Sydney Grammar and the University of Sydney before being awarded the Rhodes Scholarship in 1911 and proceeding to Oxford.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009
During his long and distinguished career Max Dupain took thousands of photographs of people
Purchased 2018
First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott AM (1935–2013) was a self-described potter, whose international reputation was built on her exquisite still-life assemblages of refined, spare vessels in subtle colours and shapes.
1 portrait in the collection
Hannah Benyon Lloyd Jones OBE (1901–1982) was the third wife of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, the chairman of David Jones from 1920 until his death in 1958.
3 portraits in the collection
Joanna Gilmour on Tom Durkin playing with Melbourne's manhood.
Road closures for the Canberra Marathon will block vehicle access to our building and carpark on Sunday 13 April until 3:00pm.
Ernest Hutcheson (1871-1951), pianist, composer and music teacher, started performing at the age of five.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018
Michael Desmond discusses the iconic picture of two Rugby League players which became known as 'The Gladiators'.
Ken Catchpole OAM (1939-2017), former rugby union international, excelled at various sports in his school years in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, but began to show real prowess in rugby as a student at Scot’s College in the 1950s.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2012
Purchased 2001
The caricaturist and engraver James Gillray's biting satires about Sir Joseph Banks.
Edward William Knox (1847-1933), industrialist, was the second of four surviving sons of Sir Edward Knox, founder of the Colonial Sugar Refining Co, and his wife Martha Rutledge (sister of merchant, banker and settler William Rutlege).
3 portraits in the collection
Purchased 2012
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Purchased 2015
Joan Kirner AC (1938-2015) was the first female premier of Victoria. Daughter of a fitter and turner and a homemaker, she attended the selective University High School, graduating from the University of Melbourne to teach in state schools.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010
The artist's diary profiles six decades of Cassab's work, from the early portrait commissions of the 1950s to later paintings that have helped confirm her eminent place in the canon of Australian portraiture.
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
James Alipius Goold (1812-1886), first Catholic bishop and archbishop of Melbourne, volunteered for service in New South Wales having studied in Rome and Perugia.
2 portraits in the collection
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003
Dan Sultan (b. 1983), Arrernte/Gurindji singer/songwriter, grew up in Melbourne.
1 portrait in the collection
Harry Seidler AC OBE (1923–2006), architect and designer, was born in Vienna and completed his early architectural studies in England and Canada.
4 portraits in the collection
Francis William Barnard Walford (1821–1896), businessman and landowner, was born in Hobart, the son of Barnard Walford (1801–1846), a publican and victualler; and the grandson of Barnard Walford senior (c.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2014
Lewis Morley (1925–2013) established his reputation as one of the key British photographers of the 1960s and is known for his iconic image of a nude Christine Keeler straddling an Arne Jacobsen chair.
50 portraits in the collection
William Robinson AO (b. 1936) is one of Australia's most distinguished and influential contemporary painters, known for his distinctive and prolific output as landscape painter in particular.
3 portraits in the collection
Joanna Gilmore delights in the affecting drawings of Mathew Lynn.
Kerry Stokes AC (b. 1940), businessman and philanthropist, was born John Patrick Alford in Melbourne.
1 portrait in the collection
After months of anticipation, the winner for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 has been announced with renowned Sydney portrait photographer Gary Grealy taking out the award. George Fetting, guest judge for the 2017 Prize, was entranced with the evocative nature of the winning portrait Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay.
Ken Rosewall AM MBE (b. 1934), champion tennis player, won the Australian Open in 1953 and again nineteen years later in 1972 (he remains both the youngest, and oldest, person to win the title).
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2011
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Marc Besen AO and Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE 2000
Professor Glyn Davis AC is Secretary to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
1 portrait in the collection
Sarah Engledow pens a fond farewell to acclaimed science historian Ann Moyal.
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
Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.
Lauren Dalla examines the life of Australian painter Roy de Maistre and his portrait by Jean Shepeard.
Dr Christopher Chapman discusses the portrait of Australian composer Paul Grabowsky by photographer Martin Philbey.
TERROIR directors Gerard Reinmuth, Scott Balmforth and Richard Blythe believe that the practice of architecture is the production of knowledge.
