Search / robert staples

Goupil & Cie after Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, George Barrable

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

Australia v England, 1887

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Sidney Nolan and Robert Helpmann at Bonython Gallery, Adelaide Arts Festival

Sidney Nolan and Robert Helpmann at Bonython Gallery, Adelaide Arts Festival, c. 1964 (printed 2015)

Robert Dunkarton after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Robert Earl of Buckinghamshire (Hobart), 1808

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Robert Hunter, July 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Robert Dessaix, 1998

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Robert Dessaix 2000
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Stephen and Russell Page, 1993 (printed 2011)

Robert Rosen

Gift of Robert Rosen 2012

Robert Grieve

Robert Grieve (1924-2006), painter and printmaker, exhibited in Melbourne in 1948 before leaving for Europe and England, where he studied lithography at the Regent Polytechnic.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Kermode

'Looking deep within the eye of a person'

Robert Quayle Kermode (1812-1870), politician, was born on the Isle of Man and educated at Castletown.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Fielding

Portrait story

Robert Fielding on capturing the beauty and the essence of his people.

Robert Oatley AO

1928–2016

The National Portrait Gallery mourns the loss of one our most generous benefactors, Robert Oatley AO.

Robert Hannaford AM

Robert Hannaford AM (b. 1944), a largely self-taught artist, grew up on his family farm near the small South Australian town of Riverton before working as political cartoonist for the Adelaide Advertiser from 1964 to 1967.

6 portraits in the collection

Robert Bénard

Robert Bénard engraved, or directed the engraving of, at least 1800 plates for Diderot's groundbreaking Encyclopédie, published between 1751 and 1772.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Rooney, self portrait December 1978

Robert Rooney, self portrait December 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Robert Rooney

Robert Rooney (1937-2017), painter, conceptual artist and photographer, studied at Swinburne Technical college from 1954 to 1957.

17 portraits in the collection

Robert di Pierdomenico

Robert Di Pierdomenico (b. 1958), the 'Big Dipper', began his career with the Hawthorn Football Club in 1975, but remained obscure until the Grand Final of September 30, 1978, when he gathered 15 kicks, shot out six handpasses and took six marks to be named best on ground.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Robert Gibson

Sir Robert Gibson GBE (1863-1934) trained in design and drafting in Glasgow, where he began work as a designer at an iron company; he soon became manager of its London office.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Dodd

Robert Dodd, a leading painter of maritime and military subjects, lived and worked in Wapping, London.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Rosen

Robert Rosen is a portrait photographer who took thousands of snaps of the tawdry Sydney social scene of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Ross

Robert Ross (1792–1862), clergyman, studied medicine in his native Edinburgh before being ordained into the Church of Scotland in 1818.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert T. Carter

Robert Thomas Carter (1843–1917) was a leading Sydney cabinetmaker and furniture warehouseman, and later an antique dealer.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Whitaker

Robert Whitaker, English photographer, spent three years in Melbourne in the early 1960s, becoming friends with Mirka and Georges Mora, Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer, the Heide crowd and Martin Sharp and Richard Neville.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Dunkarton

Robert Dunkarton, engraver and portrait painter, served his apprenticeship with mezzotint engraver William Pether.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Neill

Robert Neill arrived in Van Diemen’s Land from Edinburgh in 1820 with his free-settler parents and two siblings.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Hobart

Robert Hobart, fourth Earl of Buckinghamshire (1760–1816), statesman, was a soldier in the war against the American colonies and served as aide-de-camp to several lord lieutenants of Ireland before becoming Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1789 to 1793.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Forster

Robert Forster wrote The Go-Betweens' first recorded songs, 'Lee Remick' and 'Karen', of which they pressed about 500 copies, distributing them themselves.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Hunter

Robert Hunter (1947-2014), painter, trained at Preston Technical College and RMIT from 1964 to 1967, and was deeply impressed by the work of American abstractionist Ad Reinhardt in Melbourne in 1967.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Fielding

Robert Fielding (b. 1969) is a contemporary artist of Pakistani, Afghan, Western Arrente and Yankunytjatjara descent, who lives in Mimili Community in the remote Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.

24 portraits in the collection

Lord Robert May OM KBE FRS FAA

Robert May, Baron May of Oxford OM AC (1936–2020), physicist, chemical engineer, chemist, ecologist and mathematician, once described himself as a ‘scientist with a short attention span.’ Born and educated in Sydney, where he received his PhD in experimental physics in 1959, he lectured at Harvard, Sydney and Princeton before taking up a joint professorship at Imperial College London and Oxford.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Robert Helpmann CBE

Sir Robert Helpmann CBE (1909–1986) was a dancer, actor and choreographer.

3 portraits in the collection

Sir Robert Menzies KT AK CH LLM QC

Rt Hon. Sir Robert Gordon Menzies KT AK CH PC QC (1894-1978) was Prime Minister of Australia for a record total of 19 years: from 1939 to 1941 and 1949 to 1966.

9 portraits in the collection

Robert Dessaix

Robert Dessaix (b. 1944) is a Hobart–based writer, translator and literary critic.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert McFarlane

Robert McFarlane (1942–2023), photographer, was born in Glenelg, South Australia.

31 portraits in the collection

Robert Drewe

Robert Drewe (b. 1943), author, grew up in Perth, where he worked as a junior reporter with the West Australian from 1961 to 1964.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Hughes AO

Robert Hughes AO (1938-2012) was the senior art critic for Time magazine and one of Australia’s famous expatriates of the 1960s.

6 portraits in the collection

Robert Klippel AO

Robert Klippel AO (1920–2001) is considered by some to be the most significant sculptor Australia has yet produced.

5 portraits in the collection

Dr Robert (Bob) Edwards AO

Dr Robert (Bob) Edwards AO (1930-2023) made a remarkable contribution to the cultural sector in Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert W. Pohlman

Robert Williams Pohlman (1811–1877), judge, arrived in Melbourne in 1840 and with his brother acquired a sheep station, Darlington (later Glenhope), near Kyneton.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Jacks AO

Robert Jacks AO (1943–2014) is acknowledged as one of Australia's leading abstract artists.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Manne AO

Robert Manne (b. 1947), academic and writer, grew up in Melbourne, the child of European Jewish refugees.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Adamson

Robert Adamson (1943–2022), poet and publisher, divided his childhood between Neutral Bay and the Hawkesbury River, where his grandfather lived.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Campbell Jnr

Robert Campbell Junior, urban Aboriginal artist, was a Ngaku/Dhunghutti man who grew up in Kempsey, New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Mr Robert Oatley AO

Robert Oatley AO (1928–2016), businessman, was one of Australia’s most successful wine industry figures.

Robert Brown

Robert Brown (1773–1858) is considered ‘the father of Australian botany’.

2 portraits in the collection

Ben, 2015

by Robert Hague

Robert Fielding

Recorded 2022

Robert Adamson

Recorded 1975

Robert Drewe

Recorded 1977

Robert Helpmann

Recorded 1964

Robert Klippel

Recorded 1965

Oliver Cromwell

Robert Walker

Magazine article by Robert Cook, 2018

Snap decisions

NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.

Self portrait

Robert Emerson Curtis

Robert Emerson Curtis (1898-1996) was an illustrator and painter who arrived in Sydney from England in 1924.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Henderson Croll

Robert Henderson Croll (1869-1947), author, worked as a clerk in the Victorian public service for over 40 years, but is better remembered for his books and journalism.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert O'Hara Burke

Robert O'Hara Burke (1821-1861), explorer, came to Australia in 1853 and joined the Victorian police force.

4 portraits in the collection

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

Sir Robert William Duff

Sir Robert William Duff (1835–1895) was governor of New South Wales from May 1893 until March 1895.

2 portraits in the collection

James Robert M. Robertson

James Robert M. Robertson (1844-1932), mining engineer and coal magnate, was the son of a Scottish surgeon and colliery owner, and qualified in medicine himself before opting for a career in mining.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Hughes, 1996

Rex Dupain

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Robert Hannaford, 2005

R. Ian Lloyd

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of R. Ian Lloyd 2010
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Robert Haines, n.d.

