Search / katharine brisbane

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane

Murray Studio (Brisbane & Gympie)

Thomas Mackdougall Brisbane (1773-1860) was born into an aristocratic Scottish family and entered the army at the age of 16.

2 portraits in the collection

Mabel Forrest, 1917

Frederick Bromley after Robert Frain

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1842

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1850 (published)

James Faed, W Wilding after John Watson Gordon

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

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

Strong Avenue, Graceville, Brisbane

Stuart Miller

Kumantjayi Perkins at the Roma Forum, Brisbane

Kumantjayi Perkins at the Roma Forum, Brisbane, 1982

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Troy Cassar-Daley, Brisbane, 2004

John Elliott

Previous exhibition, 2011

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Daphne Mayo MBE (1895–1982), sculptor, was born in Sydney and moved to Brisbane as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

David M Thomas

Dream Job

Since 1993 Brisbane-based artist David M Thomas has investigated self identity through art works that encompass painting, text, audio, video and performance.

Kevin Weldon AM

Kevin Weldon (1933-2023), businessman and philanthropist, spent his early years in Ingham in far north Queensland, where his father ran a car dealership.

1 portrait in the collection

Davida Allen

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

George Hoyningen-Huene

Baron George Hoyningen-Huene (1900–1968) was a high-profile American fashion photographer and Hollywood figure.

1 portrait in the collection

Kevin Weldon, 1978

Graeme Inson

Gift of Kevin Weldon 2012

Noel McGrowdie

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

1 portrait in the collection

Christopher Morris

Christopher Morris studied photography at Griffith University in Brisbane in the mid 1990s, during which he photographed many of the leading names in contemporary music including U2, Oasis, Pearl Jam, The Sex Pistols and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

1 portrait in the collection

Tish Linehan

UK-born, Brisbane-based artist Tish Linehan (b. 1983) gained her undergraduate degree in visual arts from the Australian National University and subsequently completed a teaching qualification.

1 portrait in the collection

Christine Rivett

Amy Christine Rivett (1891–1962), doctor, contributed greatly to medicine and women's health.

1 portrait in the collection

Jun Chen

Jun Chen (b. 1960), based in Brisbane, trained in traditional Chinese brush painting at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China.

1 portrait in the collection

Eddie Liu, 2012

by David Kelly

Dylan Mooney: You say tru gawd

Thea Anamara Perkins: Hey you mob

Kyra Mancktelow: You’re just too deadly

Tony Albert: Aww bless

Pam MacFarlane

Portrait, colour lithograph on paper

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

Tribute

Betty Churcher

Magazine article, 2015

Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying art in London.

Equestrian self portrait, 2004

William Robinson AO

Purchased 2022

Francis Lymburner

Francis Lymburner (1916-1972) was a Queensland-born artist who was educated at Brisbane Grammar and took art classes at Brisbane Technical College.

2 portraits in the collection

hey, Betty (Portrait of Betty Churcher), 1990

Davida Allen

Portrait, oil on plywood

Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Noel McGrowdie, 1957 (printed 2003)

More about In the flesh artists

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Pamela See (Xue Mei-Ling)

Contributing artists

Born: 1979, Brisbane
Works: Brisbane

Yanni Floros

Yanni Floros is an Adelaide based artist who trained at the National Art School in Sydney graduating as a sculpture major. Since then he has shown his work both locally and internationally in Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Harold Parker

Harold Parker (1873-1962), sculptor, came to Brisbane with his English parents as a three-year old.

1 portrait in the collection

Jon Molvig

Helge Jon Molvig was born and grew up in Newcastle, where he left school at thirteen and worked in a garage and at the steelworks.

6 portraits in the collection

Anna Pavlova, 1926

Harold Cazneaux

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Gordon Shepherdson

Sends a permanent shiver down my spine

Gordon Shepherdson (b. 1934), painter, was a student of Molvig's and Sibley's in Brisbane.

1 portrait in the collection

Dylan Mooney

Artists and Collectives

Dylan Mooney, a proud Yuwi man from Mackay, Queensland, based in Meanjin/Brisbane, works across painting, printmaking, digital illustration and drawing, visually translating stories of resilience, survival, connection and love.

Oz Punk

More about In the flesh artists

In 1976, without having been blooded on the Sydney or Melbourne pub circuit, The Saints recorded a single – ‘(I’m) Stranded’ – earning them the distinction of releasing a punk single before The Sex Pistols did.

Jan Nelson

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.

Betty Churcher, 2008

Adam Knott

Purchased 2013

Darby McCarthy, c. 1969 (printed 2019)

Purchased 2019

Seeing stars

Celebrating Science Week

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.

Darby McCarthy OAM

Richard 'Darby' McCarthy OAM (1945–2020), former jockey who rode in three Melbourne Cups and won more than 1000 races, is a proud descendant of the Mithaka and Goongurri people of south-west and central Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Ian Frazer, 2007

Marian Drew

Commissioned 2007

The Hon. Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO

Quentin Bryce AD CVO (b. 1942), academic, lawyer and community and human rights advocate, was the first woman to be appointed governor-general of Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

Christopher Bassi

Artists and Collectives

Known for his representational painting, Meriam and Yupungathi man Christopher Bassi, based in Meanjin/Brisbane, addresses issues surrounding cultural identity, alternative genealogies and colonial legacies.

My Le Thi

My Le Thi is a Vietnamese-Australian singer, musician and artist. Born in Buon Ma Thout, South Vietnam in 1964, she migrated to Australia in late 1985 and settled in Brisbane.

