Search / nathaniel dance

William Holl, Fisher, Son & Co London after Nathaniel Dance

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Captain James Cook, 1837

William Holl, Peter Jackson, London & Paris after Nathaniel Dance

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

Captain James Cook from the original in the Naval Gallery, Greenwich Hospital

Captain James Cook from the original in the Naval Gallery, Greenwich Hospital, c. 1837

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

Nathaniel Kinsman

Nathaniel Kinsman (1823–1898), lay preacher, came to Victoria in the late 1840s and set up in business in Fitzroy as a dealer in second-hand furniture.

1 portrait in the collection

George Dance

George Dance the Younger, architect, was a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.

4 portraits in the collection

Sir Joseph Banks, 1811

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Alexander Dalrymple, 1809

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper

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

Reverend Nathaniel Kinsman, c. 1880

William B. Latimer, W B Latimer Photo Art Studio

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Purchased 2013

William Hodges RA, 1808 (dated 1810)

Portrait, etching on paper

Purchased 2010

William Westall, 1854

Portrait, etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Angus stars in the Gallery's 2016 entry to the international Museum Dance Off.

The Dance - David McAllister, 2016

Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016

Sketchbook journal for the commission portrait

Sketchbook journal for the commission portrait "The Dance - David McAllister", 2016

Portrait, 48 page journal with 25 illustrated pages in pencil, pastel, ink and collage of printed images with masking tape

Commissioned with funds provided by The Stuart Leslie Foundation 2016

Australian Dance Party and Catapult Dance performing Connecting Stories: Innovations at the National Portrait Gallery, 2022 Lorna Sim

Let’s dance

Magazine article by Emma Batchelor, 2022

Emma Batchelor uncovers the compelling contemporary dance made in response to the works in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

A Dance to the Music of Time (Self portrait)

Wendy Sharpe

Daniel Riley choreographing Hit the Floor Together with QL2 dancers

Lorna Sim

How can we dance when our earth is turning?

Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground

Protest!

Rock’s raw potency made it the ideal medium for fomenting protest. The 1970s, 80s and onwards saw calls for social and environmental justice ring out through song.

Tammi Gissell: WILDomestic

Lauren Sparkes

Brooke Lockett, Heidi Martin, Karen Nanasca, Halaina Hills; New York, 2012 Lisa Tomasetti

Dance like everyone’s watching

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

James Vu Anh Pham and Tara Jade Samaya from 'The Knowledge Between Us'

Pippa Samaya

Mwaba Mubanga

Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis Bayliss

Wandangula Dancers & the Song People Perform Ngabaya (Spirit People) at the 2014 Malandarri Festival, Yanyuwa Country 2014

David McAllister

Lisa Tomasetti

Luke Brookes and Ellen Buswell

Can't get Hugh out of my head...

Museum Dance-off 2016!

Portrait, engraving, hand coloured on paper

Each year staff from cultural institutions strut their stuff on the international stage for a chance to win fame, glory and a trophy. But this year our Director, Angus Trumble had other things on his mind...

Corroboree, or Dance of the Natives of New South Wales

Corroboree, or Dance of the Natives of New South Wales, 1820

Walter Preston

Purchased 2013

David McAllister

In their own words

Recorded 2017

Young girl in a dance class waiting to be photographed, 2010

by John Slaytor

Tanja Liedtke

Tobin Lush

Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM

Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM (b. 1934), choreographer, teacher and performer, was born in Adelaide and trained in classical ballet and modern dance with Nora Stewart.

1 portrait in the collection

Innes Davenport

Beau D. Smith

Beau Dean Riley Smith is a Wiradjuri and Gamillaraay man, born in Dubbo.

1 portrait in the collection

Graeme Murphy, 1977 (printed 2002)

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Pamela and Colin McPherson

Paul White from 'The Cells Beneath'

Pippa Samaya

Meryl Tankard AO

Meryl Tankard AO (b. 1955) is an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, director and filmmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Graeme Murphy AO

Graeme Murphy AO (b. 1950), choreographer and dancer, was co-artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company with his wife Janet Vernon AM for three decades.