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1966

Les Tanner

Portrait, cast plaster

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Emeritus Professor Colin A Hughes 2015

Guy Stuart, January 1979, 1979 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Reg Grundy, c. 1988 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Leo McKern as Dad Rudd, 1994 (printed 2020)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2020

Illuwanti Ken, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Tim Flannery, 2006

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

Reg Livermore, Pitt Street, Sydney, 1965 (printed 2020)

Purchased 2020

Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia and Electress Palatine

Robert Peake the Elder

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

Unpacked

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

Wylie, 1840-1841

Robert Neill

Portrait, steel engraving with later hand-colouring on paper

Purchased 2018

Tim Flannery by Robert Hannaford

'The space around'

Portrait story

Tim Flannery and artist Robert Hannaford discuss the creation of Tim's portrait.

James Robert Millar Robertson, 1926

W.A. Bowring

Gift of the descendants of James Robert Millar Robertson 2011

Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1952

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen and ink on paper

Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Hughes Black ED BS FRACP

Robert Hughes Black ED MD DTM&H Dip Anth FRACP (1917-1988) was a world authority on malaria and Professor of Tropical Medicine in the Commonwealth Institute of Health, University of Sydney, for twenty years.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Robert Garran, 1922

Bernard Hall

Gift of John Garran 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Kermode, c. 1840

Henry Mundy

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

Captain R.C. Morgan, Missionary ship 'John Williams'

Captain Robert Clark Morgan

Portrait, oil on composition board

Captain Robert Clark Morgan (1798-1864), Christian mariner, whaler and diarist, entered the Royal Navy at the age of eleven, leaving at sixteen for the merchant marine and beginning a career in whaling, a pursuit he relished.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Robert Klippel, 1980

Yvonne Audette AM

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

Robert 'Twogun' Rosen, 1994

Lewis Morley

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

Robert Klippel, 1979

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 1998

Robert Klippel, 1993

Portrait, pastel on paper

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

Robert Klippel, c. 1990

Rosemary Madigan

Purchased 2020

Sir Robert Helpmann, c. 1965 (printed 2015)

Jozef Vissel

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jozef Vissel 2015

Robert Hughes, 1963

Portrait, mixed media on composite board

Gift of the Estate of Louis Kahan 2024. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Robert May AC KT, 1999

Polly Borland

Portrait, cast bronze medallion on wood plaque

Purchased 2001

Sir Robert Menzies, 1985

Andor Meszaros

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Ray Marginson AM 2001

Robert Klippel, Birchgrove, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

Robert Edwards, 2009

John Elliott

Commissioned with funds provided by Art Exhibitions Australia 2009

Robert Emerson Curtis, 1943

Portrait, oil on masonite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Robert Jacks, 1961-1962

Charina Oeser

Gift of the artist 2021

Robert Hughes, 1962

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Purchased 1998

Robert Helpmann, 1969

Portrait, montage of gelatin silver photographs on paper

Purchased 1998

Robert Hughes, 1962

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998

Robert Drewe (in the swell), 2006

Nicholas Harding

Purchased 2010

"Poet of the Hawkesbury" Robert Adamson, 2012

Geoffrey Dyer

Gift of the artist 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke

Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke (1811-1892), politician, studied and tutored in law at Oxford before coming to Australia in 1842.

4 portraits in the collection

Robert Menzies, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000)

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on paper

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.

Sketch for Prime Minister Robert Menzies

Sketch for Prime Minister Robert Menzies, 1960

Sir William Dobell OBE

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 1999

Sir Robert Gibson, 1934

Paul Montford

Portrait, cast bronze on granite base

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of The Australian Industry Group 2012

Robert Hughes - Nothing if not critical, 2001

Bill Leak

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2002

Small Holdings (The Earl Carrington Baron Charles Robert Carrington)

Charles Robert Wynn-Carrington

Charles Robert Wynn-Carrington (1843–1928), 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire, landowner and Liberal politician, was governor of New South Wales in the late 1880s.

2 portraits in the collection

Ming Vase (Sir Robert Menzies), c. 1970

Les Tanner, Gus McLaren

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Purchased 2004

Robert Di Pierdomenico "Dipper", 1986

Rennie Ellis

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Robert Menzies, Lancaster House, London, 1956 (printed 2000)

Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1962

Victor Greenhalgh

Portrait, cast bronze

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Bunting in honour of Sir John Bunting and the Menzies Foundation 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Robert Gray, 1978

Christine Godden

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on grey cardboard

Gift of the artist 2017

Robert Carter, c. 1910

William Johnson

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2012

Robert Fitzgerald, c. 1860s (printed c. 1890s)

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Gift in memory of Richard Kelynack Evans 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir Robert Menzies, c. 1963-1964

Portrait, colour process lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Robert Dessaix, 2004

Julian Kingma

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Robert Grieve, n.d.

Portrait, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs Lily Kahan 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Robert Manne, 2012

Dave Tacon

Portrait, offset lithograph on mountboard/card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Robert Holmes a Court, c. 1984

Joe Greenberg

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Robert Lowe (Viscount Sherbrooke), n.d.

Sem

Portrait, watercolour on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Poet Robert Adamson at Parsley Bay, 2008

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2008

Purchased 2012

Judy Annear, 1980, 1980 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Kiffy Rubbo 2, 1979, 1979 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Janine Burke, c. 1980, 1980 (printed 2012)

Portrait, oil on canvas on board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Mary Ware, c. 1854

Robert Dowling

Purchased with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy and Rosalind Blair Murphy 2014

Dale Hickey 2, March 1979, 1979 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Bruce Pollard 2, 1979, 1979 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Paul Taylor 1, 1984, 1984 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Gary Catalano 2, 1980, 1980 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Paul Partos 1, 1980, 1980 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Peter Booth 3, September 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

John Nixon 1, January 1979, 1979 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Meredith Rogers, September 1978, 1978 (printed 2012)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Katharine Brisbane, 1982 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Moffatt Oxenbould, c. 1997 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Greta Scacchi, 1992 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Marilyn Rowe, c. 1975 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

John Newcombe, 1976 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Gordon Chater, c. 1993 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Esben Storm, 1989 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Christine Stead, 1976 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Judy Davis with director John Duigan in 'Winter of our Dreams'

Judy Davis with director John Duigan in 'Winter of our Dreams', 1981 (printed 2017)

Purchased 2017

Alec Baker, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Imatjala Curley, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Puna Yanima, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Ingrid Treacle, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Rita Rolley, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Maringka Burton, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Kathy Maringka, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Betty Muffler, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Sammy Dodd, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Mary Katatjuku Pan, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Linda Puna, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Hughie Cullinan, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Stanley Douglas, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Litja Brown, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Taylor Cooper, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Alexander Maurice Ramsay, 1978

Portrait, oil on composition board

Gift of Janet, Andrew, Kathryn and Eleanor Ramsay, daughters and son of Alexander Maurice Ramsay and Amy Jane Ramsay 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robyn Archer, 1982

Purchased 2003

Charles Perkins on bus to Tranby Aboriginal College, Glebe

Charles Perkins on bus to Tranby Aboriginal College, Glebe, c. 1964 (printed 2015)

Purchased 1999

Nigel Butterley, Composer, 1977 (printed 2021)

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

Kate Fitzpatrick, 1978 (printed 2017)

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Senator Bonner, 1990

Robert Campbell Jnr

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Fairfax AC 2008

Charles Perkins on bus to Tranby Aboriginal College, Glebe, c. 1964 (printed 2003)

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Richard Walsh, Editor OZ magazine at the Hunter Street offices

Richard Walsh, Editor OZ magazine at the Hunter Street offices, c. 1966 (printed 2021)

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

A bond of friendship

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

Bob Croll of the AAA Vic., 1916

David Low

Portrait, pencil, pen and ink on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Ngapartji–Ngapartji

Tobias Titz, Robert Fielding

Howard Arkley 1, 1980 (printed 2012)

Purchased 2012

Lloyd Rees, 1973

Robert Walker

Purchased 1999

Nick Enright, c. 1976 (printed 2004)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Barrie Kosky, Sydney Opera House, c. 1997 (printed 2017)

Purchased 2017

Glenn Murcutt, 1980 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Jeff Carter with his dog Annie Rose at Foxground NSW

Jeff Carter with his dog Annie Rose at Foxground NSW, 2000 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

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

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Lowitja O'Donoghue, 2006

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2016

Commissioned with funds donated by BHP Billiton Limited, Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund, Newmont Australia Limited, Reconciliation Australia, Hon Paul Keating and Hon Fred Chaney 2006

Anatomist's eye

Robert Hannaford has completed around 400 portraits over the span of his career.