1 portrait in the collection

Marion

Glenn Homann

Mel, 2011

by Heather Faulkner

Portrait, ilfochrome photograph on paper

Betty Churcher, 1994

Anne Zahalka

Gift of the artist 2021

Friendship’s rhyme and reason

Nearest & Dearest

Poetic trio

Through the Eyes of my Family

Ting Jiang

The vigil, 2011

by Anthony Anderton

Oodgeroo Noonuccal at Moongalba Stradbroke Island (her sitting down place)1982

Oodgeroo Noonuccal at Moongalba Stradbroke Island (her sitting down place)1982, 1982

Gift of the artist 2009

Oodgeroo Noonuccal at Moongalba, 1982

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2004

Nigel Brennan

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

1 portrait in the collection

Al Grassby and Penny Dent, Community Relations Commission, Canberra

Al Grassby AM

The Hon. Al Grassby AM (1926-2005) was born in Brisbane of a second-generation Spanish father and an Irish mother.

1 portrait in the collection

Arthur Beetson, 1968 (printed 2019)

Previous exhibition, 2013

Purchased 2019

Our only concern is the void, 2013 by Nik Lee, video: 12 minutes

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2013

The Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award is an annual event intended to extend traditional notions of portraiture and reflects the National Portrait Gallery's commitment to fostering emerging artists with an interest in contemporary technology.

Harold Parker, c. 1906

Bessie Gibson

Portrait, watercolour on ivory in locket frame

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

Sidney Riley Studios

Sidney Riley Studios operated concurrently at several Sydney locations (Balmain, Rozelle, Pitt St., Sydney, Marrickville & Chatswood), and in Brisbane, between 1911 and 1946.

1 portrait in the collection

Quentin Bryce, 2002 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Purchased 2011

Portrait bust of Dr Christine Rivett, c. 1950 (cast 1955-1956)

Daphne Mayo MBE

Portrait, cast bronze

Gift of Justice Ian Callinan 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

'New home new life' Arwin, 2017

by Zia Atahi

Lindy Morrison

In their own words

Recorded 2021

Wesley Enoch AM

Wesley Enoch AM (b. 1969) is a theatre director and playwright and was the director of the Sydney Festival from 2017 to 2021.

1 portrait in the collection

Bessie Gibson

Bessie Gibson (1868-1961), like Harold Parker, studied under Godfrey Rivers at the Brisbane Central Technical College, where she developed an interest in miniature painting.

1 portrait in the collection

Amandus Julius Fischer

Amandus Julius Fischer (1859-1948) began his art studies in Sydney before proceeding to the Westminster School of art in London, and the Académie Julian and the Atelier Colarossi in Paris.

1 portrait in the collection

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman'

William King

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

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Churcher AO

(Elizabeth) Betty Churcher AO (1931–2015), gallery director, author, painter and lecturer, was educated in Brisbane before studying at the Royal College of Art in London.

3 portraits in the collection

George Case

George Case (life dates unknown) and his wife Grace Egerton (d. 1881), variety performers, made several successful tours of Australia in the 1860s and 1870s, although the precise dates of their visits are unknown.

1 portrait in the collection

Danny Morseu

Previous exhibition, 2001

The basketballer Danny Morseu (b. 1958) was born on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.

1 portrait in the collection

William Yang

Australian Chinese

William Yang's art is about the telling of stories, his work is an intriguing mixture of philosophy, autobiography, social history and documentary imbued with a sense of the artist's own curiosity, humanity and humour

Noel Stapleton

Noel Stapleton (1927-2017) commercial artist, began his career in Brisbane in 1944.

1 portrait in the collection

Bruce Postle

Bruce Postle began his photojournalism career at Queensland Country Life and the Brisbane Courier Mail.

6 portraits in the collection

Cactus World, Lester Meyers, 2014

by Man Tsun Cheung

Thea Astley

Thea Astley (1925-2004), novelist, was born in Brisbane and studied arts at the University of Queensland before becoming a teacher.

1 portrait in the collection

Francis (Pat) Quinn

Francis (Pat) Quinn (1914–2010), showman and hypnotist, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand.

2 portraits in the collection

Charles Ulm

Charles Ulm (1898-1934) began work as a clerk in a stockbroking office after he left school, but enlisted under a false identity in the 1st Battalion of the AIF just before his 16th birthday.

2 portraits in the collection

Fiona Foley

Gettin’ robbed, gettin’ stoned, gettin’ beat up, broken boned

Fiona Foley (b.1964), Badtjala artist, activist, curator and writer, grew up on Fraser Island and in nearby Hervey Bay before moving south to study art at the East Sydney Technical College.

2 portraits in the collection

Oz Rock

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on resin-coated paper

Two of the music industry’s highest-selling performers originated in suburban Australia. The Bee Gees started out in Brisbane, for instance, and AC/DC played their first gigs at a nightclub in inner Sydney.

Danny Morseu, 2005

Sahlan Hayes

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa and Paddy Carrol Tjungarrayi – Papunya

Paddy Carroll Tjugarrayi

Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi (c. 1932–2002) is a Warlpiri artist who was born in Yarrungkanyi in the Western Desert.

1 portrait in the collection

The Saints, 1978 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

William Robinson AO

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

Leah King-Smith

Contributing artists

Born: 1957, Gympie, QLD
Works: Brisbane

Kristin Headlam

Kristin Headlam, born in Launceston, completed a BA at the University of Melbourne in the 1970s and studied painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1980-1981.

2 portraits in the collection

Lloyd Rees, 1973

Robert Walker

Purchased 1999

HRH Prince Alfred

Portrait, direct positive colour photograph

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

4 portraits in the collection

Lloyd Rees, 1970

Anthony Browell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999

Carol McGregor

Contributing artists

Born: 1961, Hastings, New Zealand
Works: Brisbane

Thea Astley, 1985 (printed 2006)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Esther Erlich

Esther Erlich (b. 1955), a Melbourne-based painter, has been exhibiting since the early 1980s, often with the Libby Edwards Galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and the Barry Newton Gallery in Adelaide.

