Search / ralph hope-johnstone

Olegas Truchanas, 1971

Purchased 2005

A D Hope and his circle

To celebrate the centenary of the birth of poet Alec Derwent Hope AC OBE (1907-2000), the National Portrait Gallery exhibited a selection from its many portraits of Australian poets and authors.

Georg von Neumayer, c. 1860

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

Amy Castles, c. 1899

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins 2012

Martha Mary Robertson, 1866

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

Nicholas Chevalier, c. 1867

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

Edith Ellen Williams, c. 1871

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Sir Saul Samuel, c. 1870

Purchased 2014

Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), 1901

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Peter Roberts 2015

Sir Hartley Williams, c. 1871

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Professor A D Hope, Canberra, 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.

Alec Hope, c. 1985 (printed 2007)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2007

William St. Leonards Robertson, c. 1869

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

Cardinal Moran, 1886-1888

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Archbishop Thomas Joseph Carr, c. 1886

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Thomas Joseph Carr, Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, c. 1887

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Nicholas Hope,

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2007

Gladys Marks, c. 1962

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lowe Kong Meng, c. 1887

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Portrait of the Seventh Earl of Hopetoun, the Rt Hon. John Hope, 1901

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Governor Sir Robert Duff with Lady Duff, Lord Hopetoun and Vice-Regal Party, 1893

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

The Lord Chamberlain (Earl of Hopetoun John Adrian Louis Hope), 1900

Gift of Mr Ronald Walker 2001

Ralph Heimans

The exhibition will feature some of the most significant portraits in the artist’s career to date, from early major works such as his painting of HM Queen Mary of Denmark through to his most recent.

Luis and Finn - two scruffy buddies, 2015

Observation point

As I prepared for my recent retrospective at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark’s National Portrait Gallery, I was struck with the feeling of looking back at a visual diary of the past 30 years.

The Reverend Ralph Sutton, 1935

Gift of Reverend Ralph Sutton's daughters Arlene Howes and Megan Newman in memory of Ralph Sutton and in tribute to his wife Dorothy Sutton 2011

Gloves off (Tom Uren), 1996

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

The Architecture of Music (Vladimir Ashkenazy), 2011

Gift of Michael Crouch AC and Shanny Crouch 2017

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby" recto 'Head Study' and verso 'Hand Study', 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Portrait of Professor Derek Freeman, 1996

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Charles Haddon Chambers, 1921

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Gift of the artist 2001

Study "Radical Restraint: A Portrait of Michael Kirby", 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG interviews the artist who painted his portrait, Ralph Heimans.

HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

Imagination

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

The painter and the princess

Michael Desmond interviews Ralph Heimans about his portrait of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

Radical Restraint
Justice Michael Kirby, 1998

Purchased with funds provided by the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Dane reign

Mette Skougaard and Thomas Lyngby bring eloquent context to Ralph Heimans’ portraits of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

General Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales, c. 1840

Purchased 2018

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated, 1891

Purchased 2009

Portraits of Power: Ralph Heimans tour

Join our professional guides on this 45-minute deep dive into the work of Ralph Heimans, one of Australia’s preeminent portraitists.

Announcing... Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence.

In March 2024, the National Portrait Gallery will launch a major exhibition of the work of Ralph Heimans AM, the Australian artist who’s painted some of the world’s most recognisable people.

Ralph Kenke and Elmar Trefz win Digital Portraiture Award with Selfie Factory

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to announce Mr Ralph Kenke and Mr Elmar Trefz are the winners of the Digital Portraiture Award 2017 for their submission Selfie Factory.

Hope for kindness

Sarah Engledow arrives at the junction of fate and hope in Sarah Ball’s poignant Immigrants series.

Peace, the Man and Hope, 2005

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

A Performance of Portraiture

To arrive at hope

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

The Cape of Good Hope ( Sir Henry Barkly), 1887

Purchased 2015

Professor Ralph Blacket, 1994

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2017

Selfie Factory, 2017

Winner, DPA 2017
Mixed media installation

H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh and Suite in Mining Costume after descending the Band of Hope Gold Mine, Ballarat, Australia, 1867

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020

Digital Portraiture Award 2017

An annual event to extend traditional notions of portraiture and foster emerging artists with an interest in new technology.

Mother and child, 2016

Audio described exhibition portraits

Audio descriptions for selected portraits from the exhibition Ralph Heimans: Portraiture. Power. Influence.

Portrait 60

Ralph Heimans on his portraits, and features on Louis Kahan, Helena Rubinstein, Judy Cassab and Tasmanian convicts.