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats

Part of the crew of His Majesty's Ship Guardian endeavouring to escape in the boats, 1790

Robert Dodd

Portrait, aquatint on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Jeremiah Ware, c. 1854

Robert Dowling

Portrait, oil on board

Purchased with funds provided by Mary Isabel Murphy and Rosalind Blair Murphy 2014

Robert (No. 1 of Robert, Lindy, Grant)

An interview with Nicholas Harding

Robert Drewe

Portrait story

Artist Nicholas Harding talks about what was captured in his portrait of Robert Drewe.

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl Liverpool, Lord Hawkesbury (1770–1828), statesman, was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Brown, 1850

Thomas Herbert Maguire

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke, 1870

Elliott and Fry

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

June Dally Watkins, c. 1968 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Professor John Bishop, c. 1963 (printed 2018)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Dame Joan Sutherland, c. 1977

Portrait, oil on board

Gift of William Bowmore AO OBE 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, c. 1976 (printed 2017)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Kunmanara (Tiger) Yaltangki, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Kunmanara (Ngilan) Dodd, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Betty Kuntiwa Pumani, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Yaritji Tjingila Young, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Matjangka Nyukana Norris, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Nyurpaya Kaika Burton OAM, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Mantuwa Tjungarra George, 2021

Portrait, ambrotype, hand coloured on glass plate with black paint backing

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Mr and Mrs R. T. Carter, c. 1863

Milligan Bros (Studio)

Gift of Mr and Mrs James Bain 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

R O'Hara Burke, c. 1861

De Gruchy & Leigh

Tom Durkin, The Weekly Times

Purchased 2009

A County Court Judge "Sober as a Judge" [Judge Pohlman], 1874

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2016

Le Cap.ne Jacques Cook, Membre de la Société Royale des Londres

Le Cap.ne Jacques Cook, Membre de la Société Royale des Londres, c. 1778

Robert Bénard

Frederick George Reynolds

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010

Robert Henderson Croll, 1927

Portrait, oil on canvas on board

Gift of Grietje Croll in memory of her late husband Robert Devereaux Croll and with the endorsement of his daughter Helen Croll 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert O'Hara Burke, c. 1860

Melbourne and Sydney Photographic Co

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Clem Seale and Robert Emerson Curtis, c. 1944

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Robert H. Black MD, c. 1950

Nora Heysen AM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Robert Brown, c. 1835

Dario Castellini after Carlo Liverati

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra, 1982 (printed 2000)

John Cochran after Henry Room

Reverend Robert Ross MD, Sydney, New South Wales, n.d.

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

Norman O'Neill and Bill Lawry coming out to bat for Australia vs South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground

Norman O'Neill and Bill Lawry coming out to bat for Australia vs South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground, 1964 (printed 2018)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Sidney Nolan and Patrick White, Adelaide Arts Festival

Sidney Nolan and Patrick White, Adelaide Arts Festival, c. 1964 (printed 2015)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, River Kwai, Thailand

Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, River Kwai, Thailand, c. 1987 (printed 2003)

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Heart of Darkness

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

Black tie or wombat: How formal should I go?

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

Michael Desmond discusses the portrait of Senator Neville Bonner by Robert Campbell Jnr.

Maria Kozic and Philip Brophy 1, 1981, 1981 (printed 2012)

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Cook in context

Robert Oatley's continuing benefaction has helped the National Portrait Gallery acquire works that add another layer to the story of Captain Cook.

The Quiet Australian

Magazine article by Brian Dale, 2001

Robert Oatley talks about the repatriation of the John Webber portrait of Captain James Cook.

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

The Mutineers turning Lieut Bligh and part of the Officers and Crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship the Bounty, 1790

Robert Dodd, B B. Evans

Portrait, aquatint engraving on paper

Purchased with funds provided by the Ian Potter Foundation 2008

Portrait of Captain John Hunter, 1792

Daniel Orme after Robert Dighton

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1842

Frederick Bromley after Robert Frain

John Cochran after Henry Room

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Captain R.C. Morgan, Missionary ship 'John Williams', n.d.

Magazine article by Yvonne Audette AM, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Gina and Ted Gregg 2010

Meeting by Murder

The story behind two colonial portraits; a lithograph of captain and convict John Knatchbull and newspaper illustration of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke.

The importance of being bearded

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2012

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.

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, 1827

Charles Turner after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Robert, Lindy, Grant, 1981

Portrait, oil on canvas board (triptych)

Purchased 2002

Statesmen No. 4 "An enemy to democracy, yet a professor of liberal principles, which tend to democracy; the combination will one day make him Prime Minister of England" (Viscount Robert Lowe), 1869

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, colour lithograph on paper

Gift of Leo Schofield AM 2005

Statesmen, No. 4 "An enemy to democracy, yet a professor liberal principles, which tend to democracy; the combination will one day make him Prime Minister of England" (Viscount Robert Lowe), 1869

Carlo Pellegrini, Vanity Fair Magazine

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Purchased 2013

The Burke and Wills Monument, 1869

Thomas Foster Chuck

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

Face the music

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

Drawn from the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Face the Music explores the remarkable talents and achievements of Australian musicians, composers, conductors and celebrities associated with the music industry.

Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, c. 1890

Charles Troedel after Robert Wendel

Francois Verheyden, Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Vanity Fair Magazine

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Fetteresso (Sir Robert Duff), 1883

Purchased 2015

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

Kerry & Co

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Cultural kaleidoscope

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

Small Holdings (The Earl Carrington Baron Charles Robert Carrington), 1907

Sir Leslie Ward, Bemrose Dalziel Ltd, Vanity Fair Magazine

Carlo Pellegrini, Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Vanity Fair Magazine

Gift of Ronald Walker 2002

Charlie (Lord Charles Robert Carrington)

Charlie (Lord Charles Robert Carrington), 1874

Edward Scriven, J B Ball & J DeCamp after Sir Thomas Lawrence

Purchased 2013

Rt. Honourable Lord Hawkesbury, 1808

Henry Samuel Sadd, Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne after Thomas Adams Hill

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

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne, c. 1968

Robert Whitaker

Henry Meyer, T Cadell & W Davies after Sir Thomas Lawrence, William Evans

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

The Rt Hon. Henry Robert Stewart, Lord Viscount Castlereagh, MRIA & FRS

The Rt Hon. Henry Robert Stewart, Lord Viscount Castlereagh, MRIA & FRS, 1814

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

Charles Perkins with Eileen Perkins, 1964 (printed 2021)

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Purchased with funds provided by Tim Bednall 2021

Painting writing

Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Bob Ansett, Budget,

Joe Greenberg

Portrait, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil, gouache and felt-tipped pen on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Fits of delicacy and despair

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Henry Mundy's portraits flesh out notions of propriety and good taste in a convict colony.

Bob Ansett Robert Ansett

Previous exhibition, 2022

Australian-born but schooled in the United States, he returned to Australia in 1965 to start the Budget Rent a Car System.

1 portrait in the collection

Mayatjara by Robert Fielding

In Gallery One

The series captures Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Traditional Owners and custodians, respected and significant leaders, advocates and artists within the communities of the APY Lands.

Robert, 2010

by CJ Taylor

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

by Jenny Hodge

Sir Leslie Ward, Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Vanity Fair Magazine

The Demon bowler (Frederick Robert Spofforth)

The Demon bowler (Frederick Robert Spofforth), 1878

Sir Leslie Ward, Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Vanity Fair Magazine

Purchased 2002

The Demon bowler (Frederick Robert Spofforth), 1878

Purchased 2015

Grant (No. 3 of Robert, Lindy, Grant)

Immediately, there was a crackle

It's Complicated

A meeting of minds

Stranded under a fire-red sky

Justin McManus

Lindy (No. 2 of Robert, Lindy, Grant)

Elizabeth Sarah Ellen Carter

Previous exhibition, 2016

Elizabeth Sarah Ellen Carter (née Hill, 1845-1927) was one of the eight children born to Sydney cabinetmaker and undertaker John Hill jnr and his wife Elizabeth - the step-daughter of ex-convict boatman, John Cadman.

1 portrait in the collection

Tough & Tender

Art by Warwick Baker, Chris Burden, Larry Clark, Rozalind Drummond, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe and Collier Schorr explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity.

Portrait 54

Spring 2016

Explore an Indian treasure trove, photography by Robert McFarlane and Nan Goldin, Michael Taylor's expressionist paintings, the Great War portraits, and more!