3 portraits in the collection

Ryan Presley: Paradise won

Current exhibition

Marri Ngarr artist Ryan Presley's site-specific commission Paradise won is prominently positioned at the Gallery’s entrance. This ambitious new work invites conversations about the ongoing legacies of colonisation and celebrates First Nations survival and autonomy.

Peter Porter OAM

Peter Porter OAM (1929-2010), poet and critic, moved from Brisbane to London in 1951 at age 22.

2 portraits in the collection

John Hamilton

As a young reporter for the Melbourne Age, John Hamilton (b.1940 UK, migrated to Aust.

1 portrait in the collection

Mia Boe

Artists and Collectives

Mia Boe is a Narrm/Melbourne-based artist known for her haunting and evocative painting practice, informed by her Butchulla and Burmese ancestry.

Aaron Woodcock

Magazine article by Phil Manning, 2017

Aaron 'Tommy' Woodcock (1905-1985), horse strapper and trainer, was the son of a Cobb and Co driver and expressed his affinity with horses from an early age.

1 portrait in the collection

Thomas Mathewson (inset) and his studio on Queen Street, c. 1908 by Thomas Mathewson & Co

Northern exposure

Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.

Dressing for dinner, 1992

Davida Allen

Portrait, oil on plywood

Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lloyd Rees AC CMG

Lloyd Rees AC CMG (1895–1988), artist and teacher, studied art in Brisbane from 1910 to 1916, and in England and Europe in the early 1920s.

12 portraits in the collection

Li Cunxin, 2017–2018

by Jun Chen

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2018

Henry Wade

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

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

1 portrait in the collection

a Traveller (2nd Baron Lamington), 1892

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2015

John Hinde

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

A couple of million words: Humphrey McQueen, 2008

by Karen Donnelly

Madame Praeger

Laura Praeger (née Blundell) was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and was about twelve years old when her father brought his family to Australia, settling in Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Fiona Foley in her studio at Hervey Bay, 1994

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

Australian racing legends and best friends

Devotion

The mane thing is trust

Lloyd Rees, c. 1988

Lewis Morley

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

Literary lovers’ life liaison

Lust

Desire drives forbidden love

Gladys Hope Marks

Gladys Hope Marks (1883–1970), university lecturer and women's rights activist, was born in Brisbane.

1 portrait in the collection

Achille Simonetti

Achilles Simonetti (1838-1900) was a sculptor. Born in Rome, the son of sculptor Louis Simonetti, he trained as a religious sculptor.

1 portrait in the collection

Scrapbook page featuring portraits of Fred Lowry and Frank Gardiner

Frederick Lowry

Fred Lowry (1836-1863) was a stockman before he turned to cattle and horse duffing.

1 portrait in the collection

Leslie Bowles

Leslie Bowles (1885-1954), sculptor, was born in Sydney and began his studies in modelling and woodcarving at the Brisbane Technical College.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Samuel Walter Griffith

Sir Samuel Walter Griffith (1845-1920), chief justice and premier, was born in Wales and came to Australia aged eight with his minister father and family.A top student, at the University of Sydney Griffith excelled at classics and mathematics; the Mort scholarship enabled him to travel to Europe.

1 portrait in the collection

Helen Grieve

Portrait, pencil on paper

Helen Grieve (1931–1981), child actress, was born in Sydney. Her first film role was in The Overlanders (1946), opposite Chips Rafferty.

1 portrait in the collection

Lord Casey, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Lloyd Rees at 90, Northwood, Sydney, 1985 (printed 2000)

David Moore

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

Miss Florrie Ford (Christmas pantomime with toy cat)

Florrie Forde

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

9 portraits in the collection

Lloyd Rees, 1987

Michel Lawrence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie

Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington (1860–1940) had served four years in the House of Commons before being appointed governor of Queensland in October 1895.

1 portrait in the collection

Robyn Davidson (Hamelin Pool, Indian Ocean, Western Australia), 1977 (printed 2014)

Rick Smolan

Purchased 2014

Dadang Christanto, 2005

Hari Ho

Purchased 2007

Tiga Bayles

Harold James Phillip 'Tiga' Bayles (1953–2016), a Birri Gubba Gungalu man, was a broadcaster and Aboriginal rights activist.

1 portrait in the collection

George Moore

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

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

1 portrait in the collection

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

John Davis

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

Sir Asher Joel

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

1 portrait in the collection

Walala Tjapaltjarri

Walala Tjapaltjarri (c. 1965–1975) and his family shot to fame in 1984 when they left their nomadic desert life and joined family in the community of Kiwirrkura in Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Phyllis Shillito

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Phyllis Shillito (1895-1980), designer and teacher, grew up in Yorkshire and trained and taught at Halifax Technical School before moving to teach design, craft and principles of art at Winchester School of Art and Liverpool City School of Art.

1 portrait in the collection

Mr and Mrs Case, 1864

Alexander Fox and Co

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Barbara Blackman, c. 1953

Gift of Barbara Blackman 2004

Portrait of Florence Broadhurst, 1968

Joshua Smith

Portrait, pencil on paper

Purchased 2007

David Malouf, 1980

Jeffrey Smart AO

Gift of Dr Gene Sherman AM and Brian Sherman AM 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Elizabeth Barden

Elizabeth Barden (b. 1965) grew up in Brisbane and gained a diploma in art teaching from Queensland University of Technology in 1985.

1 portrait in the collection

Billy Slater

Billy Slater (b. 1983), rugby league footballer, has played for Melbourne Storm since the beginning of his career in 2003.