Louis Nowra (b. 1950), writer, grew up in dire family circumstances on a housing commission estate in Melbourne.
1 portrait in the collection
Hugh Ramsay, the fashion of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, Peter Wegner's centenarian series, John and Elizabeth Gould's family connections, Karen Quinlan's top five portraits and more.
The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.
Scott Redford discusses his dynamic portrait commission of motorcycling champion and 2008 Young Australian of the Year Casey Stoner.
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
The Chairman, Board, Director and all the Staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Founding Patron, who died peacefully in Melbourne this morning. He was 94.
Jack Thompson AM (b. 1940) is an actor and the face of the 1970s Australian film renaissance.
3 portraits in the collection
Thomas Joseph Carr (1839–1917) was the second Catholic archbishop of Melbourne, the successor to James Alipius Goold.
2 portraits in the collection
Eva Cox AO (b. 1938), academic, feminist and social activist, emigrated to Australia in 1948 after her Jewish family had reunited following separation during the war.
1 portrait in the collection
Parking is available in our underground car park every day of the week. Fees apply.
Born in London, Alan Bond (1938–2015) emigrated with his family in 1950 and began his working life as a signwriter.
2 portraits in the collection
Gift of the artist 2004
Gift of the National Australia Bank 2002
Michael Peck, artist and academic, was born in Melbourne in 1977; he was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Art (honours) (Painting) from Monash University and has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions since 1998.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2016
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Maurice Appleby Felton (1803-1842) arrived in Sydney with his wife and four children in late 1839 as surgeon to the immigrant ship the Royal Admiral.
3 portraits in the collection
James Robert M. Robertson (1844-1932), mining engineer and coal magnate, was the son of a Scottish surgeon and colliery owner, and qualified in medicine himself before opting for a career in mining.
1 portrait in the collection
Brian Cadd (b. 1946), singer/songwriter, had been a member of 1960s Melbourne band The Groop before forming Axiom, the band for which he wrote the hits 'Arkansas Grass' and 'A Little Ray of Sunshine' at the dawn of the 1970s.
1 portrait in the collection
Melissa 'Missy' Higgins (b. 1983), singer/songwriter, began singing in her early teens, falsifying her age to get into clubs to play with her brother's jazz combo.
1 portrait in the collection
Florence Austral (1892–1968), operatic soprano, achieved international renown during the 1920s.
1 portrait in the collection
Gift of Geoff Cousins AM 2007
Reinis Zusters studied art briefly in Germany before arriving in Australia as a Latvian refugee in 1950.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006
Vali Myers (1930-2003) artist, vagabond and agitator, was born near Box Hill and moved to Melbourne at the age of eleven.
1 portrait in the collection
Joseph Banks KCB (1743-1820), naturalist, grew up on his father's Lincolnshire estate, Revesby, but his lifelong interest in botany developed at Eton and Oxford.
13 portraits in the collection
Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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.
Jill Ker Conway AC (1934-2018), academic, writer and company director, was born in Hillston in western New South Wales and spent her early years on her father's sheep station, Coorain, which was so isolated that she was seven years old before she saw another girl.
1 portrait in the collection
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
Robert Oatley AO (1928–2016), businessman, was one of Australia’s most successful wine industry figures.
Commissioned with funds provided by Nigel Satterley AM and Denise Satterley 2020
The Reverend William Singleton (c. 1804-1875), Anglican clergyman, graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1826 and was ordained in the city’s Christ Church Cathedral in 1841.
1 portrait in the collection
Peter Booth (b. 1940) grew up in the English steel mill town of Sheffield, bike-riding on the nearby moors.
1 portrait in the collection
Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Helen Nugent AO 2018
Tim Fairfax AC (b.1946), company director, grazier and philanthropist, is a founding benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery and a former chair of its board of directors.
1 portrait in the collection
Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG (1932–2024), a Yankunytjatjara woman, dedicated her life’s work to advancing the rights and wellbeing of Australia’s First Peoples.
2 portraits in the collection
Pixie O’Harris MBE (1903–1991), author and illustrator, was born Rona Olive Harris in Cardiff, one of the eight children of painter, George Frederick Harris.