Douglas Kirkland

Douglas Kirkland, photographer, was born in Canada and started his career on small newspapers there.

1 portrait in the collection

Bruce Pollard

Previous exhibition, 2007

Bruce Pollard (b. 1936), gallerist, established the Pinocotheca Gallery in a St Kilda mansion in 1967, and relocated it to an old hat factory in Richmond in 1970.

1 portrait in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2007

Photography is the most pervasive and popular medium for portraiture and makes a natural fit with the Gallery, being a natural extension of the Gallery's longstanding commitment to photography as a contemporary portrait medium.

Sir Walter Crocker, 1995

Meredith Russell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Robert Crocker 2003

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney

Bungaree, late chief of the Broken Bay tribe, Sydney, 1836

Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Portrait 24

June - August 2007

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Robert Hannaford, Walter Lindrum, John Brack, judicial portraits, Vincent Lingiari and more.

She Fell Asleep During the Movie, 2006

by Grant Hawkes

Jemmy, Newcastle tribe, 1836

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

Mary, Botany Bay tribe, 1836

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

Glenn Murcutt, 2006

Anthony Browell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rosemary and Robert Walsh 2006

Mickie, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle tribe, 1836

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

Toby, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

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

Tommy, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

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

Cullabaa, native of Lake George, Five Islands tribe

Cullabaa, native of Lake George, Five Islands tribe, 1836

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

Bill Worrall, Five Islands tribe, 1836

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

The artist and the doctor

Lust

Art, war, scandal

Lowitja O’Donoghue

September - November 2002

Recorded 2015

Hearts and craft

Passion

The long game

Portrait 5

This issue of Portrait Magazine features Bill Leak's portrait of Robert Hughes, Polly Borland's photographs, Bill Brandt, Andy Thomas, Tracey Moffatt and more.

Of Burke, Wills ... and wills

It's Complicated

Infatuation and (ill-fated) exploration

Terry Clune

Terry Clune (b. 1932), gallerist, established Terry Clune Galleries with Frank MacDonald at 59 McLeay Street Potts Point in 1957.

1 portrait in the collection

Elizabeth Henrietta Fitzgerald

Elizabeth Henrietta Fitzgerald (née Rouse, 1818–1863) was born at Rouse Hill, New South Wales, the youngest daughter of colonial public servant and landowner Richard Rouse (1774–1852) and his wife Elizabeth (née Adams, 1772–1849), who’d come to Sydney as free settlers in 1801.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Dancer

Touring exhibition, 2024

From letting loose in the lounge room to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition captures the experience of lives lived through dance.

All the world's a stage

Previous exhibition, 2006

Joan Sutherland, Robert Helpmann and Raigh Roe

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

Rennie Ellis: Aussies All is a celebration of the life and work of the late Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.

The Royal Society medal in commemoration of Captain James Cook

The Royal Society medal in commemoration of Captain James Cook, 1784

Lewis Pingo

Portrait, silver medal

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Elizabeth Henrietta Fitzgerald (née Rouse), c. 1850

Portrait, hand coloured photograph

Gift of Pamela Glasson 2009
Collected by Leila Haigh (nee Rouse)

Jill Neville

Jill Neville (1932–1997), writer and critic, grew up in Sydney and attended a Blue Mountains boarding school.

1 portrait in the collection

Martha Kermode, c. 1840

Henry Mundy

Purchased 2008. The original frame for this work was donated to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria 2009.

Runners, 2010

by David Kelly

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

'awk' (Bob Hawke), 1972

Frank Hinder

Gift of HOTA (Home of the Arts), Gold Coast 2019 with the encouragement of Patrick Corrigan AM

Heads of the People

A Portrait of Colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2000

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

Polly Borland

Australians

Previous exhibition, 2001

Polly Borland: Australians, is an exhibition of 54 new portraits of significant Australians who have made a contribution to British life and who have largely made their home or based their professional life in the UK

Tough & Tender Media Release

14 July 2016

Archived media releases 2016

Photographs from internationally acclaimed artists Robert Mapplethorpe, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Collier Schorr and Chris Burden along with contemporary Australian artists, Rozalind Drummond and Warwick Baker will call the National Portrait Gallery home during our extraordinary winter exhibition Tough and Tender.

Ludwig Becker

Ludwig Becker (1808-1861), was an artist, naturalist and explorer. He was born in Germany and trained as an artist there, and after arriving in Tasmania in 1851 he settled in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Alice Simpson

Alice Simpson, née Want was one of nine children of Randolph and Harriette Want, who married in Sydney in 1839.

1 portrait in the collection

The Salway family

Dion Georgopoulos

Celebrating 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection

Of Kings and men

Previous exhibition, 2011

This display celebrates 100 years of the Historic Memorials Collection and its role in commissioning portraits of parliamentary and judicial figures in Australia.

Rob and Kayla, 2012

by Tom Psomotragos

Portrait 68

Summer 2022/23

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.

Percy Lindsay

Percy Lindsay (1870-1952), artist, was the eldest child of Robert and Jane Lindsay, born, as were his nine siblings, in Creswick, Victoria.

4 portraits in the collection

Tre, Dubbo, 2017

by David Prichard

Portrait 53

Winter 2016

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

Experience the art of rock music; attend to the neglected aspects of Lord Kitchener's work; and say farewell to the inimitable Bob Ellis.

In the National Interest

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.

William Johnson (1873—1948) by Percy Leason

Recognition

Percy Leason's Aboriginal Portraits

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

Frank McIlwraith

Frank McIlwraith was the London representative for the Australian periodical Smith's Weekly in the late 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Grant McLennan

Grant McLennan and Robert Forster both sang and wrote songs for The Go-Betweens, and McLennan wrote one of their greatest, 'Cattle and Cane', recalling the rural Queensland environment of his youth.

1 portrait in the collection

Contact sheet (Mozart St, two)

Carol Jerrems

Contact Sheet (Vale St, one; Mozart St, one; Ian Macrae)

Carol Jerrems

Boardman, Lake Macquarie tribe, 1836

Portrait, lithographic print on paper

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

All you can eat

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2003

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

Self portrait, Cyprus, 1953

David Potts

Purchased 2001

Angus Trumble with Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks by Thomas Phillips

Banksia and grevillea

Portraits can render honour to remarkable men and women, but there are other ways.

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

John Knatchbull

Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd

John Knatchbull (c. 1792-1844), naval captain and convict, served in the British navy before being convicted of stealing and transported to New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Studio

Previous exhibition, 2007

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R

Aubrey Beardsley

Frederick Henry Evans

Portrait, cast bronze, patinated

Bust of Frank McIlwraith, 1937

Barbara Tribe

Gift of the Estate of the late Barbara Tribe 2009

Portraits for Posterity

Previous exhibition, 2006

Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.

William Barak at work on the drawing ‘Ceremony’ at Coranderrk

The Reflecting Eye

Portraits of Australian Visual Artists

Touring exhibition, 1996

As the first National Portrait Gallery travelling exhibition, The reflecting eye: portraits of Australian visual artists represents an important milestone in the history of Australia's National Portrait Gallery.

Captain James Cook, engraving after John Webber

Captain James Cook, engraving after John Webber, 1784

Francesco Bartolozzi after John Webber

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Lucio Galletto OAM

Lucio Galletto OAM (birth date undisclosed) was born into a family of farmers and restaurateurs in north-west Italy.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian Tapestry Workshop

The Australian Tapestry Workshop (formerly the Victorian Tapestry Workshop) was established in 1976, following two years of planning and research on the part of its founding patrons, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Lady Joyce Delacombe.

2 portraits in the collection

Percy Spence

Percy Spence, born in Balmain, grew up in Fiji and began art classes in Sydney in about 1888.

1 portrait in the collection

Georgie Swift

Georgie Swift (1920-2008), journalist, publicist and chatelaine, was born Georgette Marie Hiro Matsui to a French-born mother and Japanese father in Sydney after the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

John Olsen AO CBE

John Olsen AO OBE (1928–2023), painter, was one of the major figures in 20th-century Australian art.

8 portraits in the collection

Portrait 59

Autumn 2018

NPG Washington director Kim Sajet on the Obama portraits, Sarah Ball’s Immigrants, judging the NPPP, Frances Hodgkins, and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

John and Lottie’s wedding, early 1970s Unknown artist

Shifting the definition

Nearest & Dearest

Defiant commitment

Lewis Morley

Myself and Eye

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

Maide Hann

Maide Hann (1924–2012) was the leading photographic model in Australia for several years after the Second World War.