1 portrait in the collection

Mrs Bonney flying from Australia to South Africa via Siam. Singapore 1937 (full length portrait)

Maude Rose Bonney AM MBE

Maude Rose ‘Lores’ Bonney MBE AM (1897-1994), aviatrix, grew up in Melbourne and attended a German finishing school before marrying a Queensland leather-goods manufacturer in 1917.

2 portraits in the collection

Head of H.C. Coombs, c. 1972 (cast 2018)

Norma Redpath

Portrait, bronze

Purchased 2018

Dadang Christanto

Dadang Christanto (b. 1957), artist, was born into an Indonesian family of Chinese descent in Tegal, a small village in Central Java, Indonesia.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry Gibb

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Barry Gibb (b. 1946) and twins Robin (b. 1949) and Maurice Gibb (1949-2003), were the brothers comprising the band The Bee Gees.

1 portrait in the collection

Untitled (portrait of Barbara Blackman), 1976

Charles Blackman OBE

Purchased 2009

Of Pansy, plastiques and prudes

Lust

Near-naked subversion

Lloyd Rees full face, 1979

Max Dupain OBE

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

Lloyd Rees from behind, 1979

Max Dupain OBE

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

John Hillcoat

John Hillcoat (b. 1960), filmmaker, was born in Brisbane and grew up in Canada, the USA and Europe.

1 portrait in the collection

Li Cunxin AO

Li Cunxin AO (b. 1961) is the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet.

1 portrait in the collection

Bob Barnard AM

Bob Barnard AM (1933-2022), jazz cornettist, grew up in a Melbourne musical family and started on cornet with a local brass band at the age of 12.

1 portrait in the collection

Andrew Sibley

Andrew Sibley (1933–2015), painter and teacher, is known for his figurative paintings, landscapes and abstract works.

20 portraits in the collection

Anthony Mundine, 1992 (printed 2008)

Mervyn Bishop

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2008

Charles Blondin, 1874

Timothy Noble

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Immediately, there was a crackle

It's Complicated

A meeting of minds

Mrs Bonney flying from Australia to South Africa via Siam. Singapore 1937 (in her aeroplane,

Mrs Bonney flying from Australia to South Africa via Siam. Singapore 1937 (in her aeroplane, "My Little Ship II), 1937

Portrait, carbon print on paper

Purchased 2012

Mrs Bonney flying from Australia to South Africa via Siam. Singapore 1937 (full length portrait), 1937

Portrait, carbon print on paper

Purchased 2012

George Miller, 2002 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Hon Joh Bjelke-Petersen KCMG

Hon Joh Bjelke-Petersen KCMG, longest-serving Premier of Queensland from 1968 until 1987 was born in New Zealand in 1911.

1 portrait in the collection

Lindy Lee, 2003

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Bernard King

Portrait, cast metal with gold finish

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

1 portrait in the collection

Bert Hinkler, 1930s

Nison Tregor

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Alan Foulkes in memory of Mark Graham Cleghorn 2012

Professor Mandyam Srinivasan, 2014

Sam Leach

Portrait, oil and resin on plywood

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2014

Peter Hudson

Peter Hudson (b. 1950), is a landscape and portrait painter who lives and works in Maleny, Queensland.

5 portraits in the collection

June Dally-Watkins, 1949 (printed 2008)

Max Dupain OBE

Purchased 2008

Sir Henry Wylie Norman

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

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Francis Forbes KNt

Portrait, gilcée print on paper

Sir Francis Forbes (1784–1841) was the first chief justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court.

1 portrait in the collection

Smalltown Boy (Surfers Paradise), 2018

The Huxleys

Purchased 2021

Smalltown Boy (Perth), 2018

The Huxleys

Portrait, gilcée print on paper

Purchased 2021

Robyn Davidson

Robyn Davidson (b. 1950), writer, attended a Brisbane boarding school before moving to Sydney, where she lived a loosely bohemian lifestyle.

2 portraits in the collection

Marian Drew

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

Lindy Lee AO

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and permanent marker on canvas

Lindy Lee AO (b. 1954) is one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Porter, 2004

Tony Clark

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

Tracey Moffatt, 1995

Portrait, charcoal on paper

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Girl (portrait of Barbara Blackman), 1969

Charles Blackman OBE

Purchased 2009

Anthony Mundine

Anthony Mundine (b. 1975), Bundjalung boxer and former rugby league player, was born in Newtown in Sydney's inner south and began his career playing league for Hurstville United.

2 portraits in the collection

Quentin Bryce, 2016

Michael Zavros

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2016

Henry Wade, c. 1841

Portrait, oil on paperboard

Gift of the Wade and Hannah families 2013

Nancy Bird Walton - Pioneer, 2003

Danelle Bergstrom

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

George Fetting

George Fetting (b. 1964) is a Sydney-based photographer specialising in portrait, travel and editorial work.

8 portraits in the collection

Tracey Moffatt dreaming, 2017

James Horan

Gift of the artist 2019

Noel McKenna

NPPP 2012 learning resource

Noel McKenna (b. 1956), artist, is best known for his spare linear style and paintings of everyday scenarios, often featuring animals and interiors.

2 portraits in the collection

Anthony Anderton

An interview with the photographer.

Sir Edward Holden, 1945

Leslie Bowles

Portrait, cast bronze on granite base

Bequest of John J Holden 2005

Mick Molloy, 2009

Andrew Maccoll

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2009

David Malouf

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on cardboard

David Malouf (b.1934), educated at Brisbane Grammar and the University of Queensland, left Australia at the age of 24 and remained abroad for a decade, teaching in England and travelling throughout Europe.

3 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Brian Dunlop, c. 1972

Bryan Westwood

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Sir Asher Joel, n.d.