Nan Goldin

The photographs by Nan Goldin in Tough and tender are warm images of heartache and hope.

Treaties for madmen only, 2008

Giving a dam

Ensconced and meditative in crisp Tasmania, Joanna Gilmour pays tribute to passionate green advocate and photographer Olegas Truchanas.

Self portrait

Glorious

Glorious: A Diamond Jubilee portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a collection-based display representing The Queen in the early and late years of her glittering sixty-year reign.

Les Enfants du Paradis, 2012

Kid A, 2014

Peter O'Doherty, 2013

Barry, 2006

Bern Emmerichs

Born: 1961, Melbourne
Works: Melbourne

Eleni and the bookshop

Angel of the Gap, 2009

Her Majesty Mrs Brown

Join us this Mother’s Day for a screening of Her Majesty Mrs Brown featuring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.

Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal) and Lowitja O’Donoghue at the opening of the inaugural National Aboriginal Conference, Canberra, 1978 (printed 2014)

Purchased 2015

Eleven

A Covid kind of day

Mämburrkmamburrk, the grouping of the clouds, 2017

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

Written in Water

Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.

Single parent Robert Smith-Goode, housing commission flats, 2009

Thirty Three Weeks, 2013

Adalita Srsen, 2013

Observation point

I wanted to be a journalist. I was very idealistic and I had a big chip on my shoulder. I wanted to investigate the human condition, drawing attention to those in need with the hope of someday effecting positive change.

HOMELAND The importance of place, 2014

A Life in Service

Artist Mandy Martin describes the creation of her portrait of Aldo Giurgola, principal architect of Australia's Parliament House.

Collection in focus: Brook Andrew

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

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.

The Migrant, 2017

To Look Away – Tilda, 2015

Finalist, DPA 2016

Self portrait at 85, 1990

Gift of the late May Ralph 2019

Sophie and Mercy, 2016

Autumn in Canberra

In Persuasion (1818), a long walk on a fine autumn day affords Anne Elliot an opportunity to ruminate wistfully and at great length upon declining happiness, youth and hope.

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.

Portrait of Dr John Bradfield, c. 1920-1924

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of Dr J J C Bradfield 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Portrait 55

Explore convict art, photography by Ruth Hollick and Collier Schorr, an interview with neurosurgeon Charlie Teo, portraiture on money, and more!

Thousand Mile Stare

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

The Payne family, 1888-1889

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John McPhee 2018

Joey Chan

Feeling a bit emotional. Took this portrait and it was the last photo I took of her.

Western Australia (Sir Frederick Bedford), 1903

Purchased 2015

Never let you go

Country, culture, connection

Margel and Tarquin, Canberra, c. 1945

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by the Ross family in memory of Noel and Enid Eliot 2014

Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia and Electress Palatine

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

This 1910 portrait of Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts by Tom Roberts was brought into the Gallery's collection with the assistance of the Acquisition Fund in 2013.

Michael Simms

I first saw Zaachariaha Fielding perform with electric fields at Fair Day for Mardi Gras back in 2019 and they just blew me away.

Geoffrey Graham, 1941

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

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.

Penny Sackett

Recorded 2014

Jim Ferrier, n.d.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Frith family 2013

Lee Kernaghan near Broken Hill, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Albert Tucker

Recorded 1961

Heath Ledger, Prague, 2000 (printed 2009)

Purchased with the assistance of Alan Dodge AM 2009

Cecil Beaton

Accomplished illustrator, painter, writer and diarist, set designer and one of the most distinguished photographers of the twentieth century, Cecil Beaton is renowned for his portraits of well known faces from the worlds of fashion, literature, and film.

Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong, c. 1971

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Reg Richardson AM, 2014

Purchased with funds provided by the Circle of Friends 2015

Andrew Steiner, 2020 (printed 2021)

Gift of the artist 2021

Tan Le

Recorded 2018

Gary Catalano, 1994

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

Kylie Minogue, 1999

Purchased 2000

John Tsiavis

Recorded 2018

Portrait of His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria, c. 1864

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2007

Jack Brabham, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2005

Kyle Vander-Kuyp, c. 2000

Gift of the artist 2004

Finalists Announced for Digitial Portraiture Award 2017

The National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to announce nine finalists have been selected from the national call for entries for the Digital Portraiture Award 2017.

Gary Catalano, 1994

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

Mum Shirl (Mrs Shirley Smith), 1988

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

Self portrait, 1949

Gift of an anonymous donor 2007

Nell, 2008

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

Tom Goldner

The portrait's of my mother, Catherine, and the photograph was taken in a family home that we had and my mother was relocating to Tasmania.

The Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC, 2018

Gift of the artist 2019 acknowledging Herbert Smith Freehills for supporting the creation of the portrait

Tim Flannery, 2006

Gift of Professor Tim Flannery 2016. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Person and Place

The connection between land and identity holds great significance in Australia. While for First Nations people, person and place are intertwined both culturally and spiritually, forming an intrinsic union between Country and self, stories of colonisation and migration are also deeply bound to this nation.

Kylie Minogue 1, 2018 (printed 2020)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2020

Kylie Minogue 2, 2018 (printed 2020)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2020

Elizabeth Blackburn, 2011

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2011

Fiona McMonagle

Born: 1977, Letterkenny, Ireland
Works: Melbourne

Untitled #15 (Kylie Minogue performs at Tour of Duty concert at Dili Stadium, East Timor, 21 December 1999), 1999-2000

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999), 1999

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

A serious man

Alistair McGhie discusses Andrew MacColl's portrait photograph of Australian comedian Mick Molloy.

Axe Me Biggie

Australian photojournalist Stephen Dupont's Afghanistan project captures the human experience of a country in reconstruction.

Charlie's angles

Stephen Phillips talks to neurosurgeon Charlie Teo about his practice, perspectives and the anatomy of hope.

Edmund Jowett, 1917

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Observation point

While visiting the National Portrait Gallery I noticed the absence of paintings of journalists.

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Michelle Simmons

Recorded 2018

Thousand mile stare

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

Headspace 1

Headspace showcases portrait art produced by secondary students from Year 7 to Year 12 in Government, Catholic and Independent schools in Canberra and its surrounding regions extending to Wollongong, Deniliquin, Leeton, Crookwell, Bombala, Narooma and Albury

Jack Brabham, 1967 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Lloyd Rees at the Rock in 1975, 1984

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Clifton Pugh

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.

Sideshow Alley

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.

Observation point

Nicholas Harding describes his enduring fascination with drawing and painting people.

The Icons Syndicate

Annual membership of the Icons Syndicate is $5,000 and you are invited to join by making a tax-deductible donation to the National Portrait Gallery.

Lewis Morley

Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun

Heads of the People

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

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.

New partnership with Stripy Sock

We have a new partnership with Canberra-based leading mobile application development consultancy, Stripy Sock.

David Combe and the portrait, 1983

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

Judicial portraits

Leslie Moran investigates the portraits of judges in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

The mystery of Enoch Arden

Tennyson's Enoch Arden was inspired by a story that Thomas Woolner passed on to him – but whose story and of whom?

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Recognition

Originally conceived as an anthropological record, Percy Leason’s powerful 1934 portraits of Victorian Aboriginal people are today considered to be a highlight of 20th century Australian portraiture

Why portraiture?

Blak Douglas reflects on his experiences, process and motivation for making portraits.

Very fine and very like

When did notions of very fine and very like become separate qualities of a portrait? And what happens to 'very like' in the age of photographic portraiture?

Audacity, audacity, audacity

Angus delves into the biographies of two ambitious characters; Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir John Pope-Hennessy.

Pets of all types take over the National Portrait Gallery

It is not every day that a national gallery turns its walls over to the animal companions that bring unconditional love and joy to their owners but this summer we have opened the doors to 15 contemporary artists with very different ways of depicting our furry, feathered and scaled pets.

Artist in residence creates portraits using brainwave zctivity

Digital media artist, George Khut, is creating a spectacular form of digital portraiture involving public participants.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 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.

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. 

The medallion

In recent years I have become fascinated by the so-called Sydney Cove Medallion (1789), a work of art that bridges the 10,000-mile gap between the newly established penal settlement at Port Jackson and the beating heart of Enlightenment England.

Little women

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

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.

The National Portrait Gallery's 20th Anniversary

Last month we marked the twentieth anniversary of the formal establishment of the National Portrait Gallery, the tenth of the opening of our signature building, and the fifth of our having become a statutory authority under Commonwealth legislation.

Creative space

Eric Smith describes the agony and finally the ecstasy of winning the 1982 Archibald Prize with the portrait of Peter Sculthorpe.

Australian visit in Denmark

In April 2006 the National Portrait Gallery showcased Australian portraits at the Fredenksborg Castle in Denmark. 

Mash-up

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

Ian Roberts (after Coypel 1709), 2003

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

Ellyse Perry, 2016

Purchased 2017

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.