3 portraits in the collection

Ghenoa Gela in ‘Winds of Woerr'

Gregory Lorenzutti

Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake: Ella Havelka, Beijing

Lisa Tomasetti

Kristian Fredrikson

Kristian Fredrikson (1940–2005) was a designer for opera, drama, ballet, film and television.

1 portrait in the collection

Blek Bala MJ, 2017

by Timothy Hillier

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Margaret Robertson, c. 1863

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

Mr M Walarmerpui, 2019

Ben Searcy

Meryl Tankard, 2005

Gift of the artist 2006

Dee Tang and Desmond Sweeney

Janet Vernon AM

Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis Bayliss

Janet Vernon AM, dancer, met her life and professional partner, Graeme Murphy, at the Australian Ballet School.

1 portrait in the collection

Ngarrga Jawandaji Dancing for The Sandridge Band Performing Their Song Ngabaya (Spirit People) at the 2021 Malandarri Festival, Yanyuwa Country 2021

'Complex stories without words'

David McAllister

Portrait story

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister describes the trajectory of his relationship with dance.

Some lads #1, 1986

Tracey Moffatt

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

Amrita Hepi

Artists and Collectives

Bundjulung/Ngapuhi woman Amrita Hepi’s work considers the body’s relationship to personal histories and archive, and investigates dance as social function.

Forough Yavari

This work is Serenity, it's actually it's part of a series, Salvation that I've been working the past couple of years. And for this project I'm inspired by Langston Hughes.

Stephen and Russell Page, 1993 (printed 2011)

Robert Rosen

Gift of Robert Rosen 2012

Gideon Obarzanek

Portrait, holographic print etched on bronze disk on bronze figurine

Gideon Obarzanek (b. 1966), choreographer, director and curator, spent his early life in Israel, attended school in Melbourne and won a place at the Australian Ballet School, choreographing his first piece there in 1987.

1 portrait in the collection

Mirror Mirror: Graeme Murphy, 2004

Paula Dawson AM

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by Ann Lewis AM and the Basil Bressler Bequest 2004

William Daniell

Portrait, charcoal and oil on canvas

William Daniell (1769-1837) worked mostly as a topographical draftsman and engraver in aquatint.

4 portraits in the collection

Elizabeth, 2019

Anthea da Silva

Gift of the artist 2020

Batchelder & O'Neill

The American brothers Perez Mann, Benjamin and Nathaniel Batchelder worked in Victoria and New South Wales in the 1850s and 1860s.

9 portraits in the collection

Jacob Nash

This is Gusta. He's a dancer. He was backstage with Bangara Dance Theatre when I took the shot, and I had a moment where it was just he and I alone and everyone else was out performing.

Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples

Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, third son of Sir Nathaniel Staples, Bt, was born in Northern Ireland, educated in Belgium, and studied architecture and art in Louvain, Dresden, Paris and London.

1 portrait in the collection

David McAllister AC

David McAllister AC (b. 1963), dancer and former artistic director of the Australian Ballet, was born in Perth and began studying ballet in the early 1970s.

3 portraits in the collection

Christine Anu

Christine Anu (b. 1970), singer/songwriter and actor, was born in Cairns, Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Owen Maher

Owen Maher (b.c. 1975) is a Bardi man from One Arm Point on the Dampier Peninsula.

1 portrait in the collection

Irina Baronova

Irina Baronova (1919–2008) was one of the three legendary 'baby ballerinas' of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, who created an international dance sensation in the 1930s and 1940s.

1 portrait in the collection

Kristian Fredrikson, 2000 (printed 2001)

Purchased 2001

Sean Slattery

Portrait, triptych of type C photographs on paper

This is Davide Di Giovanni and he was a principal dancer for the Sydney Dance Company for six or seven years. He got in touch with me to do some video work together and he was just so amazing.