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, pencil on paper

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

After Ophelia: Fiona Foley at Lake Mackenzie, Fraser Island (Referencing Ophelia by John Everett Millais), 1994

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Leisel Jones OAM

Leisel Jones OAM (b. 1985) is the first Australian swimmer to have competed at four Olympic Games and is one of world swimming's greatest ever breaststroke competitors.

2 portraits in the collection

Stephen and Russell Page, 1993 (printed 2011)

Robert Rosen

Gift of Robert Rosen 2012

Brian Dunlop

Brian Dunlop studied at East Sydney Technical College and won the Le Gay Brereton Prize for Drawing while still a student.

7 portraits in the collection

John Shine AO

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

Mr King (Bernard King), c. 1979

Jon Waddy

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Joan Kerr

Portrait, colour transparency on lightbox

Joan Kerr (1938-2004), art historian, writer and lecturer, was responsible for several key reference texts on Australian art.

1 portrait in the collection

Marilyn Darling AC, 2010

Anne Zahalka

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2010

Davida Allen

Going around a gallery with a child, we point to a painting of a dog and brightly ask ‘What’s that?’ If they don’t say ‘A dog’, we tell them that’s what it is. We don’t say it’s a shape inscribed by an artist that’s popularly understood to signify a dog. That’d only serve to foster a smarty-pants.

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Neil Perry, 1997

Selina Snow

Gift of the artist 1999

Lloyd Rees - portrait, 1983

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lloyd Rees - Laughing, 1975

Previous exhibition, 2017

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Collection in focus: Brook Andrew

Experience the artistic clout of Brook Andrew’s portraits of Marcia Langton AM and Anthony Mundine.

Lindy Lee, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Barbara Blackman, 2008

Gorgi Dimcevski

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Barbara Blackman 2009

Leisel Jones, 2015 (printed 2021)

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

Portrait of the Seventh Earl of Hopetoun, the Rt Hon. John Hope

Rt Hon John Adrian Louis Hope KT GCMG GCVO PC

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

Gwyn Hannsen Pigott

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

Margaret Dodd, 2002

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

June Dally-Watkins OAM

June Dally-Watkins OAM (1927–2020), model, deportment icon and entrepreneur, grew up on a property at Watsons Creek in the New England district of New South Wales.

3 portraits in the collection

Lloyd Rees - silhouette, 1983

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lloyd Rees - Brushes, 1983

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tim Fairfax AC, 2018

Russell Shakespeare

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

Mitch Cairns

Previous exhibition, 2023

Mitch Cairns (b. 1984), painter and cartoonist, won the 2017 Archibald Prize with a portrait of his partner, artist Agatha Gothe-Snape.

1 portrait in the collection

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2023

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.

The Movie Star (David Gulpilil), 1985

Tracey Moffatt

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

Lionel Fogarty

Lionel Fogarty (b. 1958), Yugambeh/Kudjela poet and activist, was born at Barambah, the Cherbourg Aboriginal Reserve, near Murgon, Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

TJ Smith and Tulloch, 1960 (printed 2003)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

George Gregan, 1999 (printed 2001)

Purchased 2001

Tracey, 1986 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2013

The Bee Gees, Kings Cross, 1970-1971

Rennie Ellis

Purchased 2021

Cressida Campbell AM

Cressida Campbell AM (b. 1960), artist, has worked for decades in a studio at her home in Bronte, Sydney.

2 portraits in the collection

Marcia Langton, 1982

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2004

Barbara Blackman AO

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

Bart Willoughby, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

William Robinson

Unique in the world, perhaps, is a bronze sculpture that fuses the age-old human portrait bronze tradition, and the later genre of the bronze pug figurine: that’d be William Robinson’s Self-portrait with pug.

Jules Poret de Blosseville

Jules Poret de Blosseville (1802-1833), geographer, navigator and explorer, was a junior officer on the Coquille, which, under the command of Louis Isidore Duperrey, conducted a voyage to Oceania and South America between 1822 and 1825.

1 portrait in the collection

David Malouf, 2012

Rick Amor

Commissioned with the assistance of funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2012

Tracey Moffatt

Tracey Moffatt AO (b. 1960) is an artist whose work reflects on issues including race, childhood trauma, gender and popular culture.

8 portraits in the collection

Sigrid Thornton AO

Sigrid Thornton AO (b. 1959), actor, has been a household name since her performance in the box-office hit The Man from Snowy River in 1981.

1 portrait in the collection

Captain William Kinghorne

William Kinghorne (1796-1878) came to the colonies from Scotland some time before 1824.

1 portrait in the collection

Kerry Stokes AC

Kerry Stokes AC (b. 1940), businessman and philanthropist, was born John Patrick Alford in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Professor John Shine, 2011

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Jozef Vissel 2015

Tommy Woodcock and Reckless, 1977 (printed 2010)

Bruce Postle

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by James Bain AM and Janette Bain 2010

Douglas Annand

Douglas Annand (1903–1976), graphic designer and artist, moved to Sydney from Brisbane in 1930.

2 portraits in the collection

The Huxleys

Will Huxley grew up in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, and Garrett Huxley was raised on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

3 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke (Sass & Bide)

Portrait of Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke (Sass & Bide), 2008

Deborah Paauwe

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on dibond

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2008

Tony Shaw, 2018

Sarah Rhodes

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2018

Tracey Moffatt, 1995

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Marcia Langton, 2013

Purchased 2015

Harold Blair AO

Harold Blair AO (1924–1976), singer and Indigenous advocate, spent his youth on the Purga Mission, and began singing in local concerts on the canefields in the Childers area.

1 portrait in the collection

Nancy Bird Walton, c. 1973

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Gift of Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Glenn McGrath AM

Brook Andrew, Larry Rawling

Glenn McGrath AM (b. 1970), philanthropist and former Test cricketer, is one of international cricket's greatest ever fast bowlers.