2 portraits in the collection

Gough Whitlam, n.d.

Portrait, fibre-tipped pen on paper

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

Sir Edgar Barton ‘EB’ Coles

Sir Edgar Barton ‘EB’ Coles (1899-1981) was the longest-serving chief executive of the Coles retail group.

2 portraits in the collection

Andrew Maccoll

Charles Rodius, Hiberian Printing Office

Andrew Maccoll (b. 1978) is a photographer and creative director. Born into an artistic family (his father is a press photographer and his mother a documentary producer) he worked as a darkroom printing assistant while studying for his degree in Visual Arts in Photography at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.

3 portraits in the collection

John Knatchbull, Murderer of Mrs Ellen Jamieson, 1844

Gift of Leo Schofield AM 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Right Honourable Charles Lord Hawkesbury, Chancellor of the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster

Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool

Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1729–1808), statesman, was educated at Oxford and entered parliament in 1761.

1 portrait in the collection

Tsering Hannaford

Tsering Hannaford (b. 1987) took up painting in her mid-twenties after attaining a degree in psychology at the University of Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

John Shirlow, c. 1937

Julian Smith

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

William Dobell, 1943

Gift of Danina Anderson, daughter of Max Dupain 2017.
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Valentine Green

Valentine Green, engraver, spent two years in a solicitor’s office in Evesham before abandoning the law and becoming a pupil of Robert Hancock, an engraver in Worcester.

1 portrait in the collection

William Dobell, 1942

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The Merioola Group, 1940s

Alec Murray

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Aussies all

The exhibition Aussies all features the ecclectic portrait photography of Rennie Ellis which captures Australian life during the 70s and 80s.

Max Dupain

The Vintage Years

John Murphy after George Romney

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

The Right Honourable Charles Lord Hawkesbury, Chancellor of the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster, 1788

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

phra ajahn ekaggata fka terry milligan

Former photographer phra ajahn ekaggata (formally known as terry milligan), was born in San Francisco and lived in various locations in the USA and Australia before discovering the small town of Braidwood, near Canberra.

7 portraits in the collection

William John Wills, c. 1861

De Gruchy & Leigh

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

H. Walter Barnett

H. Walter Barnett (1862-1934) was a leading portrait photographer of the late Victorian, Edwardian and interwar periods.

12 portraits in the collection

Anna Pavlova, 1926

Harold Cazneaux

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

William Wilberforce

Sir Thomas Lawrence

David Potts reflected in a magazine page

David Potts reflected in a magazine page, c. 1949 (printed 2000)

Sir Cecil Colville

Sir Cecil Colville (1891-1984), medical practitioner, was the first president of the Australian Medical Association.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Deborah Vernon Hackett, c. 1905

Florence Ada Fuller

Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2005

John Howard and Janette Howard, 2000

Josonia Palaitis

Commissioned with funds provided by the Founding Patron, L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2000

Edward Telford Simpson

Edward Telford Simpson (1889-1965), Alice's grandson, was born the only son of Edward Percy Simpson and his wife Anne.

1 portrait in the collection

Australia and the Nobel Prize

This unique exhibition will give an insight into the private lives, pursuits and work of all the Nobel laureates associated with Australia

Ernie Dingo

Portrait, painted wood, denim, wool, plastic and candles

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

1 portrait in the collection

Two gentlemen celebrating a birthday (Frank Watters and Geoffrey Legge), 1974

Bob Jenyns

Gift of Frank Watters OAM 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Yvonne East

Yvonne East was born in Meningie in regional South Australia and studied art at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, and the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Julia Matthews

Julia Matthews (1842-1876), actress and singer, came to Australia as a girl with her parents, and made her debut at Sydney's Royal Victoria Theatre in 1854, aged twelve.

1 portrait in the collection

George Richmond

George Richmond, son of the miniature painter Thomas Richmond, grew up in London, took early artistic instruction from his father and enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools in 1824.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Ivor Hele

Sir Ivor Hele (1912–1993) was born in Adelaide and studied art at Prince Alfred College and the South Australian School of Arts and, later, in Paris and Munich.

3 portraits in the collection

Bill Leak

Bill Leak (1956-2017), portrait painter and caricaturist, trained at the Julian Ashton art school in the mid-1970s, and began his career painting landscapes.

7 portraits in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

Learning resources

Let’s take a look at the National Photographic Portrait Prize for 2024!

David Roberts

Francesco Bartolozzi, William Byrne after John Webber

Melbourne-based photographer David Roberts was born in Forest City, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University with an honours degree in philosophy.

4 portraits in the collection

The Death of Captain Cook, 1784

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Rosemary Madigan, 1992

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

Bangarra brothers: songman, storyteller, dancer

Passion

Creative kin

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis (1950-2020) was born in Maryland, USA, and came to Australia in 1951.

3 portraits in the collection

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior of N.S.W.

Piper, the native who accompanied Major Mitchell in his expedition to the interior of N.S.W., 1836

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

Gamaliel Butler, c. 1824

Portrait, bromide print on photographic paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Merv Shearman 2012

Sir John Cornforth, 1993 (printed 2003)

Nick Sinclair

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2004

Sir Joseph Banks, 1811

William Daniell after George Dance

Portrait, soft ground etching on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2014

Harold Holt, 1969

Victor Greenhalgh

Portrait, cast bronze on granite base

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Paul and Wendy Greenhalgh 1999
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Bob Hawke, 2012

Luke Cornish

Portrait, hand-cut acetate stencil, aerosol enamel on canvas

Purchased 2013

Inspiration + Realisation: Peter Wegner

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

Peter Wegner's approach to portraiture could be considered a visual record of the rapport, the dynamic space between artist and subject.

Julian Kingma

Portrait, oil and egg tempera on canvas

Julian Kingma (b. 1968), photographer, began his career in 1988 as a cadet for the Herald newspaper in Melbourne, and later worked for the Sunday Age as Head Features Photographer.

11 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Jill Neville, 1967 (completed 1997)

Reginald Gray

Gift of the artist 2002

Sir Thomas Lawrence

Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) was one of the leading portrait painters of the Georgian era.

8 portraits in the collection

Portrait of HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

Tribute: Mary Isabel Murphy

Previous exhibition, 2011

The Chairman, Board, Director and all the staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Benefactor, Mary Isabel Murphy.

Indecent exposure

Annette Kellerman

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

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones (1878-1958), merchant and arts patron, grew up in Sydney, where he studied at Julian Ashton's art school in 1895.

1 portrait in the collection

Janet Holmes a Court AC

Janet Holmes à Court AC (b. 1943), businesswoman and philanthropist, graduated in science and worked as a teacher before marrying young Perth lawyer Robert Holmes à Court in 1966.

1 portrait in the collection

Nora Heysen with her dog sitting outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen AM

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Nora Heysen, AM (1911-2003), fourth child of South Australian landscape painter Sir Hans Heysen, grew up in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills.

9 portraits in the collection

Cate Blanchett and Ernie Dingo, 1994

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2004

A Tribute to William Dobell

Francesco Bartolozzi after John Webber

Adapted from A Tribute to William Dobell an exhibition presented by the Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, The National Gallery of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial. Dobell is of course, celebrated for his achievements in portraiture, winning the Archibald prize (1943, 1948 and 1959), the Wynne Prize (1948), and representing Australia at the 1954 Venice Biennale. Curator Mary Eagle concludes her essay in the catalogue of the exhibition thus, "Overall I see a dissonance in Dobell’s art and life

Captain James King, engraving after Webber

Captain James King, engraving after Webber, 1784

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

John Olsen - En plein air, 1996

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

William Dobell, Potts Point, Sydney, 1960 (printed 2000)

The Hon. John Howard OM AC

The Hon. John Howard OM AC (b. 1939) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Captain James Cook RN, 1782

John Webber

Francesco Bartolozzi after Nathaniel Dance

Purchased by the Commonwealth Government with the generous assistance of Robert Oatley AO and John Schaeffer AO 2000

Omai, A Native of Ulaietea, 1774

Portrait, pastel on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Alice Giles, 1984

Rosemary Madigan

Gift of Alice Giles AM, in memory of her mother Rosemary Madigan 2023

Mary Chomley, 1909

Violet Teague

Purchased with the assistance of funds provided by Jillian Broadbent AC 2021

Patrick Ryan

Support your Portrait Gallery

Patrick Ryan (d. 1990) and Tim Burstall set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.