Russell Page in Venice, 1997

Brenda L Croft

Purchased 2002

Tara Gower and Baden Hitchcock, Chicago

Lisa Tomasetti

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

Coji and Owen, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Archived media releases 2016

Gift of the artist 2004

David McAllister to join National Portrait Gallery collection

26 April 2016

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, David McAllister AM will join the Portrait Gallery’s national collection in a newly-commissioned portrait taken by illustrious Australian photographer, Peter Brew-Bevan.

Richard Henry Horne, mid 1860s

Batchelder & Company Photo

Hosting a touring exhibition

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

Dancer

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition celebrates dance and dancers.

Gideon Obarzanek, 2012

Dave Tacon

Purchased 2012

Catherine, 2015

by Lynette Letic

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Waiting for Zipporah (Christine Anu), 2002

Elizabeth Barden

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Don Burrows

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

2 portraits in the collection

Ningali Lawford-Wolf

Ningali Lawford-Wolf (1967–2019), Wangkatjungka actor and dancer, was born at Christmas Creek Station in the Kimberley.

1 portrait in the collection

Don Burrows at work, 1998

Barry Walsh

Purchased with funds donated by Patrick Corrigan 2000

Gusta

Jacob Nash

Ningali Lawford-Wolf, 1996 (printed 2016)

Stuart Spence

Portrait, photographic print from film on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2016

Tarryn Gill

Artists and Collectives

Tarryn Gill is a Boorloo/Perth-based multidisciplinary artist who works across the mediums of sculpture, installation, photography, film, drawing, set and costume design, and performance.

David Gulpilil's Hands, 2004

Ross Honeysett

Gift of the artist 2021

Bangarra brothers: songman, storyteller, dancer

Passion

Creative kin

Tamara Tchinarova

Tamara Tchinarova (1919–2017), dancer, was one of the original 'baby ballerinas' of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo.

2 portraits in the collection

Steven Heathcote AM

Steven Heathcote AM (b. 1964), dancer, is The Australian Ballet's longest-serving principal artist from 1987 to 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

Graeme Murphy, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

Tamara Tchinarova, 1938

Max Dupain OBE

Gift of Rex Dupain 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Dolores Scott

When Michael Riley photographed Dolores Scott in the 1980s, she was a dancer with the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association.

1 portrait in the collection

Frankie Frank and The Melbourne Salsa Group

Sanjeev Singh

Jianna Georgiou

Shane Reid

Will Kalimba

The hoodie

Jacob Nash

Alan Alder

Alan Alder (1937–2019), dancer and ballet teacher, began his career studying tap and Scottish highland dancing in Canberra.

2 portraits in the collection

Tara Jade Samaya

Pippa Samaya

Dancer

Touring exhibition, 2024

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition celebrates dance and dancers.

Marilyn Rowe AM OBE

Marilyn Rowe AM OBE (b. 1946), former prima ballerina, was the first graduate of The Australian Ballet School to become its director.

2 portraits in the collection

Balla Neba

Michael Jalaru Torres

Previous exhibition, 2020

Darling Portrait Prize 2020

The Darling Prize is a new biennial prize for Australian portrait painters, painting Australian sitters. The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

Shaun: Warda Kadak, Becoming

Melissa Clements

Shannon Dooley and the Retrosweat experience, 2016

by Chrissie Hall

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

Collaboration – Sam Goraya,
Santosh Ram and Samir Kumar Panigrahi backstage before a performance of Kundalini: The Awakening!

Zlatko Varenina

Jacob Nash, 2017

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

Duane Ahchoo

Duane Ahchoo (b.c. 1983) is a Bardi man from One Arm Point on the Dampier Peninsula.