1 portrait in the collection

Peace, the Man and Hope, 2005

Portrait, screenprint on five sheets of paper

Gift of Brook Andrew in memory of Emmaline Rose Charnock 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dichotomia, Barry Otto, 2008

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Gift of the artist 2010

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

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2015

Michael Zavros

Portrait, inkjet print (black and white) on paper

Michael Zavros (b. 1974) graduated from Queensland College of Art with a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 1996.

2 portraits in the collection

Robyn Davidson (near Uluru), 1979 (printed 2014)

Rick Smolan

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Ali Cobby Eckermann and Lionel Fogarty at the Hawkesbury River, 2014

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated

Purchased 2015

Captain Ulm, 1932

Enid Fleming

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Sarah-Jane Clarke AM

Sarah-Jane 'Sass' Clarke AM (b. 1974) and Heidi 'Bide' Middleton AM (b.

1 portrait in the collection

Heidi Middleton

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas board

Heidi 'Bide' Middleton AM (b. 1971) and Sarah-Jane 'Sass' Clarke AM (b.

1 portrait in the collection

JOH (The Hon Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen), c. 1987

Noel Stapleton

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2003

Jacob Nash, 2017

Ingvar Kenne

Gift of the artist 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Walala Tjapaltjarri, 2009

Portrait, inkjet print on cotton rag paper

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Akira Isogawa, 2003 (printed 2005)

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, conté, brush and ink on paper

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

Lord Casey, c. 1932

Charles Wheeler

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2003

Harold Blair, 1948

Ernest Buckmaster

Purchased 2010

Leah Purcell, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Rodney Hall OAM

Rodney Hall OAM (b. 1935), writer, came to Australia in 1947 and settled in Brisbane.

2 portraits in the collection

Richard Gardiner Casey KG GCMG CH

Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey of Berwick, Victoria and the City of Westminster KG GCMG CH (1890-1976), politician and statesman, was born in Brisbane and educated in Melbourne and at Cambridge.

3 portraits in the collection

Jenny Howard

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

1 portrait in the collection

Ian Fairweather

Ian Fairweather (1891-1974), painter, grew up in Scotland, where he trained as an army officer.

1 portrait in the collection

Garrett Huxley

Garrett Huxley (b. 1973) was born in Melbourne and raised on the Gold Coast.

3 portraits in the collection

Paula Dawson AM

Paula Dawson AM (b. 1954), artist and university lecturer, is an internationally recognised pioneer in the field of holography.

1 portrait in the collection

Will Huxley

Will Huxley (b. 1982) was born in Bath, England, emigrating with his family at the age of seven to grow up in the suburbs of Perth.

3 portraits in the collection

Michael Riley

Michael Riley (1960–2004), a Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi photographer, filmmaker and video-artist, was one of Australia's most influential Aboriginal contemporary artists.

15 portraits in the collection

Stephen Page AO

Stephen Page AO (b. 1965), Nunukul dancer and choreographer, has been artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre since 1991.

2 portraits in the collection

Heather McKay AO MBE

Heather McKay AO MBE (b. 1941), squash champion, dominated the game worldwide for sixteen years and was the first to be inducted into the Women's International Squash Players Association Hall of Fame.

1 portrait in the collection

Wesley Enoch and David McAllister, 2020

Portrait photography by John Elliott

Purchased with funds provided by Alan Dodge AM and Neil Archibald 2021

Thousand Mile Stare

Previous exhibition, 2004

Thousand mile stare provides a unique portrait of people of rural Australia

Dave Tice

Dave Tice (b. 1950) was the lead singer for the trailblazing Australian hard rock band Buffalo.

1 portrait in the collection

George Moore, 1957

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Cressida Campbell, 2001

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Russell Page

Russell Page (1968–2002), choreographer, dancer and actor, was from the Nunukul (Noonuccal) people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh people of south-east Queensland.

4 portraits in the collection

Mal Meninga, 2018

by Peter Hudson

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

John Williams

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

Miriam Hyde AO OBE

Miriam Hyde AO OBE (1913-2005), composer, recitalist, teacher, examiner, poet, lecturer and writer of numerous articles for music journals, studied first with her mother and then with William Silver at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Tim Fairfax AC

Murray Fredericks, Lisa Giles

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

Matt Moran, 2004

Gift of the artists 2005

Dave Tice, 1978 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Portrait, oil on canvas board (triptych)

Purchased 2018

Robert, Lindy, Grant, 1981

Jenny Watson

Purchased 2002

A Path of Focus: Portrait of Cate and Bronte Campbell

Bronte Campbell OAM

Sisters Bronte Campbell (b. 1994) and Cate Campbell (b. 1992), champion swimmers, were born in Malawi to South African parents, and took up competitive swimming after the family settled in Brisbane in 2001.

1 portrait in the collection

Cate Campbell OAM

1 portrait in the collection

Nancy Bird Walton AO OBE

Portrait, oil and oil pastel on canvas

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

Lloyd Rees at the Rock in 1975, 1984

Roderick Shaw

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Heads of the People

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2000

For Tom Roberts - Australia's best nineteenth-century portrait painter - neither a proto-national portrait gallery nor more popular collections of portrait heads, were sufficient public celebrations for the notables of Australian history

Self portrait, 2002

Barry Humphries

Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2003

John Bradfield

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

Ben Quilty

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

Mal Meninga AM

Malcolm (Mal) Meninga AM (b. 1960) is one of Australia’s most lauded rugby league players.

2 portraits in the collection

Angus Trumble

Angus Trumble (1964-2022) was born and raised in Melbourne. He studied Fine Arts and History at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1986.

The Bee Gees

Portrait, tempera on masonite

Known as the 'Kings of Disco', The Bee Gees have sold over 120 million records worldwide and are among the highest-selling musical artists in history.