1 portrait in the collection
‘The Australian Wonder’, Johnny Day (1856–1885), was an undefeated world-champion juvenile walker.
1 portrait in the collection
Barbara Tribe (1913–2000), artist, is one of Australia's most significant sculptors.
4 portraits in the collection
William Strutt arrived in Melbourne in 1850 having undertaken his training in art in Paris in the late 1830s.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002
Julia Gillard AC (b. 1961) was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia from June 2010 to June 2013.
1 portrait in the collection
Lady Deborah Vernon Hackett (1887–1965) was a mining company director and philanthropist.
1 portrait in the collection
Alexander (Jock) Sturrock and Alan Bond
Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE (1915–2009), aviatrix, decided she wanted to be a pilot when, at age eight, she saw a plane make an emergency landing on a beach near her home.
2 portraits in the collection
William Birdwood KCMG KCSI KCB DSO, 1st Baron Birdwood of Anzac and Totnes (1865-1951) commanded the Australian Corps for much of the First World War.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2014
Richard Roxburgh (b. 1962), actor, completed an economics degree at the Australian National University before gaining a place at NIDA on his second attempt.
2 portraits in the collection
George Pell AC (1941–2023), former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, was born and educated in Ballarat, Victoria.
1 portrait in the collection
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.
David Dridan (b. 1932), artist, studied at the South Australian School of Art and later at East Sydney Technical College.
1 portrait in the collection
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
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.
Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (1864–1947) was one of the most celebrated Australian expatriate artists of his generation, achieving a degree of success in Paris in the 1890s and early 1900s that was unmatched by his peers.
3 portraits in the collection
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
Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.
Ben Quilty (b. 1973), painter, gained bachelor’s degrees in painting and visual communication at Sydney College of the Arts and the University of Western Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018
Born: 1961, Melbourne
Works: Melbourne
Dr Sarah Engledow describes the achievements of internationally renowned burns and trauma surgeon Professor Fiona Wood.
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
William Clark Haines (1810-1866), first premier of Victoria, was educated at Charterhouse and Caius College Cambridge and practised as a surgeon in England before sailing to Victoria in 1842.
1 portrait in the collection
Sir Gerard Smith (1839-1920), governor, was educated at Eton before purchasing a commission as an ensign and lieutenant in the Scots Fusilier Regiment of Foot Guards, with whom he served in Canada in 1863-1864.
1 portrait in the collection
George Hurrell, born in Kentucky, began his working life studying painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.
1 portrait in the collection
The exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
Sir James Dowling (1787-1844), judge, worked as a parliamentary reporter before he was called to the Bar in London in May 1815.
1 portrait in the collection
Gordon Powell AM KCSJ (1911-2005) Presbyterian minister, broadcaster and writer, is regarded as one of the most influential Australian Presbyterians.
1 portrait in the collection
Photographed 60 years apart, these portraits trace the lives and love story of Penelope Seidler AM and Harry Seidler OBE.
I agonized over the choice of four songs to take with me to the ABC Studios for Alex Sloan’s Canberra 666 afternoon program, a sort of iteration of the old BBC Desert Island Discs.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Rick Amor (b. 1948) is a Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor.
27 portraits in the collection
Julian Meagher was born in Sydney in 1978 and studied part time at the Julian Ashton Art School before undertaking a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at the University of New South Wales.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Dridan OAM 2017
The National Portrait Gallery joins the Big Draw, a program dedicated to promoting drawing as a tool for thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement.
While the blues-inspired hard guitar riffs of Australian pub rock were shaping tastes, a number of artists were developing music primed for success on the international stage.
The National Portrait Gallery is calling on family history enthusiasts and amateur historians to tell it more about the people in its new show, Dempsey’s People: A folio of British street portraits from 1824-1844.
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
Dame Annie Florence Cardell-Oliver DBE (1876–1965), politician, grew up in Melbourne before marrying David Sykes Boyd, a wool buyer, and returning with him to England.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased 2011
Rachel Roxburgh (1915–1991), artist, conservationist and architectural historian, grew up in Sydney's eastern suburbs and studied art at East Sydney Technical College and the Adelaide Perry Art School in the 1930s.