1 portrait in the collection

Yumi Umiumare in ‘ZeroZero'

Gregory Lorenzutti

Irina Baronova (handing on the baton), 2007

Portrait, encaustic, oil and pigment on composition board

Gift of the J Sages Family Trust 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Eileen Perkins

Eileen Perkins is a descendant of one of Adelaide's prominent German Lutheran families.

1 portrait in the collection

Benjamin Horgan and Jake Scourfield

Divine, 2014

by Hugh Peachey

Amanda McGuigan from the 'Sydney Opera House at Rest' series

Daniel Boud

Serenity

Forough Yavari

Dreams, 2006

by Rahima Hayes

Elizabeth, 2019

Anthea da Silva

DJ Lady Erica, 2019

Sean Burton

Hugh Hamilton

Hugh Hamilton (b. 1957) is a photographer and videographer who works between Sydney and Los Angeles.

1 portrait in the collection

Kristina Nehm

When Michael Riley photographed Kristina Nehm several times in the 1980s she was a dancer with the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre in Glebe.

2 portraits in the collection

Ruby James (Inma)

Adele Wilkes

Juliet van Otteren

Juliet van Otteren's first passion were dance and riding her horses bareback across the countryside.

1 portrait in the collection

Shirley Purdie

Contributing artists

Born: 1947, Gilbun – Mabel Downs Station, WA
Works: Warmun, WA

Wayne Quilliam

The important part about it is is where it was captured. That's the Laura Quinkan Dance Festival, where our remote communities gather every two years to celebrate culture, to share knowledge, and to share stories.

Carla Zampatti AC

Faces of the Twentieth Century

Italian-born Carla Zampatti AC (1942–2021) moved to a small town in Western Australia with her family in 1950.

1 portrait in the collection

Karsh

Previous exhibition, 1998

Yousuf Karsh - the most famous portrait photographer in the world - has photographed the statesmen, artists, literary and scientific figures who have defined the 20th century and shaped our lives, In this, his 90th year, the National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to present an exhibition of Karsh's photography of 20th century figures.

Chad Morgan, Sunshine Coast, Qld, 2004

John Elliott

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Beau Dean Riley Smith, Wiradjuri and Gamilaraay nations, Bennelong, 2017

Space in between

Rebecca Ray goes backstage with Bangarra’s Head of Design and photographer Jacob Nash.

Peter Brew-Bevan Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2005

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

Delores, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Full-size preparatory study for the portrait of Leo Schofield

Dr Leo Schofield AM

Leo Schofield AM (b. 1935) has been a significant figure in Australia's cultural life for three decades.

5 portraits in the collection

Amina Belgiorno-Nettis

Amina Belgiorno-Nettis (née Cerino-Zegna) (d. 2015), the daughter of a prosperous northern Italian family, met Franco Belgiorno-Nettis AC CBE (1915-2006) at a dance.

1 portrait in the collection

Rolf de Heer

Rolf de Heer (b. 1951) was born in Heemskerk, Holland, and migrated to Australia with his family in 1959.

1 portrait in the collection

Jacob Nash

Jacob Nash (born 1982) is a Daly River artist and designer and was Head of Design at Bangarra Dance Theatre between 2010 and 2023, working on over 20 productions.

2 portraits in the collection

Study of male ballet dancers standing in a line

Study of male ballet dancers standing in a line, 2007

Portrait, charcoal and pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Capturing Cook

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2003

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.

Dr Alice M. Moyle, 1998

Chris Gentle

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Carolyn and Peter Lowry 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Frances Perry, c. 1863

Purchased 2012

Study of female ballet dancers, 2007

Portrait, charcoal and pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Study of a pair of ballet dancers, 2007

Portrait, charcoal and pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of J Sages Family Trust 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Summertime Fun at the National Portrait Gallery

4 January 2019

Archived media releases 2019

Escape the heat this summer and step inside the National Portrait Gallery for an array of family-fun activities. From storytelling and drawing to music and art, there’s something for everyone to enjoy at the Gallery.