1 portrait in the collection

Honour board

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.

Kenneth Rowell AM

Portrait, white on blue Jasper Ware in oval shaped wood and gilt frame

Kenneth Rowell AM (1920–1999), artist and theatre designer, grew up in Melbourne and became intent on a career in the theatre at a young age.

2 portraits in the collection

Jasperware medallion of Captain James Cook

Jasperware medallion of Captain James Cook, 1779

Wedgwood and Bentley

Purchased with funds provided by Robert Oatley AO 2007

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Previous exhibition, 2010

'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.

Louis Kahan AO

Portrait, oil on masonite

Louis Kahan (1905-2002) was born in Vienna, Austria to Jewish parents.

64 portraits in the collection

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones, 1970

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Gift of Charles E. Lloyd Jones and Kim Lloyd Jones 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Senator Nancy Buttfield, 1958

Sir Ivor Hele

Portrait, oil on masonite

Gift of Senator Dame Nancy Buttfield DBE 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Arthur Boyd, 1962

Axel Poignant

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Dame Elizabeth Couchman, n.d.

Aileen Dent

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Susan Webster, step-granddaughter of Dame Elizabeth Couchman, 2015

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Michael Johnson, McMahon's Point, Sydney, 1969 (printed 2000)

Margaret Dodd, 2002

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

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones OBE

Hannah Benyon Lloyd Jones OBE (1901–1982) was the third wife of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, the chairman of David Jones from 1920 until his death in 1958.

3 portraits in the collection

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

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

Sir Clive McPherson

Sir Clive McPherson (1884-1958), pastoralist and businessman, was the son of a bank manager, and his mother was a pianist who came from a pastoral family.

1 portrait in the collection

Janet Holmes á Court, 2001 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Undercurrent

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the portraiture of Australian artist Nicholas Harding.

President Johnson and Prime Minister Holt at Canberra Airport

President Johnson and Prime Minister Holt at Canberra Airport, 1966 (printed 2000)

Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE

Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE (1926–2010) was one of the world's greatest operatic divas.

3 portraits in the collection

Dame Nancy Buttfield DBE

Previous exhibition, 2005

Dame Nancy Buttfield DBE (1912–2005) was the first South Australian woman member of Federal Parliament.

1 portrait in the collection

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.

Gooseberry, widow of King Bungaree, 1836

Henry Samuel Sadd after Freeman Brothers

Gift of Dr Robert Edwards AO 1999. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Sir James Martin, c. 1880s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Jon Lewis, 1990 (printed 2002)

Lewis Morley

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

Sir William Dobell OBE

Sir William Dobell (1899–1970), painter, studied art and was apprentice to an architect in Sydney before leaving Australia for Europe in 1929.

10 portraits in the collection

Alan Goldberg AO QC

Alan Goldberg AO QC (1940-2016), Federal Court judge, was born into a pioneering Jewish Melbourne family and graduated from the University of Melbourne law school in the early 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

Magazine article by Kylie Scroope, 2011

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.

Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by H.R.H. The Duke of Cornwall and York, May 9, 1901, 1903 by Tom Roberts

Empire records

Celebrates the centenary of the first national art collection, the Historic Memorials Collection, housed at Australia's Parliament House.

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2017

Nicholas Harding: 28 portraits features paintings of Robert Drewe, John Bell and Hugo Weaving alongside gorgeously coloured recent oil portraits, delicate gouaches and bold ink and charcoal drawings.

Mary Windeyer

Mary Windeyer (née Bolton, 1837-1912), women's rights campaigner, was one of the nine children of Robert Thorley Bolton, a clergyman who emigrated to New South Wales in 1839.

3 portraits in the collection

Michael Zavros

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

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

2 portraits in the collection

Apollo's breath

Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.

Ali Cobby Eckermann and Lionel Fogarty at the Hawkesbury River

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

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2015

Dame Mabel Brookes, c. 1955

Sir William Dargie CBE

Gift of Rodney Davidson AO OBE 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Charles Troedel

Charles Troedel (1835-1906), born in Hamburg, was working in Norway when he was headhunted by AW Schuhkrafft, a Melbourne printer who seeking European craftsmen.

1 portrait in the collection

Ali Cobby Eckermann

Ali Cobby Eckermann (b. 1963), Yankunytjatjara/Kothaka author and poet, was born in Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

The Pavlova

Previous exhibition, 2019

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

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 winner announced

23 March 2018

Archived media releases 2018

Finalists have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Winner and Highly Commended for the National Photographic Portrait Prize since December. It is our pleasure to announce the Winner for 2018 is Lee Grant for her portrait titled Charlie and Highly Commended has been awarded to Filomena Rizzo for her portrait titled My Olivia.

William Westall

William Westall (1781-1850), grew up in London and was taught to draw by his elder half-brother Richard, who was drawing master to Princess Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Juno Gemes

Photographer and social justice activist Juno Gemes (b. 1944) has spent much of her long career documenting the lives and struggles of First Nations people.

38 portraits in the collection

Arthur Boyd Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2008

This is the first in a series of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions to survey the portraits painted by artists who are not thought of, primarily, as portrait painters

Self Portrait (Textanude) by Arlene TextaQueen

Animated

Self Portraits Online

Animated is the National Portrait Gallery's first online exhibition.

Dame Elizabeth Couchman DBE

Dame Elizabeth Couchman DBE (1876–1982), political activist, grew up in in Geelong and gained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Betty Churcher AO

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

3 portraits in the collection

Joan Sutherland, n.d. (printed 1992)

Lewis Morley

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

Alan Goldberg, 2014

Jacqueline Mitelman

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2005

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

Alienation

More about In the flesh

Segregated from their fellow humans in cellophane prisons, reference points are removed, so it is not certain whether these naked figures could be unwrapped, are about to be subsumed, or will forever be suspended in a plastic stasis.

A Pioneering Life

During her time in Australian politics, Dame Nancy Buttfield was an impressive advocate for equality for women and was responsible for ending the marriage bar for women in the Public Service.

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

Portraits in the Landscape

Kristin Headlam's portrait of Chris Wallace-Crabbe was acquired with the support of the Circle of Friends in 2014.

Open Air

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

Ivy Shore

Sends a permanent shiver down my spine

Ivy Shore (1915–1999), painter, was born in Melbourne, daughter of a South Australian suffragette, Elka, and engineer John Williams.

2 portraits in the collection

Oz Punk

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

Wendy Sharpe, 2000

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

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

The First Ministry under Responsible Government in New South Wales

The First Ministry under Responsible Government in New South Wales, 1856

Freeman Brothers

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Gamaliel Butler

Previous exhibition, 2009

Gamaliel Butler (1783–1852), lawyer and free settler, emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1824 with his wife, Sarah (née Paine, 1787–1870).

2 portraits in the collection

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.

William Strutt

William Strutt arrived in Melbourne in 1850 having undertaken his training in art in Paris in the late 1830s.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir James Martin

Previous exhibition, 2010

Sir James Martin (1820-1886) was fourth Chief Justice of New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

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

Wendy Sharpe

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Wendy Sharpe undertook art studies in Sydney between 1978 and 1984 and held her first solo exhibition at the Nicholson Street Gallery in 1985.

3 portraits in the collection

Portrait of a patron

A new painting by Jiawei Shen captures the vision and resolve of the Gallery's founder, L. Gordon Darling AC CMG.

Alex Frayne

An interview with the photographer.

Nick Cave, 1994

Bleddyn Butcher

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002

Maurice Ashkanasy CMG QC

Maurice Ashkanasy (1901-1971) was a barrister and Jewish community leader whose family came to Australia from London when he was 9 years old.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, 2002

Barry Humphries

Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust 2003

Glossy - Faces Magazines Now

Previous exhibition, 2018

Magazines are the portrait galleries of the 90s... Glossy is about magazines. The exhibition presents the work of eight photographers, Australian by birth or long-term residency, who are producing portraits for publication in magazines around the world.

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.

Donald Friend

Donald Friend (1915-1989), painter, writer and diarist, studied at the RAS and Dattilo-Rubbo’s school in Sydney before spending 1935 and 1936 at the Westminster School in London.

2 portraits in the collection

George Hurrell

George Hurrell, born in Kentucky, began his working life studying painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.