1 portrait in the collection
The votes are in and the National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce The Honourable Bob Hawke savouring a strawberry milkshake by Harold David is the people’s choice for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018.
Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2012
Joanna Gilmour presents John Kay’s portraits of a more infamous side of Edinburgh.
Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC (1916-2014) was prime minister from the end of 1972 to the end of 1975.
12 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002
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
Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.
David Strachan (1919–1970), painter and printmaker, was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then studied art at the Slade School in London.
2 portraits in the collection
Photo media artist Anne Zahalka was born in Sydney in 1957, following her parent’s migration to post-war Australia.
19 portraits in the collection
With contributions from Julia Gillard, Fiona Gruber, and Dr Karl James, the National Portrait Gallery’s 50th edition of Portrait has something for everyone.
One of the chief aims of George Stubbs, 1724–1806, the late Judy Egerton’s great 1984–85 exhibition at the Tate Gallery was to provide an eloquent rebuttal to Josiah Wedgwood’s famous remark of 1780: “Noboby suspects Mr Stubs [sic] of painting anything but horses & lions, or dogs & tigers.”
Last night in Sydney, the National Portrait Gallery unveiled a newly commissioned portrait of Australian sporting legend Mark Ella AM.
Dr Helen Caldicott (b. 1938), physician, author and activist, was born Helen Broinowski in Melbourne and gained her degree in Medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1961.
1 portrait in the collection
Fortunately, perhaps, there is no instruction manual for newly appointed art museum directors.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Eva Besen AO (1928–2021), philanthropist and arts benefactor, founded the Besen Family Foundation with her husband Marc Besen AC.
1 portrait in the collection
Bringing eminent scientist Frank Fenner and artist Jude Rae together for the National Portrait Gallery commission was like matchmaking.
Gift of Barbara Blackman 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The winner of the Digital Portraiture Award 2016 has been announced. Congratulations to Amiel Courtin-Wilson for his submission titled Charles.
The National Portrait Gallery mourns the loss of one our most generous benefactors, Robert Oatley AO.
Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.
Marcus (Marc) Besen AC (1923–2023), philanthropist and arts benefactor, founded the Besen Family Foundation with his wife Eva Besen AO.
1 portrait in the collection
The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.
Faith Stellmaker shares pioneering artist and restaurateur Mirka Mora’s lasting legacy on Melbourne’s art, dining and culture.
Neale Daniher AO, Australian Football player, coach and general manager, was born in West Wyalong, New South Wales in 1961.
1 portrait in the collection
Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) is one of the most intriguing and talented figures in colonial Australian art.
4 portraits in the collection
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
A remarkable undated drawing by Edward Lear (1812–88) blends natural history and whimsy.
Barrie Cassidy pays textured tribute to the inimitable Bob Hawke.
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
Gift of an anonymous donor 2001
A rare and enchanting collection of 52 portraits of British street people will be on display for the first time in the National Portrait Gallery’s winter show, Dempsey’s People: a folio of British street portraits 1824-1844.
The Australian Tapestry Workshop (formerly the Victorian Tapestry Workshop) was established in 1976, following two years of planning and research on the part of its founding patrons, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Lady Joyce Delacombe.
2 portraits in the collection
Barry York charts the course from childhood request to autographed celebrity portrait anthology.
David Unaipon (1872-1967) writer, public speaker and inventor, was a Ngarrindjeri man, fourth of nine children of the evangelist James Ngunaitponi and his wife Nymbulda, both of whom were Yaraldi speakers.
1 portrait in the collection
Andrew Sayers outlines the highlights of the National Portrait Gallery's display of portrait sculpture.
Sir Frank Lowy AC (b. 1930) businessman, property developer and philanthropist, founded the Westfield group of shopping centres.
2 portraits in the collection
The second annual brand-awareness snapshot of the National Portrait Gallery is again positive, with indicators moving in the right direction – for the Gallery and for Australia’s cultural engagement.
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.
"Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey—Love has caught the strain, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey, Coo-ey—it whispers back again." The “Australian lady” who composed these fruity lyrics was none other than Desda— Jane Davies, sometime Messiter (née Price) of Leddicott, Lavender Bay.