A bond of friendship

Australia's major abstract painter Yvonne Audette discusses her portrait of sculptor Robert Kippel.

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.

The Tichborne Claimant (Arthur Orton), c. 1872

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

The sensational denouement of the case

The 'Yarra Boot Trunk Tragedy' unfolded a week before Christmas 1898, when some neighbourhood boys noticed a wooden box floating in the river at Richmond. 

William Bligh

The life of William Bligh offers up a handful of the most remarkable episodes in the history of Britain’s eighteenth and early nineteenth-century maritime empire.

Sir Henry Barkly, c. 1863

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

First Ladies

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

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 National Photographic Portrait Prize: 2021 Living Memory

Director Karen Quinlan AM announces significant changes for 2021, including a larger, longer exhibition, themed to reflect our experience of events that have occurred in this historic year.

For the boys

The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.

Lady Barkly, 1863

Purchased 2014

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.

Past directors

Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.

Krystal Seigerman

The photograph was a brief, candid moment, which unfolded into a portrait. Peter and I were in Silverton, NSW, chatting as our students explored the town. The weak afternoon light suddenly became dramatic and defined, so I asked Peter if I could take his portrait.

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.

A quiet moment

As Bryan Westwood’s portrait of Brian Dunlop hangs adjacent to Brian Dunlop’s portrait of the philanthropist Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, we see the artist of one work as the subject of the other. 

Old Blighty

Angus Trumble ponders the many faces of William Bligh.

Activating the space

Sandra Phillips on portraits of Indigenous activism from Cairns Art Gallery’s 2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture exhibition.

Hop, skip, shoot

Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.

South-bound and down

Joanna Gilmour recounts the story of ill-fated sea voyages in the early stages of the Antipodean colony.

Progressive pictures

Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.

Cultural kaleidoscope

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

Cannonical

Walter Lindrum, world-famous billiards player, was one of Australia's greatest sporting champions.

Paper weight

Joanna Gilmour delves into a collection display that celebrates the immediacy and potency of drawing as an art form in its own right.

Hereinbefore

Alistair McGhie talks with Laura Moore about her winning digital self portrait.

Heart of Darkness

Magda Keaney talks with Bill Leak about his bold new portrait of Robert Hughes in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

Arthur as Alyosha?

Patrick McCaughey explores a striking Boyd self portrait.

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.

A sketch for some portraits

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

Adam’s Prize Apples

Pamela Gerrish Nunn explores New Zealand’s premium award for portraiture.

Facing the inferno

Tara James speaks to Cam Neville about his portrait series, Firefighters.

In character on location

A photograph of Claudia Karvan that blends actor, character, photographer and captures the creative collaboration of the television series Love my way. 

NPPP 2011 exhibition essay

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2011 Prize.

The selfie stick

Last week ABC Television came to interview me about selfie sticks. The story was prompted by the announcement that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has lately prohibited the use of these inside their galleries. So far as I am aware we have not yet encountered the phenomenon, but no doubt we will before too long.

The intellectual larrikin

Barrie Cassidy pays textured tribute to the inimitable Bob Hawke.

Be frank

Close encounters are the genesis for Graeme Drendel’s enticing portraiture.

Portrait Donors

Annual Appeal

Citizen Kenne

April Thompson explores an exhibition of Ingvar Kenne’s global portrait project.

Inside outside

Michael Desmond explores the portraiture of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.

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.

Arianne McNaught

An interview with the photographer.

Boyd to man

Christopher Chapman looks at influences and insight in the formative years of Arthur Boyd.

A real Pratt

The death of a gentlewoman is shrouded in mystery, a well-liked governor finds love after sorrow, and two upright men become entangled in the historical record.

Suave

Charles Haddon Chambers the Australian-born playboy playwright settled permanently in London in 1880 but never lost his Australian stance when satirising the English.

Clay, water, fire

Ah Xian's porcelain portrait of paediatrician Dr. John Yu reflects Yu's heritage and interests.

Stubbs and the horse

One of the chief aims of George Stubbs, 1724–1806, the late Judy Egerton’s great 1984–85 exhibition at the Tate Gallery was to provide an eloquent rebuttal to Josiah Wedgwood’s famous remark of 1780: “Noboby suspects Mr Stubs [sic] of painting anything but horses & lions, or dogs & tigers.”

FX Harsono

FX Harsono was born in 1949, just as the independence of the Indonesian nation was being established.