1 portrait in the collection

Malcolm Williamson AO CBE

Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson AO CBE (1931–2003), composer, was born in Sydney, and was educated at Barker College, Hornsby, and then at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he studied piano and French horn as well as composition under Sir Eugene Goossens.

1 portrait in the collection

Exhibition opening speech

Previous exhibition, 2023

Leo Schofield introduces the exhibition, Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores.

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.

First Ladies

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Self portrait, 1934

Nora Heysen AM

Purchased 1999

William Baker Ashton

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

William Baker Ashton (1800-1854) was the first governor of Adelaide Gaol.

1 portrait in the collection

Sideshow Alley

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.

George Mealmaker

George Mealmaker (1768–1808), convict and activist, became involved in radical politics in his native Dundee in the 1780s.

1 portrait in the collection

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE

Mary Elizabeth Maud Chomley OBE (1872–1960) has been described as the 'divine angel of mercy' for Australian prisoners of war during the First World War.

1 portrait in the collection

Australians in Hollywood

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

Donald Friend, 1987

Portrait, ink and charcoal on paper

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

Donald Friend at Owl Creek, 1983

Lawrence Daws

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lawrence Daws 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, 1951

Sir William Dobell OBE

Portrait, oil on composition board

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Ethel Marian (Maie) Casey AC

Ethel Marian (Maie) Casey AC, Baroness Casey (1892-1983), chatelaine, artist, pilot and author, was born in Melbourne, the daughter of the Surgeon General, Sir Charles Ryan.

1 portrait in the collection

Violet Teague

Magazine article by Peter Wilmoth, 2016

Violet Teague (1872–1951) was among Edwardian Australia's most fashionable and assured portraitists, although the art historical establishment was slow to acknowledge it.

2 portraits in the collection

Peter Wilmoth, age 12, with copies of Our World 1974 Courtesy of the author

Paper, boy

Peter Wilmoth’s boy-journalist toolkit for antagonising an Australian political giant.

The more things change

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

National Photographic Portrait Prize curator, Sarah Engledow, finds reward in a difficult task and ultimately uncovers the essence of portraiture.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Previous exhibition, 2015

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

Elizabeth Lewis

Mortimer Lewis (1796–1879), surveyor and architect, and his wife Elizabeth (née Clements, c.

1 portrait in the collection

Mortimer Lewis

Mortimer Lewis (1796–1879), surveyor and architect, and his wife Elizabeth (née Clements, c.

1 portrait in the collection

Prime Ministers

On the day before the Hon. E. G. Whitlam, AC, QC, died last month, at the great age of 98, there were seven former prime ministers of Australia still living, plus the incumbent Mr. Abbott – eight in all.

Nicholas Harding

Nicholas Harding (1956–2022) was one of Australia's most highly regarded artists, known for his portraits and drawings, and his light-filled, vigorously painted images of the bush and the coast.

5 portraits in the collection

Bob Jenyns

Previous exhibition, 2006

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

1 portrait in the collection

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.

To Look Within

Self Portraits in Australia

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Mrs Elizabeth Lewis, c. 1830

Portrait, watercolour on ivory

Gift of Leo Schofield AM 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground

Protest!

How can we dance when our earth is turning?

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.

Brenton McGeachie

An interview with the photographer.

William P. Dowling

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

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

1 portrait in the collection

Making Portraits

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

Julia Matthews, c. 1862

Davies & Co

Portrait, albumen silver photograph carte de visite on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Michael Kimmelman

Magazine article by Pamela Gray, 2002

Michael Kimmelman, Chief Art Critic of The New York Times and author of Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere, presented the National Portrait Gallery Third Anniversary Lecture on 2 March 2002. He was generously brought to Australia by the Gordon Darling Foundation and Qantas.

Horatio S. Wills

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2010

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

2 portraits in the collection

The considered life

Andrew Sayers asks whether a portrait can truly be the examination of a life.

Paper weight

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

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

Soffritto di Lucio, 2009

Garry Shead, Adrienne Levenson

Portrait, oil on linen

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lucio Galletto OAM 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Tim Burstall

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

Tim Burstall (1927-2004) set up Eltham Films in the early 1950s, when the local film industry was moribund.

2 portraits in the collection

Giving and getting

The exhibition Portraits for Posterity celebrates gifts to the Gallery, of purchases made with donated funds, and testifies to the generosity and community spirit of Australians.

Study for Portrait of W S Robinson, 1952

Sir William Dobell OBE

Portrait, oil on board

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

Little treasures

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2002

The acquisition of the ivory miniatures of Mortimer and Mrs Lewis.

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman'

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

John Davis

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

Poison pen

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Michael Desmond examines the career of the eighteenth-century suspected poisoner and portrait artist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

From 2015 to 2017 the Acquisition Fund was focussed on Reg Richardson AM by Mitch Cairns, a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2014, and a great example of minimalist portraiture.

Martha Mary Robertson, 1866

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

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

Director John Duigan and actor Judy Davis on the set of ‘Winter of our Dreams’, Sydney, 1981 by Robert McFarlane

Natural born stiller

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

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

George Brown

George Brown (1835-1917), clergyman, established numerous Methodist missions in the Pacific from the late 1880s.

1 portrait in the collection

Cocky McGrath

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

The long life and few words of a vice-regal cockatoo

William Robertson, 1866

Thomas Adams Hill

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

The Story So Far...

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2002

A reflection on the National Portrait Gallery's first four years.

Jeffrey Smart AO

Jeffrey Smart (1921–2013) was an iconic realist painter, acclaimed for his urban and industrial landscapes which form one of the most original and recognisable bodies of work in the canon of Australian art.

6 portraits in the collection

Vlase Zanalis

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Palassis (Vlase, Vlazio or Vlasio) Zanalis (1902–1973) arrived in Western Australia as a twelve-year-old, accompanied by an uncle, from the Greek island of Kastellorizo in 1914.

1 portrait in the collection

Arianne McNaught

Finalist interviews

I think the most important thing in capturing candid shots is to never take the photo when people are expecting you to press the shutter. The more poignant moments are not the stock standard images of people looking at the camera smiling but after or before when they are really interacting with each other.

In the galleries

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

How to be a boy

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Christopher Chapman profiles Chris Lilley, actor and creator of Angry Boys.

2021 Annual Appeal

Magazine article by Kim Sajet, 2018

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

The Obama effect

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

Welcome home, Captain Bligh

27 March 2015

Archived media releases 2015

The National Portrait Gallery will, next Tuesday, unveil an exciting new acquisition of irrefutable importance to all Australians. Portrait of William Bligh, in master’s uniform c. 1776, attributed to John Webber, is one of the earliest portraits of the contentious, historical figure, and extends the Gallery’s remarkable collection of early colonial portraits.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

8 March 2018

Archived media releases 2018

Images for media use will be available from 8 March 2018.

With a Little Help from my Friends

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

The story behind the acquisition of the portrait of Danish architect Jørn Utzon.

Bob Hawke

Magazine article by Jessica Smith, 2009

Robert James Lee (Bob) Hawke (1929-2019) moved with his family from South Australia to Perth in 1939.

9 portraits in the collection

Sketches and sermons

Jessica Smith looks at the 'fetching' portrait of Tasmania's first Anglican Bishop, Francis Russell Nixon by George Richmond

"Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?", 1956

Pop goes the preconception

Magazine article by Paul Moorhouse, 2007

A National Portrait Gallery, London exhibition redefines portraiture, shifting the focus towards a new perspective on Pop Art.

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

L. Gordon Darling AC CMG

31 August 2015

Archived media releases 2015

The Chairman, Board, Director and all the Staff of the National Portrait Gallery mourn the loss of our Founding Patron, who died peacefully in Melbourne this morning. He was 94.

The 1850s to the 1880s

Mo and beard timeline

The restrained and cultivated facial hair fashions evident through the first decades of the 1800s were on the wane by the middle of the century, when hirsute faces became mainstream.

Insightful

Magazine article by Robert McFarlane, 2004

Henri-Cartier-Bresson invented the grammar for photographing life in the 20th century.

The 1950s to the present day

Mo and beard timeline

Certain European leaders (needless to name) had the effect of making certain styles of facial hair decidedly undesirable in the years immediately after World War 2.

Portrait of Captain Edward Riou, 1801

James Heath after Samuel Shelley

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

High & Bligh

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

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

John McRae

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

An interview with the photographer.

Alternative virtue

Joanna Gilmour presents John Kay’s portraits of a more infamous side of Edinburgh.