Martin Philbey’s portrait of Dan Sultan.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018
Ada Jemima Crossley (1874–1929), singer, was one of several Australian-born divas to achieve an international reputation in the late nineteenth century.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013
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
Sir Edgar Barton ‘EB’ Coles (1899-1981) was the longest-serving chief executive of the Coles retail group.
2 portraits in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007
Francis William Barnard Walford (1821–1896), businessman and landowner, was born in Hobart, the son of Barnard Walford (1801–1846), a publican and victualler; and the grandson of Barnard Walford senior (c.
1 portrait in the collection
Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society 2000
Commissioned with funds provided by the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2014
Gift of John McPhee 2018
Adrian Rawlins (1939-2001), poet, performer and promoter, grew up in a Jewish household in Caulfield and St Kilda.
1 portrait in the collection
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lucio Galletto OAM 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
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
Tim Burstall (1927-2004) set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.
2 portraits in the collection
Edward Hammond Hargraves (1816–1891), adventurer and speculator, claimed credit for the discovery of payable goldfields in New South Wales.
1 portrait in the collection
Diana Pockley (née Longridge, 1913–2011), gardener, fundraiser and amateur historian, was born in Exeter, Devon, England and completed her secondary education in Brighton.
1 portrait in the collection
Richard Read junior arrived in Sydney from his native London in November 1819.
2 portraits in the collection
Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
George Billett (also Bellett, Bellette and Billet, 1812–1885) was a farmer and landowner, an early settler of Sorell in Tasmania, and the son of two ex-convicts.
1 portrait in the collection
Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography
Chandler Phillip Coventry AM (1924–1999), grazier, gallerist, art collector and arts patron, was born in Armidale, New South Wales to an established New England grazing family.
1 portrait in the collection
Marie Carandini (née Burgess, 1826–1894), aka 'Madame Carandini', was seven years old when her family arrived in Van Diemen's Land as assisted immigrants.
1 portrait in the collection
Jessica Bolton navigates the parallel tracks documenting Robyn Davidson’s astonishing journey.
Members of the Board, Foundation and staff of the National Portrait Gallery are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Angus Trumble.
The portrait of Ian Roberts by Ross Watson.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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
The votes have been counted, and the winners of the National Portrait Gallery’s People’s Choice Awards for the Prize exhibitions are...
Australia's major abstract painter Yvonne Audette discusses her portrait of sculptor Robert Kippel.
Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011
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
This article examines the portraits gifted to the National Portrait Gallery by Fairfax Holdings in 2003.
One night in the spring of 1970 in an old house in Whale Beach, north of Sydney, John Witzig, Albe Falzon and David Elfick put together the first issue of Tracks, playing Neil Young’s album Harvest over and over again as they pasted up galleys of type.
The life of William Bligh offers up a handful of the most remarkable episodes in the history of Britain’s eighteenth and early nineteenth-century maritime empire.
Arnold Shore, a lifelong inhabitant of Melbourne, was apprenticed to a stained glass and leadlight company called Brooks, Robinson soon after leaving school at the age of twelve.
2 portraits in the collection
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
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.
Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.
Penelope Grist finds photographer Matt Nettheim re-visiting a formative and fulfilling career tram stop.
George Billett (also Bellett, Bellette and Billet, 1812–1885) was a farmer and landowner, an early settler of Sorell in Tasmania, and the son of two ex-convicts.
1 portrait in the collection
Grace Carroll discusses the portrait of the late-eighteenth century gentleman pickpocket George Barrington.
The bronze sculpture by Julie Edgar reflects through both the material and representation the determined and straight-forward nature of Brabham.
A reflection on the National Portrait Gallery's first four years.
Dr. Sarah Engledow discusses a collection of drawings and prints by the Victorian artist Rick Amor acquired in 2005.
Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?
The exhibition Aussies all features the ecclectic portrait photography of Rennie Ellis which captures Australian life during the 70s and 80s.
Christopher Chapman examines the battle of glamour vs. grunge which played out in the fashion and advertising of the 1990s.
Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture.
Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.
Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.
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
Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.
Tegan McAuley looks at the evolution of video portraiture.