1 portrait in the collection

The chase, 1952

Charles Blackman OBE

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rob and Paula McLean 2011
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Some women you may not know

Alison Alder

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

Dennis Lillee, 1977 (printed 2010)

Bruce Postle

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by James Bain AM and Janette Bain 2010

Rick Amor

Rick Amor (b. 1948) is a Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor.

27 portraits in the collection

Thomas Henry Huxley

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

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Captain Charles Ulm, 1961

Sir William Dargie CBE

Previous exhibition, 2010

Gift of the Sydney Airports Corporation 2001

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

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

Ngayulu Minyma Tjanpinya, I am a Tjanpi Woman

Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM (b. c 1947) is a senior Tjanpi Desert Weaver with work spanning across printmaking, ceramics and fibre-based work.

1 portrait in the collection

Mal Meninga, 2018

Peter Hudson

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

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

So Fine

17 May 2018

Archived media releases 2018

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

All you can eat

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

In February 2003 the National Portrait Gallery Circle of Friends brought Sir Robert Strong to Australia to present a series of lectures entitled The Artists & The Banquet- A History of Dining, which focused on the links between gardens and table decoration from the Renaissance to the Victorian Era.

Masters of Fare

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Rick Amor

21 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2014

Rick Amor, noblest yet most unaffected of contemporary Australian portraitists, is also a painter of enigmatic, ominous landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes that haunt the viewer like dreams, dimly-recalled.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

Previous exhibition, 2018

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.

Peace, the Man and Hope (Anthony Mundine), 2005 by Brook Andrew and Larry Rawling (printer)

In focus

Magazine article, 2017

Brook Andrew, Marcia Langton and Anthony Mundine.

The Hon. Bill Hayden AC

Previous exhibition, 2023

The Hon Bill Hayden AC (1933‒2023) was Governor-General of Australia from 1989 to 1996 and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983.

1 portrait in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

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.

Kylie Tennant, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Jacqueline Mitelman

Australian Athletes in Focus

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Flash

Previous exhibition, 2006

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

So Fine

28 June 2018

Archived media releases 2018

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

Previous exhibition, 2009

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.

Nicholas Harding

Previous exhibition, 2003

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

Australians in Hollywood

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

Barry Gibb, 1970-1971

Rennie Ellis

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Bob Jenyns

Robert ‘Bob’ Jenyns (1944-2015) grew up in Victoria and gained his diploma in art from the Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1964.

1 portrait in the collection

J.R. Vickery

Magazine article by Kim Appleby, 2002

James Richard Vickery OBE (1902-1997), food scientist, saw the field of his life’s research grow from non-existence to world recognition.

1 portrait in the collection

A self-portrait in focus

In her self-portrait, Tracey Moffatt presents herself as her work.

First Ladies

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Previous exhibition, 2013

First Ladies profiles women who have achieved noteworthy firsts over the past 100 years.

William P. Dowling

William Paul Dowling (1824–1877) is thought to have studied art in his native Dublin before settling in London, where he worked as a draughtsman while trying to establish himself as a portraitist.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr J.R. Vickery, O.B.E., 1967

William Pidgeon

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the CSIRO Agriculture and Food Division 2017

Horatio S. Wills

Portraits in the Landscape

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

2 portraits in the collection

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

Clifton Pugh

Australians

Previous exhibition, 2005

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.

Twenty new portraits marking Portrait Gallery’s twentieth birthday

21 August 2018

Archived media releases 2018

To celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s twentieth anniversary as an institution, twenty portraits of outstanding Australian individuals have been commissioned for the permanent collection. This is the largest undertaking for the Gallery’s commissioning program in its twenty-year existence.

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

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.

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Previous exhibition, 2015

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2017

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.

The Catholic Hierarchy of Australia, 1869

Archibald McDonald, Henry Samuel Sadd

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award media information

28 August 2013

Archived media releases 2013

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

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham)

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham), 2009

Ross Watson

Portrait, oil on board

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

Joan Kerr, 2004

Peter Drewett

Portrait, pokerwork on spotted gum

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of James Semple Kerr 2004

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Speed demon

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Scott Redford discusses his dynamic portrait commission of motorcycling champion and 2008 Young Australian of the Year Casey Stoner.

Tony Shaw, 2018

by Sarah Rhodes

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2018

C.H.T. Costantini

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

1 portrait in the collection

Arnold Shore

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

Uncommon Australians

Previous exhibition, 2015

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

A Meeting of Great Minds

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

The story behind Rick Amor's portrait of Professor Peter Doherty.

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

Studio portrait of servicewoman Lance Corporal Kathleen Jean Mary (Kath) Walker, c.1942

Past present

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2016

Krysia Kitch celebrates Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

Lionel Rose, World Champion Bantam Weight Boxer before departing to the USA to defend his title

The champs

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

Two lively portrait photographs reflect the agility of their subjects: world champion Australian sportsmen Lionel Rose and Anthony Mundine.

Melanie Faith Dove

Finalist interviews

I had been watching Agnes with intrigue, her face and profile were so mesmerizing. On our final day together I pulled her aside and convinced her that she had such an amazing face that I needed to get a photograph for myself. It was very spontaneous in that I decided quickly how it would best look and shot it in only two frames.

Powerful energy

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

Dr Christopher Chapman explores the symbolism in the portrait commission of Marcia Langton by Brook Andrew.

Andrew Gaze, 2018

by George Fetting

Commissioned with funds provided by Trent Birkett 2018

Forum participants

Magazine article by Sam Bowker, 2007

Biographies of participants in the Writing lives, revealing lives forum.

On active service

The National Portrait Gallery has acquired an evocative depiction of soldier Peter Cosgrove by the Victorian-based painter, printmaker and sculptor Rick Amor.

