Search / keith urban

Keith Urban, 2007

Purchased 2011

Observation point

I have always loved portraits; there is something magical about the combination of the terrain of a face, the angle of a head, and the pose of a body.

Keith Miller, early 1950s (printed 2008)

Purchased 2008

Jan Senbergs, 1976

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Padraic McGuinness 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Sir Keith Murdoch, 1944

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Serafin Martinez and Thai Loi 2013

David Combe and the portrait, 1983

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Combe 1998
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Keith Laught, 1951

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Mary Shedley, Mrs Christine Moriarty, Mrs Josephine Lawrence and Mrs Helen Beare 2010

The Seekers reunite 50 years on, 2011

Gift of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Seekers, 1993

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Candidate for Chelsea (9th Earl of Kintore), 1880

Purchased 2015

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne, c. 1968

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Match made in entertainment heaven

When the stars align

Evie and Ruby at The Bend, Dec. 2019

Tribute

Edward Tom Uren AC (1921-2015), former Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party, was a major campaigner on environmental and urban-planning issues and rights for veterans.

Self portrait with glove, 1939

Purchased 1999

Sketch for portrait of Tom Uren, 1972

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Tom Uren's family 2017
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Gloves off (Tom Uren), 1996

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Study for "Barry Humphries in the character of Mrs Everage", 1969

Gift of Timothy Fairfax AC 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Yahir, waiting to live again, 2017

Troppo Architects

The studios of Troppo Architects are located away from Australia’s major urban centres.

Simon, Docklands, 2018

Aretha Brown

Gumbaynggirr artist Aretha Brown talks street art, collaboration and ghost stories with First Nations Curator and Meriam woman, Rebecca Ray.

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

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

Beauty and strength

Influential Indigenous Australian artist Michael Riley (1960 - 2004) created these portrait photographs between 1984 and 1990 - they stand as an intricately connected group portrait of the vibrant urban-based Indigenous arts community in Sydney's inner-west at a formative moment.

The Hoff

The image of a hairy swag-wielding bushman might be one popularly associated with Australia in the late nineteenth century.

Rupert Murdoch, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Dempsey's people

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.

Terry Snow and China, 2017

Commissioned with funds provided by Dr Justin Garrick and Ms Dharini Ganesan Rasu, Mr Dino Nikias & Mrs Dimitra Nikias, Mr Jim Windeyer, Ms Claudia Hyles, Mrs Sotiria Liangis OAM and Mr John Liangis, Justice Mary Finn, Mr Bill Farmer AO and Mrs Elaine Farmer, Mr Tim Efkarpidis, Mr Bob Nattey and Mrs Charlotte Nattey, Ms Jennifer Bott AO, Mr Keith Bradley, Dr Sam Whittle and Mrs Heather Whittle 2017

Delores, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Rare Set of Watercolour Paintings on Display for the First Time

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.

Self portrait, 2001

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2002

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

The story behind the commissioning of the tapesty portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.

Bee Miles, 1976

Gift of Brian Griffin 2000

Fiona McMonagle

Irish-born, Naarm/Melbourne-based artist Fiona McMonagle pushes the limits of watercolour portraiture to address women’s experiences.

Skater

Nikki Toole has travelled the world to photograph skateboarders.

Very small business

Under the ‘Old Poor Law’, people begging on the streets could be arrested, so to avoid punishment, they often pretended to commerce, offering the most marginal of goods and services.

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

Purchased 2009

Ryan Presley: Paradise won

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.

Hetti, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Sean Godsell Architects

Based in Melbourne, Sean Godsell is known internationally for his distinctive residential architecture.

David Malouf, 1980

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

I think of my Culture, 1989

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

Nam Le, 2010

Purchased 2010

George Molnar, 1983

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, 2000

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2000

Bangarra brothers: songman, storyteller, dancer

Creative kin

Gooseberry, widow of King Bungaree, 1836

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

Peter Porter, 2004

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

Ann Moyal, 1957

Gift of Ann Moyal 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jeffrey Smart, 1992

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

Joan Croll, 1976

Gift of Frank Croll and Dr Joan Croll AO 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The transparent mask

Cate Blanchett and the art of acting in Rosetzky’s digital portrait.

Portrait 64

Marian Anderson, emerging photographer Charles Dennington, piscatorial portraits, and the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou and more.

Study for portrait of Joan Croll, 1976

Gift of Dr Joan Croll AO 2007. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

JS Study 1, 2014

Gift of Ross Steele AM 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Darrell, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

OBEY

Shepard Fairey is best known for his iconic poster Obama/Hope which he made in support of Barack Obama for the 2008 US election.

Marea Gazzard, c. 1985

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

Reko Rennie, 2014

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

Marea Gazzard, Paddington, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000)

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.

Nocturnal animals

Joanna Gilmour explores the enticing urban shadows cast by artists Martin Lewis and Edward Hopper.

Djon, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Do you know more?

The National Portrait Gallery is calling on family history enthusiasts and amateur historians to help reveal more about the people in Dempsey’s People: A folio of British street portraits from 1824-1844.

Village people

Christopher Chapman discusses Rod McNicol's photographic portrait series Newcomers to my village.

Sir Tristan Antico, 1993 (printed 2018)

Purchased 2018

Supporters

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

Gift of Joanna Russell Maher (née Windeyer) 2018

Rarely Everage

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

Indecent exposure

'Diving Venus' and 'the perfect woman' are two of the numerous descriptions applied to Annette Kellerman, who achieved international fame during the early decades of the twentieth century.

doppelgänger

doppelgänger is the second in a series of virtual exhibitions held by the National Portrait Gallery that explore contemporary notions of portraiture in the online environment.