Christopher Chapman profiles Chris Lilley, actor and creator of Angry Boys.
Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018
Inga Walton on the brief but brilliant life of Hugh Ramsay.
Commissioned with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins, Sir Roderick Carnegie AC, Rupert Myer AO and Annabel Myer, Louise and Martyn Myer Foundation, Peter and Ruth McMullin, Diana Carlton, Professor Derek Denton AC, Harold Mitchell AC, Peter Jopling AM KC, Andrew and Liz Mackenzie, Patricia Patten, Tamie Fraser AO, Bruce Parncutt and Robin Campbell, Lauraine Diggins, Steven Skala AO and Lousje Skala 2017
How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be
In their own words lead researcher Louise Maher on the novel project that lets the Gallery’s portraits speak for themselves.
Joanna Gilmour travels through time to explore the National Portrait Gallery London’s masterpieces in Shakespeare to Winehouse.
Penelope Grist speaks to Robert McFarlane about shooting for the stars.
The portrait of Dr. Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster from 1780, is one of the oldest in the NPG's collection.
Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Sam Meers AO, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.
Select extracts from Mirka Mora's autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous, provide rich accompaniment to recent Gallery acquisitions.
Purchased 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by Westpac Group and Optus 2018
Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018
Penelope Grist unpacks photographs by David Parker, who captured the phenomenal emergence of the 1970s and 80s Melbourne music scene.
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.
Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers, explores the creative collaborations between four Australian artists living in Paris during the first years of the twentieth century.
Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018
Richard Flanagan (b. 1961) was born in Longford in northern Tasmania, the second youngest of the six children of Archie Flanagan, a primary school principal, and his wife Helen.
1 portrait in the collection
To celebrate the new exhibition Australian Love Stories, renowned Australian glass artist Harriet Schwarzrock has been commissioned to make a large-scale installation reflecting on the role the heart plays as our emotional centre.
Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.
Angus Trumble ponders the many faces of William Bligh.
Nothing quite prepares the first-time visitor to Cambodia for the scale and grandeur of the monuments of the ancient Khmer civilisation of Angkor.
National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman discusses the portraiture of Henri Matisse.
Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture
Joanna Gilmour explores the extraordinary life of Australian female aviator Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE
There is in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, an English painting, datable on the basis of costume to about 1745, that has for many years exercised my imagination.
Certain European leaders (needless to name) had the effect of making certain styles of facial hair decidedly undesirable in the years immediately after World War 2.
The National Portrait Gallery, has welcomed the newest portrait commission of Emeritus Professor Derek Denton AC by Evert Ploeg.
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.’
National Photographic Portrait Prize curator, Sarah Engledow, finds reward in a difficult task and ultimately uncovers the essence of portraiture.
A brief introduction to the Weird, Wired World of Internet Portraiture.
Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.
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.
Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.
Michelle Fracaro examines the life of World War II nurse Margaret Anderson, whose portrait by Napier Waller is in the NPG collection.
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.
Charles Haddon Chambers the Australian-born playboy playwright settled permanently in London in 1880 but never lost his Australian stance when satirising the English.
James Holloway describes the first portraits you encounter when entering the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Elspeth Pitt talks to multidisciplinary artist Nell about ghosts, artistic lineages and hybrid art forms.
Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.
Take a peek at a selection of the portraits you can see in the exhibition.
The story behind George Lambert's Self-portrait with Gladioli.
The National Portrait Gallery today announced finalists for the inaugural Darling Portrait Prize, a national new $75,000 prize for Australian portrait painting, and released selected images from the final prize pool for the popular National Photography Portrait Prize.
Patrick McCaughey explores a striking Boyd self portrait.
Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life of colonial women Lady Ellen Stirling, Eliza Darling, Lady Eliza Arthur, Elizabeth Macquarie and Lady Jane Franklin.
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.
Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.
Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.
Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.
Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.
Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.
Stephen Zagala discusses Richard Avedon’s work from an Australian perspective.
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.
Inner Worlds evokes a broad view of psychology as a discipline. However, the specific interests of the practitioners whose portraits are included in the exhibition incorporate specialist areas including psychoanalysis.