Scott Redford: Introducing
Reinhardt Dammn

Surfer artist rockstar

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Christopher Chapman talks with Scott Redford about his character Reinhardt Dammn.

Pigeon coup

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

Glenn McGrath makes a strong impact on the English batsmen and the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

True fella

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

Michael Desmond profiles the Australian songwriter and performer Neil Murray and his contribution to Australian music.

The Window Seat, 1907 by Frances Hodgkins

Kiwi magpie

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2018

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

Journey into Headspace...

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007

The theme for the National Portrait Gallery's eighth exhibition of student portraiture was The Journey.

Their brilliant careers

Magazine article by Jenny Gall, 2017

Jenny Gall delves into Starstruck to celebrate some of Australian cinema’s iconic women.

Noel McKenna

It’s a matter beyond dispute that in the entire history of Australian art, it’s Noel McKenna who’s painted the liveliest rendition of the head of a Chihuahua.

References

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

About the exhibition curator Claire Roberts, and writers Eugene Wang and Zhang Letian.

Gordon Darling Hall, National Portrait Gallery

Architecture

About us

Natural light and human proportions – the design by Johnson Pilton Walker

2023 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

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.

The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2012

Imagination

Dr Sarah Engledow tells the story of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee portrait by Australian artist Ralph Heimans.

Promise Fulfilled

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Big bouquet of Blackmans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr. Sarah Engledow explores the context surrounding Charles Blackman's portrait of Judith Wright, Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith.

Rugby great a fine addition to Portrait Gallery Collection

21 March 2017

Archived media releases 2017

A portrait of Australian rugby great, Dr Mark Loane AM MBBS FRANZO FRACS, is the latest addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. The work is the final in a series of three commissioned portraits of Australian rugby luminaries funded by Gallery benefactor, Mr Patrick Corrigan AM.

Out of the shadows

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour profiles the life and times of the shutter sisters May and Mina Moore.

All in the Family

Magazine article by Barbara Blackman AO, 2003

In 2000, Barbara Blackman donated a portrait of her close friends - poet Judith Wright, her husband Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith - painted by Charles Blackman.

Waterfall in Australia, c. 1830 by Augustus Earle

Augustus serendipitous

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

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

Poets' Portraits

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

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

Jose Legaspi

by Patrick D. Flores

Artist essays

Jose Legaspi was born in 1959 in Manila. He achieved degrees in zoology and biology before turning to fine arts in the mid-1980s.

M H Wednesday 11.15am from the series Self-harm, 2004

Big it up

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2005

Former National Portrait Gallery Curator Magda Keaney was a member of the selection panel of the Schwepes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004 at the National Portrait Gallery London.

Life class

Magazine article by Leonie Hellmers, 2004

Barbara Blackman reflects on her experiences as a life model.

ORA - Homesickness Project 2015 by Chrys Zantis

Food for thought

Magazine article by Michael Wardell, 2016

Michael Wardell on Chrys Zantis’ Ora.

Home truths

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

Thousand mile stare

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

John Elliott talks about his photographic portrait practice, including his iconic image of Slim Dusty arm-in-arm with Dame Edna Everage.

Facing Australia, Composite portrait: Facing St Lucia, 2003

Conflicting images

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

Michael Desmond reveals the origins of composite portraits and their evolution in the pursuit of the ideal.

Full time

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

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

Cool cool world

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

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

Donated duo

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the gift of two striking paintings by the Australian artist Ken Done AM.

Penny Fowler AM, John Barrington AM, Heidi Victoria, Elizabeth Dibbs, Tom Mosby, Hayley Baillie, Hugo Michell, Elizabeth Pakchung, Valerie Tam

The Board

Governance & Board

The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.

The bright-eyed Mariner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

A new colonial portrait brings a zealous captain near.

Portrait of William Manning, c.1821 by Henry Bone

Of beef in burgundy

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2017

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

Diamond Doll

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2016

Karen Vickery delights in a thespian thread of the Australian yarn.

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

Back in black

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

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

Confessional conversations

The portraiture of Kristin Headlam

Magazine article by Fiona Gruber, 2015

Fiona Gruber investigates the work of Australian painter Kristin Headlam.

See through me

Magazine article by Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray, 2022

Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray talk to the artists in Portrait23: Identity about transcending modes of portraiture.

Robyn Sweaney

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

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.

More cash than dash

Joanna Gilmour describes how colonial portraitists found the perfect market among social status seeking Sydneysiders.

History

About us

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

20/20 launch speech

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

Nicholas Harding

Magazine article by Judith Pugh, 2005

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.

A sketch for some portraits

Judith Pugh reflects on Clifton Pugh's approach to portrait making.

Louise Lovely feeding gulls in a park, 1969 Unknown photographer

Jewelled nights

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2017

Anne Sanders celebrates the cinematic union of two pioneering australian women.

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

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

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

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

The tragic tale of Tom Wills, the ‘inventor’ of Australian Rules Football.

Regarding Henrys

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

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

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

All the way with K of K

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

A non-material and non-physical portrait

Lecture, 21 May 2011

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Inner Worlds features the recently commissioned portrait of world-renowned philosopher of consciousness David Chalmers by Melbourne-based artist Nick Mourtzakis.

Uncommon Australians

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

Forest Creek, Mount Alexander Diggings, 1852 by S. T. Gill

The Rothschilds, the Montefiores, and the Victorian Gold Rush

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.

The art of Inner Worlds

Lecture, 7 May 2011

Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.

Rick Amor: 21 Portraits

Sarah Engledow chronicles Rick Amor's work and accomplishments in this extensive essay in conjunction with the exhibition Rick Amor: 21 Portraits.

Christmas Island