Rolf de Heer, Adelaide, SA, 2004

John Elliott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Alan Sandow, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Clive Shakespeare, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Daryl Braithwaite, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Garth Porter, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Tony Mitchell, 1975 (printed 2001)

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

Eileen, 2017

by Sue Healey

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Telphia Joseph

Telphia Joseph, a Wajarri Yamatji woman from Western Australia, is an Associate Lecturer at the University of New South Wales School of Population Health and Community Medicine, where she teaches Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health focus subjects.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles Perry, c. 1863

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Kristina, 1984 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Ernie Dingo

Ernie Dingo AM (b. 1956), television presenter and actor, is a Yamatji man.

1 portrait in the collection

Lisa Tomasetti

Lisa Tomasetti (b. 1963) is a Sydney-based photographer and visual artist.

1 portrait in the collection

Sherbet, 1974

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

Kristina, 1986 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Lola Montes, c. 1845

Joseph Karl Stieler

Purchased 2010

Li Cunxin AO

Previous exhibition, 2018

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

1 portrait in the collection

Collection: Icons

Volume One

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.

Darcey Bussell

Allen Jones

Wedding

Options

Allow us to paint the possibilities of your wedding reception.

Intimacy

More about In the flesh

In experiencing intimacy the human mind wrestles with the impossible task of being as one with another. Sculptor Sam Jinks unites the textures of the human body and human emotion in these works addressing moments of intimacy.

Bruce Beresford

Bruce Beresford (b. 1940), director, made his first film while an undergraduate at the University of Sydney in the early 1960s.

2 portraits in the collection

Marilyn Rowe, 1981

Graham Thorley

Previous exhibition, 2010

Gift of the family of Graham Thorley in his memory and in tribute to Marilyn Rowe 2010

Jenny Sages

Paths to Portraiture

The exhibition Sages examines the process of portrait making through four large-scale portraits of women by Jenny Sages, paired with intimate preparatory drawings.

Ningali Lawford-Wolf

In their own words

Recorded 1996

Dame Margaret Scott, 1949

Kenneth Rowell AM

Portrait, pen and ink, brush and ink and watercolour on paper

Gift of Professor Derek Denton AC and Dame Margaret Scott AC 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Telphia, 1990 (printed 2013)

Purchased 2013

Cate Blanchett and Ernie Dingo, 1994

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2004

Charles Summers, late 1860s

Batchelder & Company Photo

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

Carla Zampatti, 2015

Georges Antoni

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

A photographer’s glamorous friends

Nearest & Dearest

Community, arts, activism

Portrait of Bennilong, a Native of New Holland

Portrait of Bennilong, a Native of New Holland, c. 1810

an unknown artist

Previous exhibition, 2005

Purchased 2014

Glossy 2

Faces, Magazines, Now

Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.

Li Cunxin, 2018

Jun Chen

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2018

Sir Henry Barkly, c. 1863

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

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

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

Magazine article by Sam Bowker, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Reflections on a Hologram

Sam Bowker examines Paula Dawson's Mirror, Mirror - a holographic portrait of Graeme Murphy.

David Gulpilil, c. 1981

Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Tony Bilson, c. 2005

George Fetting

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Tony Bilson 2008

Aden Ridgeway

Aden Ridgeway (b. 1962), Aboriginal rights advocate and former politician, was a senator for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005.

3 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Bennilong, Native of New Holland

Portrait of Bennilong, Native of New Holland, c. 1798

an unknown artist

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

Bruce Beresford on location, c. 1981 (printed 2004)

Robert McFarlane

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Charles Perkins with Eileen Perkins, 1964 (printed 2021)

Robert McFarlane

Portrait, encaustic on canvas

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

(Margaret Whitlam) by the strength of her skin

(Margaret Whitlam) by the strength of her skin, 1998

Kim Spooner

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

Heath Bergersen

Heath Bergersen (b. 1976) is an Indigenous actor working across Australian television series and movies.