South-bound and down

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

Hot Scots

Magazine article by Christopher Baker, 2013

James Holloway describes the first portraits you encounter when entering the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

NPPP 2009 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2019

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2009 Prize.

Karl Robert, Count Nesselrode, 1818 by Sir Thomas Lawrence

The Lawrence lustre

Angus Trumble salutes the glorious portraiture of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Commander Skyring, Gang-gang cockatoo by Leila Jeffreys

A real tweet

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow plays wingman to Leila Jeffreys.

Glossy too

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

The Glossy 2 exhibition highlights the integral role magazine photography plays in illustrating and shaping our contemporary culture.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Hottie's Snifter to port

Magazine article by Peter Jeffrey, 2016

Peter Jeffrey trips the hound nostalgic.

A guy from Paris

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

Benny (42nd Street Series), 1979–80 by Larry Clark

City boys

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Christopher Chapman immerses himself in Larry Clark’s field of vision.

History

About us

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

Through thick and thin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

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

In the round

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2009

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

The Dissecting Room

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

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

Hide/Seek

Magazine article by David Ward, 2010

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

Self-portrait in black jumper, 2017 Graeme Drendel

Be frank

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2020

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

Selfhood transcended

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman, 2018

Anne Sanders and Christopher Chapman bring passionate characterisation to Express Yourself, the Portrait Gallery collection exhibition celebrating iconoclastic Australians.

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie

Sure thing

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.

Showing character

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2016

Joanna Gilmour on Tom Durkin playing with Melbourne's manhood.

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

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

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Sir Thomas Gore-Browne, 1864

J Walch & Sons

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

200 Years of Portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

To celebrate his family bicentenary, Malcolm Robertson looks at the portraiture legacy left by his ancestors.

Mugshots

A toast to the acquisition of an unconventional new portrait of former Prime Minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce.

Judy Davis and Sam Neill in ‘My Brilliant Career’, 1979 David Kynoch

Moving still

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2022

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

Where the wild things are

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Michael Desmond explores the complex portrait of Dr Bob Brown by Harold 'The Kangaroo' Thornton.

Unbuttoning uniforms

Magazine article by Sharon Peoples, 2017

Sharon Peoples contemplates costumes and the construction of identity.

Me Myself I

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

Andrew Sayers explores the self-portraits created by Australian artist Sidney Nolan.

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.

Arianne McNaught

An interview with the photographer.

Untitled, Conductors, Tramways series, 1990 © Matt Nettheim

Back track

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2005

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

Corporate Characters

A collection of thirty-seven caricatures by the artist Joe Greenberg capture the heroes and villians of Australian business in the 1980s.

Miss Robertson of Colac (Dolly), 1885-86

Brothers on farms

Magazine article by Malcolm Robertson, 2011

Malcolm Robertson tells the family history of one of Australia's earliest patrons of the arts, his Scottish born great great great grandfather, William Robertson.

Bloodlines

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

Michelle Fracaro describes Lionel Lindsay's woodcut The Jester (self-portrait).

Home and away

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sir William Dobell painted the portraits of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones and Sir Hudson Fysh, who did much to promote the image of Australia in this country and abroad.

Vintage Max

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2003

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

Of jumpers and river gums, red

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2016

Diana O’Neil on Noel Counihan’s vivid 1971 portrait of Alan Marshall.

Kyoto Temple Enlists Android Buddhist Deity to Help People, 23 February 2019 The Asahi Shimbun.

More than human

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2023

Gillian Raymond investigates the history of humanoid robots and asks, is this the future of portraiture?

More cash than dash

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

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

Indexing, the art of

The first index I created was for my first book, and, to my astonishment, that was almost twenty-five years ago.

Talking heads

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

In their own words lead researcher Louise Maher on the novel project that lets the Gallery’s portraits speak for themselves.

Hyperversity

Dr Sarah Engledow writes about the larger-than-life Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery.

The news from Washington

Magazine article by Lauretta Morton, 2006

Australia's former Cultural Attache to the USA, Ron Ramsey, describes the mood at the opening week of the revitalised American National Portrait Gallery.

Be bold

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2007

The name of Florence Broadhurst, one of Australia’s most significant wallpaper and textile designers, is now firmly cemented in the canon of Australian art and design.

Melbourne experience

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Diana Warnes explores the lives of Hal and Katherine 'Kate' Hattam through their portraits painted by Fred Williams and Clifton Pugh.

Seduce, Amuse, Entertain

NPPP 2007 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Michael Desmond, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2007 Prize.

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Michael Desmond profiles a handful of the entrants in first National Photographic Portrait Prize and notes emerging themes and categories.

Mural of Italian/Roman actress Anna Magnani (1908–1973) with face mask, April 2020 Unknown artist

Of plague and portraits

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2018

Corinna Cullen on the symbolic power of pandemic-related imagery over the ages.

Material culture

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

Finest quality

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of Chinese-Australian businessman and philanthropist Quong Tart.

Technical terminology

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

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

Amy Johnson wearing a woollen suit from the collection of flight clothes designed by Madame Schiaparelli for her solo flight from London to Cape Town, 1938 unknown photographer

Air wear

Magazine article by Esther Agostino, 2015

Aviation carried women’s roles in society to greater heights – fashion followed suit.

The play’s the thing

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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

Generous Janice

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

An evening at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens

Maria Caroline Brownrigg

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

Uncommon Australians

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

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

The shipwright's arms

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

An Australian story

Magazine article by The Hon. Dr Kevin Rudd, 2009

In his speech launching the new National Portrait Gallery building on 3 December 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set the Gallery in a national and historical context.

Ms Anna Burke MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives 2015 by Jude Rae

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Magazine article by Jude Rae, 2016

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

The bright-eyed Mariner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

A new colonial portrait brings a zealous captain near.

Christian Waller with Baldur, Undine and Siren at Fairy Hills, 1932 by Napier Waller

Enigma

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

Grace Carroll contemplates the curious case of Christian Waller.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Lilly Koltun, 2004

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil, ca.1753-55

Canadian identities

An exploration of national identity in the Canadian context drawn from the symposium Face to Face at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2004.

Diamond Doll

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2016

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

Rethinking foundational histories

Magazine article by Kate Fullagar, 2019

A focus on Indigenous-European relationships underpins Facing New Worlds. By Kate Fullagar.

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

Stand Proud

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2023

Anne O’Hehir chats with artist Kim Leutwyler about courage, community and the ethics of looking.

All dressed up

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?

Self-portrait in white jacket , 1901-02 Hugh Ramsay

Wunderkind lost

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2021

Inga Walton on the brief but brilliant life of Hugh Ramsay.

Yellow portrait (portrait of Alex Jelinek)

Fugue in Yellow

Magazine article by Roger Benjamin, 2015

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

Dr Edward MacMahon, 1959 by William Dobell

Bill and Ted's excellent portrait.

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow on Messrs Dobell and MacMahon and the art of friendship.

Of ice and men

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Frank Hurley's celebrated images document the heroism and minutiae of Australian exploration in Antarctica.

Australia’s great internationalists

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay

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

The Bare story

Magazine article by John Zubrzycki, 2016

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

Murray frees himself from straightjacket in public, 1928 by Sam Hood

Risky business

John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.

‘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.

The numbers man

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2011

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

Face House – Kyoto, Japan Architect: Kazumasa Yamashita

Alter ego

Magazine article by Tom Fryer, 2021

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

Earth to earth

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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

Sydney city (Patrick White and Tom Uren, Hiroshima Day demonstration), 1984

The activist A-list

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

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.

Big bouquet of Blackmans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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

Getting a head

Magazine article by Alexandra Roginski, 2015

Alexandra Roginski gets a feel for phrenology’s fundamentals.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

The art of dress

Magazine article by Dr Emma Kindred, 2023

Emma Kindred examines fashion as a representation of self and social ritual in 19th-century portraiture.

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.

Sarah Bernhardt, 1876 by Georges Clairin

Demimonde liaisons

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2017

Jane Raffan feasts on modernity’s entrée in the Belle Époque theatre of the demimonde.

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

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

Portrait of a Pioneer , 1917
Violet Teague

Off her own bat

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

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

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.

Secure the shadow ere the substance fade

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

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

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.

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.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

The silent partner

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

One half of the team that was Eltham Films left scarcely a trace in the written historical record, but survives in a vivid portrait.

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

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.

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.

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.

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011