This edited version of a speech by Andrew Sayers examines some of the antecedents of the National Portrait Gallery and set out the ideas behind the modern Gallery and its collection.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of one of Melbourne's early socialites, Jessie Eyre Williams.
Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.
Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.
It has been suggested that Sir Thomas Brisbane’s interest in the New South Wales governorship was as attributable to his passion for astronomy as to the desirability of the position as a prestigious career move.
Archie 100 curator (and detective) Natalie Wilson’s nationwide search for Archibald portraits unearthed the fascinating stories behind some long-lost treasures.
Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.
The life and achievements of Sir Edward Holden, who is represented in the portrait collection by a bust created by Leslie Bowles.
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.
Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.
Andrew Sayers feels the warmth in the paintings Matthew Perceval made while the sun shone in southern France.
The Chairman, Board, Director and staff mourn the loss of the National Portrait Gallery's inaugural director.
Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.
Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.
An exploration of national identity in the Canadian context drawn from the symposium Face to Face at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2004.
Emma Kindred looks at the career of Joan Ross, whose work subverts colonial imagery and its legacy with the clash of fluorescent yellow.
Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.
Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.
Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.
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.
Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.
Sarah Engledow writes about Gordon and Marilyn Darling and their support for the National Portrait Gallery throughout its evolution.
Former NPG Director, Andrew Sayers describes the 1922 Self-portrait with Gladioli by George Lambert.
Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of convict-turned-artist William Buelow Gould.
David Ward writes about the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.
John Singer Sargent: a painter at the vanguard of contemporary movements in music, literature and theatre.
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.
Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.
Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.
David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.
Michael Wardell samples the fare in the University of Queensland National Self-portrait Prize.
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.
Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.
Dr Christopher Chapman, curator of Inner Worlds: Portraits & Psychology looks at Albert Tucker's Heidelberg military hospital portraits.
Gareth Knapman explores the politics and opportunism behind the portraits of Tasmania’s Black War.
Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.
The Rajah Quilt’s narrative promptings are as intriguing as the textile is intricate.
Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Karina Dias Pires shares the stories behind her portraits of women artists in their creative spaces.
In March 2003 Magda Keaney travelled to London to join the photography section of the Victoria & Albert Museum for three months.
Rowan McGinness asks: when is a self portrait not a self portrait?
Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.
Exploring select works from the NPPP 2012. For secondary students.
Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.
The portrait of Janet and Horace Keats with the spirit of the poet Christopher Brennan is brought to life by artist Dora Toovey.
The art of Australia’s colonial women painters affords us an invaluable, alternative perspective on the nascent nation-building project.
Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2013 Prize.
David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.
Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.
Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.
Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.
Andrew Sayers explores the self-portraits created by Australian artist Sidney Nolan.
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 collection of thirty-seven caricatures by the artist Joe Greenberg capture the heroes and villians of Australian business in the 1980s.
Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.
Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.
Sarah Engledow is seduced by the portraits and the connections between the artists and their subjects in the exhibition Impressions: Painting light and life.
Aimee Board traces Judy Cassab’s path to the Australian outback, arriving at the junction of inspiration and abstraction.
English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.
The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.
All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War exhibition co-curators Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman reflect on the evolution of the Gallery’s Anzac Centenary exhibition.
Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.
Joanna Gilmour describes how colonial portraitists found the perfect market among social status seeking Sydneysiders.
Sarah Engledow lauds the very civil service of Dame Helen Blaxland.
As a convict Thomas Bock was required to sketch executed murders for science; as a free man, fashionable society portraits.
Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.
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.
Michael Desmond discusses Fred Williams' portraits of friends, artist Clifton Pugh, David Aspden and writer Stephen Murray-Smith, and the stylistic connections between his portraits and landscapes.
Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.
Jaynie Anderson reflects on her experience as sitter for Reshid Bey’s 1962 portrait.
Penelope Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2020 Prize.
Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.
Sarah Engledow trains her exacting lens on the nine photographs from 20/20.
At the end of a summer break one is tempted to say that there is nothing much to report. Isn’t one restful holiday very much like another?
Inga Walton delves into the bohemian group of artists and writers who used each other as muses and transformed British culture.
Last month we marked the twentieth anniversary of the formal establishment of the National Portrait Gallery, the tenth of the opening of our signature building, and the fifth of our having become a statutory authority under Commonwealth legislation.
Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.
Lesley Harding, Curator, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne explores Albert Tucker’s experience of World War II, his interests in the intersection between psychology and creativity, and their influence on his portrait making.
Long after the portraitist became indifferent to her, and died, a beguiling portrait hung over its subject.
Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.
Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.
Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.
Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.
In 1904, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia purchased as a gift for her sister, Queen Alexandra, a fan composed of two-color gold, guilloché enamel, mother-of-pearl, blond tortoiseshell, gold sequins, silk, cabochon rubies, and rose diamonds from the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg.
Polly Borland talks to Oliver Giles about the celebrity portraits that made her name and why she’s now making more abstract art.
One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.
Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.
Editor Stephen Phillips looks at the finalists' photographs through a judge's lens.
Joanna Gilmour explores the stories behind the ninteenth-century carte de visites of bushrangers Frank Gardiner and Fred Lowry.
Penelope Grist charts an immersive path through Stuart Spence’s photography.
Books seldom make me angry but this one did. At first, I was powerfully struck by the uncanny parallels that existed between the Mellons of Pittsburgh and the Thyssens of the Ruhr through the same period, essentially the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.
James Angus discusses his major sculpture commission Geo Face Distributor with Christopher Chapman.
Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.
Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.
This is my last Trumbology before, in a little more than a week from now, I pass to my successor Karen Quinlan the precious baton of the Directorship of the National Portrait Gallery.
Some years ago my colleague Andrea Wolk Rager and I spent several days in the darkened basement of a Rothschild Bank, inspecting every one of the nearly 700 autochromes created immediately before World War I by the youthful Lionel de Rothschild.
Michael Desmond explores what makes a portrait subject significant.
Pamela Gerrish Nunn explores New Zealand’s premium award for portraiture.
George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) comedian, impresario and entrepreneur, was a driving force of the early Australian theatre.
Nathan Faiman delves into the rich life story and legacy of Alan Goldberg.
Angus Trumble reveals the complex technical mastery behind a striking recent acquisition, Henry Bone’s enamel portrait of William Manning.
Robyn Sweaney's quiet Violet obsession.
Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.
Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.
Dr Sarah Engledow traces the significant links between Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo and Evelyn Chapman through their portraits.
Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.
Krysia Kitch celebrates Oodgeroo Noonuccal.
Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.
Jenny Gall delves into Starstruck to celebrate some of Australian cinema’s iconic women.
Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.
Christopher Chapman takes a trip through the doors of perception, arriving at the junction of surrealism and psychoanalysis.
Penelope Grist explores the United Nations stories in the Gallery’s collection.
Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.
Joanna Gilmour explores the 1790 portrait of William Bligh by Robert Dodd.
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.
Jennifer Higgie reveals how Alice Neel reinvigorated 20th century portraiture with her honest and perceptive depictions of the human experience.
Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.
Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2014 Prize.
Joanna Gilmour explores the fact and fictions surrounding the legendary life of Irish-born dancer Lola Montez.
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.
The complex connections between four creative Australians; Patrick White, Sidney Nolan, Robert Helpmann and Peter Sculthorpe.
Basil grew into a speckled beauty – a long-legged leaper and an exceptionally vocal dog, with a great register of sounds, ascending in shock value from a whimper to a growl to a bark to a yelp that’s a violation of the ears.
Aircraft designer, pilot and entrepreneur, Sir Lawrence Wackett rejoins friends and colleagues on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.
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.
A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.
Jane Raffan feasts on modernity’s entrée in the Belle Époque theatre of the demimonde.
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.
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.
Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.
Anne Sanders celebrates the cinematic union of two pioneering australian women.
Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.
Sarah Engledow ponders the divergent legacies of Messrs Kendall and Lawson.
Joanna Gilmour examines the prolific output of Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, and discovers the risk of taking a portrait at face value.
Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.
At first glance, this small watercolour group portrait of her two sons and four daughters by Maria Caroline Brownrigg (d. 1880) may seem prosaic, even hesitant
Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.
The best horror stories are real. A flea sinks its proboscis into the skin of a sick black rat, feeds on its blood, and ingests lethally multiplying bacteria.
Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.
Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.
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.