1 portrait in the collection

Lady Barkly, 1863

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite on card

Purchased 2014

Ivan Gaal

Ivan Gaal came to Australia as a refugee from his native Hungary in 1957.

1 portrait in the collection

Richard Nicoll

Richard Nicoll (1977‒2016), fashion designer, was born in London but spent much of his childhood in Perth.

1 portrait in the collection

Akira Isogawa, 2001

Gift of the artist 2005

Hetti Perkins

Hetti Perkins (b. 1965), Arrernte and Kalkadoon curator, cultural adviser, writer and activist, began her career at the Sydney gallery of Aboriginal Arts Australia before joining the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative as a curator.

1 portrait in the collection

Tony Bilson OAM

Tony Bilson, OAM (1944-2020), chef, grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Melbourne Grammar school before opening his first restaurant, La Pomme d'Or, in Camberwell in 1971.

1 portrait in the collection

Gulpilil (David) Dreaming - Kakadu 2006, 2006

George Fetting

Gift of the artist 2008

Aden Ridgeway, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004

Jack Thompson AM

Jack Thompson AM (b. 1940) is an actor and the face of the 1970s Australian film renaissance.

3 portraits in the collection

Trevor Jamieson, 2016

Brett Canét-Gibson

Purchased 2018

Heath Bergersen

In their own words

Recorded 2022

Rachel Griffiths, 2002 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Event, Starts Thursday 16 May

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Tomáš Kantor in Bell Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, 2023

A Performance of Portraiture

Ralph Heimans tour

Join actor Tomáš Kantor for an immersive, theatrical journey through Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence.

Icons

Parliament House

Touring exhibition, 2019

Leanne Benjamin AM OBE

Leanne Benjamin AM OBE (b. 1964) was Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet between 1993 and 2013.

1 portrait in the collection

Akira Isogawa, 2003 (printed 2005)

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

Leo Schofield, 2001

Brent Harris

Commissioned with funds provided by Angela Nevill, Nevill Keating Pictures Ltd, in memory of William Keating 2001

Brian Cadd

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

David Gulpilil AM

David Gulpilil AM (1953-2021), actor and dancer, was a Yolngu man of the Mandhalpuyngu language group and was born near Maningrida in Arnhem Land.

5 portraits in the collection

Senator Aden Ridgeway, 2003

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

Wesley Enoch and David McAllister, 2020

Portrait, type C Duraflex print on paper

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

Dr B Marika AO, 1990

Anne Zahalka

Gift of Leo Christie 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait 67

Winter 2022

Magazine

William Yang on his autobiographical self portraits, David Parker's 1970s and 80s Melbourne music photographs, seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon, and Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis.

POL

Portrait of a Generation

Previous exhibition, 2003

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

Photograph from Eye to I series, 2022 David Lindesay

A portrait of the artist by the artist

Magazine article by Sarah Rhodes, 2019

Rowan McGinness asks: when is a self portrait not a self portrait?

After Dante’s Inferno, 2018 Sarah Rhodes © the artist

Observation point

I met Clara while teaching photomedia at the University of Tasmania last year. One of her assignments focused on her relationship with her former boyfriend, who she now works for as his live-in carer.

Franco Belgiorno-Nettis AC CBE

Franco Belgiorno-Nettis AC CBE (1915-2006), industrialist, engineer and patron of the arts, attended the Turin Military Academy and served in the Italian army in North Africa during World War II.

1 portrait in the collection

Akira Isogawa

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

Akira Isogawa (b. 1964), fashion designer, was born in Kyoto, Japan, and first came to Australia on a working holiday at the age of 21.

2 portraits in the collection

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

Lear unbuttoned

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

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot)

Reveries

Photography and mortality

Previous exhibition, 2007

Featuring works by Australian and New Zealand photographers from the late 1970s up to the present day Reveries focuses on images made in the presence of or consciousness of death.