Obey

Michael Desmond investigates the street art of Shepard Fairey, who was catapulted to fame during the 2008 presidential election with his resonant image of Barack Obama.

Poet of the Fleeting Moment

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

Hema Upadhyay

Hema Upadhyay was born in Baroda in 1972 and moved to in Mumbai in 1998. Incorporating painting, installation, sculpture and printmaking, Upadhyay’s work often addresses issues related to migration, especially the experiences of those living in urban communities.

Nicholas Harding

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.

Calling all family history buffs

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.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

Kylie Tennant, early 1980s (printed 2018)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Mark Strizic

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

Dan the man

Martin Philbey’s portrait of Dan Sultan.

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

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.

New Chair of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia Board

The Morrison Government has appointed Mrs Penny Fowler as Chair of the Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia (NPGA) for a 3 year term, commencing on 1 January 2022.

To Look Within

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

Mind and body

Christopher Chapman interviews photographer Nikki Toole about her bold and controlled portraits of skateboarders in the exhibition Skater.

A Meeting of Great Minds

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

Judy Cassab

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.

Australian of the Year

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

The Pavlova

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

Moving pictures

The exhibition California Video at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles demonstrated how video artists expand the boundaries of portraiture.

Announcing... Pub Rock

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

Michelle Simmons, 2018

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

Dance like everyone’s watching

Penelope Grist’s spirits soar with Lisa Tomasetti’s Dancers in the Streets series.

Observation point

Zhong Chen's paintings of boys on Chinese zodiac animals and kung fu images reflect his identity as a Chinese-Australian artist.

Open Air

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 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.

Observation point

Artist Kate Beynon reflects on the place of portraiture in her artistic career.

Australian Visit

The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.

Desert Island Discs

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.

Making Portraits

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

2023 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 'I' in Indigenous art

Jane Raffan examines unique styles of Indigenous portraiture that challenge traditional Western concepts of the artform.

Drawn from life

Penelope Grist discovers the rich narratives in Peter Wegner’s series of centenarian portraits.

The elegant thinker

Sarah Engledow pens a fond farewell to acclaimed science historian Ann Moyal.

Portrait of the artist as a young man

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the early life and career of John Brack.

Uncommon Australians

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.

Hide/Seek

David Ward writes about the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington.

Roam alone

Jon Muir, adventurer and Portrait Gallery Collection subject, really knows about isolation.

The activist A-list

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.

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

In the round

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

Real close

Peter Ciemitis breached regulations when creating the portrait of the polymath environmental scientist George Seddon.

The life of Bryant

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

Emblems of beauty

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

Exhibition themes

The four main themes of the exhibition: About face, Body politic, Skin deep, and Self reflex.

Empirical art

Several years ago I came across this curious painting on the racks in a distant, dusty corner of the store room in the basement of the Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa. Since then the mystery surrounding it has never been far from my mind. 

Tejal Shah

Born in 1979, Tejal Shah grew up in Chhattisgarh, central India, moving to Bombay in 1995.

Subtle emotion

Christopher Chapman considers photographer Rozalind Drummond's portrait of author Nam Le.

Family collective

Beatrice Gralton looks at a larger than life portrait by Chinese artist Song Dong.

Poets' Portraits

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.

Atul Bhalla

Atul Bhalla was born in 1964 in New Delhi. He frequently combines photography, installation, sculpture, video, painting and performance to question the human relationship with the natural and constructed environment.

Dempsey's people

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.

Back track

Penelope Grist finds photographer Matt Nettheim re-visiting a formative and fulfilling career tram stop.

A new perspective

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

Alter ego

Tom Fryer surveys the twentieth-century architectural project, and finds representation and the portrait were integral elements.

Money for Myth

Australian character on the market by Jane Raffan.

Wicked but Virtuous

Faith Stellmaker shares pioneering artist and restaurateur Mirka Mora’s lasting legacy on Melbourne’s art, dining and culture.

Cultural kaleidoscope

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

I'm not there

Cool cool world

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

Nikhil Chopra

Nikhil Chopra was born in 1974, in Calcutta. His first degree was in commerce, but in 1997 he took up fine art studies, eventually gaining a Masters in Fine Art from Ohio State University, United States.

Technical terminology

Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.

Doodles of the Diva

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.

The personal and the historical

Where do we draw a line between the personal and the historical? Although she died in Melbourne in 1975, when I was not quite eleven years old, I have the vividest memories of my maternal grandmother Helen Borthwick.

Foundation Members

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.

Mental as everything

Chris O'Doherty, also known as Reg Mombassa, is best-known for his Mambo imagery but he also paints a lot of self portraits.

Birds of a feather

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

Fugue in Yellow

Roger Benjamin explores the intriguing union of Lina Bryans and Alex Jelinek.

In and out of focus

Gael Newton looks at Australian photography, film and the sixties through the novel lens of Mark Strizic.

Lauded legacy

Karl James gives short shrift to doubts about the profile of General Sir John Monash.

Darren McDonald

The wild balancing act of McDonald’s home décor (is that there as a joke? where do I actually sit down? is this ironic or what? what a lovely photo of Darren and Robin in Europe!) is reflected in his own personality.

In good company

Jean Appleton’s 1965 self portrait makes a fine addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection writes Joanna Gilmour.

What price self?

Jane Raffan investigates auction sales of self portraits nationally and internationally.

The Dissecting Room

Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture. 

A spectral sentience

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

Portrait Donors

Unknown drawer

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

The Black Death

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.

Regarding Henrys

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

The more things change...

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.

Faces of war

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.

Less than six degrees of separation

Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

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