Duty bound

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of colonial women Lady Ellen Stirling, Eliza Darling, Lady Eliza Arthur, Elizabeth Macquarie and Lady Jane Franklin.

Love in the extreme

Joanna Gilmour reveals love’s more intense manifestations in the tale of Lord Kenelm and Venetia Digby.

No small wonder

Joanna Gilmour describes how artist Sam Leach works on a small scale to grand effect.

A man of superior attainments

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of a colonial portrait artist, writer and rogue Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

Beautiful bones

Sarah Engledow reflects on the shared life and writing of Dorothy Porter and Andrea Goldsmith.

Agnes enigma

Karen Quinlan considers the case of Agnes Goodsir, whose low profile in Australia belies her overseas acclaim.

The eye and the heart

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

The cost of living luxuriously

In 1904, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia purchased as a gift for her sister, Queen Alexandra, a fan composed of two-color gold, guilloché enamel, mother-of-pearl, blond tortoiseshell, gold sequins, silk, cabochon rubies, and rose diamonds from the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg.

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

At first glance, this small watercolour group portrait of her two sons and four daughters by Maria Caroline Brownrigg (d. 1880) may seem prosaic, even hesitant

Portrait of the Gallery

A design diary retrospective.

A non-material and non-physical portrait

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

Waterloo and Mrs. Moore

Beyond the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, a number of other notable anniversaries converge this year. Waterloo deserves a little focussed consideration, for in the decades following 1815 numerous Waterloo and Peninsular War veterans came to Australia.

The right note

Marian Anderson’s glorious voice thrust her into stardom, and a more reluctant role as American civil rights pioneer.

Tiny Trace of a Colonial Giant

At just 7.8 x 6.2 cm, the daguerreotype of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa is one of the smallest works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Less than six degrees of separation

Anne Sanders finds connections in Inner Worlds between Hungarian expatriates and the development of psychoanalysis in Australia.

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

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

Beyond the bow tie

Nathan Faiman delves into the rich life story and legacy of Alan Goldberg.

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.

Rock star

Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film. 

Go Figure!

Claire Roberts interviews Swiss art collector Uli Sigg.

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.

Private virtues public lives

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

The art of peace

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

20 20

Sarah Engledow picks some favourites from a decade of the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

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

Icons and imagery

Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.

The importance of being bearded

Joanna Gilmour discovers that the beards of the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills were as epic as their expedition to traverse Australia from south to north.

Augustus serendipitous

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

Costantini's convictions

Jo Gilmour uncovers endearing authenticity in the art of a twice-transported Tasmanian.

A potpourri of portraits

Archie 100 curator (and detective) Natalie Wilson’s nationwide search for Archibald portraits unearthed the fascinating stories behind some long-lost treasures.

Risky business

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

You beauty

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

The numbers man

Dr. Sarah Engledow tells the story of Australia's first Federal statistician, Sir George Knibbs.

Earth to earth

Dr Sarah Engledow discusses the recent gift of works by David Campbell.

Flesh, figure and rock

Aimee Board traces Judy Cassab’s path to the Australian outback, arriving at the junction of inspiration and abstraction.

Out of the shadows

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

Sea legged frogs

Joanna Gilmour describes some of the stories of the individuals and incidents that define French exploration of Australia and the Pacific.

In the flesh

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

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.

The real Thea

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

Nicholas Harding

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. 

The catechist and the cricketer

Stephen Valambras Graham traverses the intriguing socio-political terrain behind two iconic First Nations portraits of the 1850s.

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.

Off her own bat

Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.

Naked nostalgia

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

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

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

Through thick and thin

Sarah Engledow likes the manifold mediums of Nicholas Harding’s portraiture.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

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

Political profiles

Joanna Gilmour examines the prolific output of Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, and discovers the risk of taking a portrait at face value.

The Thyssen Art Macabre

Books seldom make me angry but this one did. At first, I was powerfully struck by the uncanny parallels that existed between the Mellons of Pittsburgh and the Thyssens of the Ruhr through the same period, essentially the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

The shipwright's arms

Joanna Gilmour explores the life and times of convict-turned-artist William Buelow Gould.

The more things change...

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

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.

Prima facie

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.

Material culture

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

Poise and Carats

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

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.

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.

Inner Worlds and psychoanalysis

Inner Worlds evokes a broad view of psychology as a discipline. However, the specific interests of the practitioners whose portraits are included in the exhibition incorporate specialist areas including psychoanalysis.

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

This is my last Trumbology before, in a little more than a week from now, I pass to my successor Karen Quinlan the precious baton of the Directorship of the National Portrait Gallery.