Margaret Whitlam AO

Margaret Whitlam AO (1919-2012), social worker and writer, was a champion swimmer as a schoolgirl.

2 portraits in the collection

Wayne Blair, 2007 (printed 2014)

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

Sherbet, 1974 (printed 2002)

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

Ross Edwards

Ross Edwards (b. 1943), composer, became determined upon a life of composition as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

Thilin-Thilin Gooragall Nyajaringil Garnkiny-nu (white gum tree, mother for the moon), 2018 by Shirley Purdie

Storytelling

Magazine article by Amanda Rowell, 2015

The fourth row of paintings interweave Ngarranggarni, memories, relationships and Country.

Sophisticated and glamorous

Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.

The transparent mask

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

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

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

So Fine

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

Previous exhibition, 2018

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

National Portrait Gallery and Access2Arts staff presenting on audio description at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association National Conference

Our achievements to date

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023–25

During the period 2018–20, the Gallery implemented our first Access Action Plan.

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

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

Previous exhibition, 2009

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

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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Previous exhibition, 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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

Previous exhibition, 2020

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Wayne Blair

Magazine article by India Bednall, 2015

Wayne Blair (b. 1971), director, actor and writer, became interested in acting and dance while a high school student in Rockhampton in the 1980s.

1 portrait in the collection

Dan the man

Martin Philbey’s portrait of Dan Sultan.

Li Cunxin, 2017–2018

by Jun Chen

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2018

Dr B Marika AO

Previous exhibition, 2023

Dr B Marika AO (1954–2021), Yolgnu leader, printmaker, arts administrator, environmentalist and cultural activist, was a member of the renowned Marika family of artists and activists.

2 portraits in the collection

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

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.

Presenting… Shirley Purdie’s Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe

Wednesday 27 May 2020

Archived media releases 2020

The National Portrait Gallery this week launches an online exhibition of Shirley Purdie’s remarkable self-portrait Ngalim-Ngalimbooroo Ngagenybe to coincide with Reconciliation Week.

Open Air

Portraits in the Landscape

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Previous exhibition, 2022

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.

The People’s Choice Awards

16 June 2020

Archived media releases 2020

The votes have been counted, and the winners of the National Portrait Gallery’s People’s Choice Awards for the Prize exhibitions are...

Yanyuwa young men, The Song Peoples Sessions CD Launch Rehearsals, Yanyuwa Country, 2012 Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis

Us being ourselves

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

Penelope Grist talks to photographer Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis about capturing moments, telling stories and keeping Culture strong.

Being Cate

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

A moving portrait of Cate Blanchett unfolds as an inspired pairing of medium and subject.

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist

Madame Sibly, Phrenologist and Mesmerist, c. 1870

James E. Bray

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite photograph

Purchased 2017

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

Satoshi Tokuhiro at Horai Gorge, Takaruzuka, Hyogo from Young Samurai – Bodybuilders of Japan Photography by Tamotsu Yato

Way of the body

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2019

Christopher Chapman reveals the intersection of iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato.

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.

Announcing... Pub Rock

11 August 2020

Archived media releases 2020

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

The Obama effect

Magazine article by Kim Sajet, 2018

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

You beauty

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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

Unpacked

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

Rebecca Ray reflects on Robert Fielding’s Mayatjara series, honouring songlines and intergenerational knowedge.

In a good paddock

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

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

Latai Taumoepeau and Justin Shoulder, 2014, printed, augmented 2023 from the series No Human Being Is Illegal (in all our glory) 2014–18 Deborah Kelly

A stitch in time: Participating in portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

Author and embroidery enthusiast Emma Batchelor shares her experience of joining a sewing circle with Portrait23: Identity artist Deborah Kelly.

Rehearsing Godot (Mullins as Lucky) 4.11.2013 by Nicholas Harding

Waiting for Godot

'Artist and actors, advancing spasmodically, find their rhythm together' writes Sarah Engledow.

