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Harry and Penelope Seidler, 15 December 1958

Gift of Penelope Seidler AM 2021

Penelope Seidler, 2019 (printed 2021)

Purchased 2021

Harry Seidler part one

Recorded 1972

Harry Seidler part two

Recorded 1972

Harry Seidler, Killara, Sydney, 1984 (printed 2000)

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

Harry Seidler, n.d.

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

Walter Gropius and Harry Seidler, 1954

Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

To arrive at hope

Penelope Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2020 Prize.

Drawn from life

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

Natural born stiller

Penelope Grist speaks to Robert McFarlane about shooting for the stars.

In the flesh

In the flesh is an enthralling and immersive experience of contemporary art that confronts the concept of humanness and the experiences of consciousness and emotion. Featuring ten Australian artists including Jan Nelson, Patricia Piccinini, Ron Mueck and Michael Peck, the exhibition explores themes of intimacy, empathy, transience, transition, vulnerability, alienation, restlessness, reflection, mortality and acceptance.

Starstruck

Striking, beautiful portraiture comes out of the most thoroughly documented creative process there is – filmmaking. In a ground-breaking collaboration the National Portrait Gallery and National Film and Sound Archive invite you into this captivating realm between real and fictional worlds. 

Bare

Bare: Degrees of undress celebrates the candid, contrived, natural, sexy, ironic, beautiful, and fascinating in Australian portraiture that shows a bit of skin. 

Starstruck: On Location

Striking, beautiful portraiture comes out of the most thoroughly documented creative process there is – filmmaking. In a ground-breaking collaboration the National Portrait Gallery and National Film and Sound Archive invite you into this captivating realm between real and fictional worlds. 

PROMO

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

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

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

Australia’s great internationalists

Penelope Grist explores the United Nations stories in the Gallery’s collection.

Mash-up

Penelope Grist delves into an insightful portraiture exhibition that asks: How do three artists see the same sitter?

Back track

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

The long game

Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.

Facing the feeling

Penelope Grist explores the interplay between medicine and portraiture in Vic McEwan’s Face to Face: The New Normal.

Naked nostalgia

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

Kiwi magpie

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

Us being ourselves

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

In the flesh

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

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

Getting bare

How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.

The Bare story

Curator, Penny Grist, reveals how this exhibition came to be

See through me

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

About grace

Penelope Grist finds philanthropy and fashion underpin the story of Susan Wakil AO.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2016

The National Photographic Portrait Prize 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.

Cool cool world

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

In profile

Penelope Grist explores the photographic instinct of four-time National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist Julian Kingma.

The play’s the thing

Penelope Grist charts an immersive path through Stuart Spence’s photography.

Painting them gently

Penny Grist on motivation, method and melancholy in the portraiture of Darren McDonald.

The story of us

Gallery directors Karen Quinlan and Tony Ellwood talk to Penelope Grist about the NPG and NGV collaborative exhibition, Who Are You: Australian Portraiture.

Dance like everyone’s watching

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

Conduct becoming

Penelope Grist speaks to Bill Henson and Simone Young to discover the origins of the artist’s stunning photographic triptych.

Shop Talk

Angus and the arbiters talk (photo) shop for the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Designing the ideal marriage

Deep foundations, shared vision

Designing the modern world

Friendship, education, inspiration

HV (Doc) Evatt, 1935

Gift of Elizabeth Evatt and Penelope Seidler 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

All revealed in new exhibition Bare: Degrees of undress

This exhibition celebrates the candid, contrived, natural, sexy, ironic, beautiful, and fascinating in Australian portraiture that shows a bit of skin.

Portrait 64

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

Portrait 66

The Huxleys, National Portrait Gallery London’s masterpieces, Jennifer Higgie on portraits of women by women, Tamara Dean, Bangarra, Glynis Jones on fashion photographers, and NPG/NGV collaboration.

All revealed in new exhibition Bare: Degrees of undress

A new exhibition celebrates the candid, contrived, natural, sexy, ironic, beautiful, and the fascinating in Australian portraiture that shows a bit of skin.

Portrait 67

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.

Portrait 58

Paul Cézanne, Bill Henson and Simone Young, Australian cinema’s iconic women, and feminist portraits by Kate Just.

David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings, 1980

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Max Dupain, Artamon, Sydney, 1979 (printed 2000)

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

Depth of Field

Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.

If you love movies, you’ll love Starstruck!

In an unprecedented partnership, the National Portrait Gallery and National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) present a new star-studded exhibition, Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits.

Dick Düsseldorp, 1991 (printed 2018)

Purchased 2018

Neville Gruzman, 1968

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Portrait 65

Hugh Ramsay, the fashion of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, Peter Wegner's centenarian series, John and Elizabeth Gould's family connections, Karen Quinlan's top five portraits and more.

Portrait 69

In conversation with Aretha Brown, Pieter Roelofs on Vermeer, humanoid robots, the nationwide search for Archibald portraits, and 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

Portrait 68

Rebecca Ray on Robert Fielding’s Mayatjara series, Jennifer Higgie on Alice Neel, Elspeth Pitt chats with Yvette Coppersmith, Vincent Fantauzzo on virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman and more.

Annual Appeal

Home is where the art is

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

Max Dupain

During his long and distinguished career Max Dupain took thousands of photographs of people

Time and light

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.

Portrait 50 hits the shelves

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

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2022

Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘identity’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.

More about the National Photographic Portrait Prize

Comments from our judges and information about entering the 2017 Prize.

Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits opens

Visitors will be left in awe with the National Portrait Gallery and National Film and Sound Archive of Australia’s (NFSA) new star-studded exhibition, Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits. 

Vintage Max

Gael Newton delves into the life and art of renowned Australian photographer, Max Dupain.

2020 Annual Appeal

In 2020 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Sally Robinson's remarkable portrait of author Tim Winton.

15 minutes of frame

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Portrait Donors

2021 Annual Appeal

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

Splendid, many-splendoured

Sandra Bruce gazes on love and the portrait through Australian Love Stories’ multi-faceted prism.

2022 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.

Kate Beynon’s transcultural life and art

Phoebe Lupton profiles artist Kate Beynon, whose contemplative self portrait features in Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize.

Oz and beyond

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

Uncommon Australians

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

The eye and the heart

Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.

Moving still

Anne O’Hehir on the seductive power of the film still to reflect and shape ourselves and our cultural landscape.

Material culture

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