Ready , set... shoot

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

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

Swimming every day

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2015

National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Christopher Chapman connects this year’s entries to iconic contemporary american photographers.

A bear of great substance

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2016

Just in time for Christmas, Angus reflects on the most special present he has ever received.

2022 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

The hands have it

Angus Trumble treats the gallery’s collection with a dab hand.

Une Femme Amoureuse, Self portrait as Mireille Mathieu, 2022 Yvette Coppersmith

You, looking at me

Magazine article by Elspeth Pitt, 2022

Elspeth Pitt chats with Archibald Prize-winning artist Yvette Coppersmith about performance, coincidences and the intersection of art and life.

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) comedian, impresario and entrepreneur, was a driving force of the early Australian theatre.

Swimming every day

NPPP 2015 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2015 Prize.

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

First encounters

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

Thrown together

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

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

Ngarranggarni

The third row of paintings come from Ngarranggarni (Dreaming).

Home is where the art is

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2022

Tedi Bills on how social media in the age of COVID-19 has fanned the flames of our portrait fascination.

Unheroic Materialism: little harmless fragments of memory and association: a portrait of Angus Trumble, 2019 Evert Ploeg

The last word

David Hansen’s tribute to his close friend, prince of words and former National Portrait Gallery director, the late Angus Trumble.

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.

Kylie

Magazine article by Margot Anderson, 2005

The Kylie exhibition celebrated the significant achievements of one of Australia's most internationally recognisable faces and gave the general public a rare glimpse into her glamorous life.

Melati Suryodarmo

by Hendro Wiyanto

Artist essays

Born in Surakarta (Solo), Indonesia in 1969, Melati Suryodarmo’s first degree was in international relations.

Cultural kaleidoscope

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Powerful Indigenous women

Magazine article by June Oscar AO, 2017

June Oscar AO lauds three iconic Aboriginal figures in the Portrait Gallery collection who have inspired and influenced her.

Reveries

Magazine article by Helen Ennis, 2007

The exhibition Reveries: Photography and mortality is a powerful display which brings together images that depict the last phase of people's lives.

Woman with Fair Hair and Pink Cardigan, 1949 by John Perceval.

The family scene

Magazine article, 2016

Traudi Allen discovers sensitivity, humour and fine draughtsmanship in the portraiture of John Perceval.

Washington preview

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2005

Ron Ramsey, former Director of Cultural Relations at the Embassy of Australia interviewed NPG Washington Director, Marc Pachter, about their building renovations.

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

Foundation Members

Foundation

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

Generous Janice

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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

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 stately lotus

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

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

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.

Yanyangkari Roma Butler and Yangi Yangi Fox from Irrunyju (Wingellina), Western Australia, 2017 Rhett Hammerton

Weaving identity

Rebecca Ray explores the way identity, belonging and connectedness are translated through materiality in First Nations portraiture.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

The Mutineers turning Lieut Bligh and part of the Officers and Crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship the Bounty

High & Bligh

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Joanna Gilmour explores the 1790 portrait of William Bligh by Robert Dodd.

Lyndall Hobbs and Marilyn at the Come as your favourite blonde party, Blitz Club, London, 1979 Robert Rosen

Shiny, happy people

Magazine article by Glynis Jones, 2022

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

‘Untitled’ - Yellow Kangaroo Paw, 2008 by Christian Thompson

The 'I' in Indigenous art

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

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

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.

Naked ambition

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Joanna Gilmour dives into the life of Australian swimming legend Annette Kellerman.

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

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

Waterfall in Australia, c. 1830 by Augustus Earle

Augustus serendipitous

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

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

Portrait of Thea Proctor, 1905 by George Lambert

The real Thea

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

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

A feast of friends

Magazine article by Richard Ormond, 2015

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

Naked nostalgia

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

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

Petal to the mettle

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay