Search / ross edwards

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

1 portrait in the collection

Ross Edwards, 2013

Bridget Elliot

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2013
To mark the 70th birthday of composer Ross Edwards (23 December 2013)

Daddy Cool, Melbourne, 1974

Rennie Ellis

Purchased 2005

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

Helen Edwards

Helen Edwards, a member of Portrait Artists Australia, has been a finalist in the Black Swan Prize four times, the Shirley Hannan Portrait Prize in Bega once and has been selected for the Salon des Refusés of the Archibald twice.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Edwards

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Henry (Harry) Edwards (1827–1891), actor and entomologist, arrived in Melbourne in 1853 after a short-lived attempt at studying for a career in law.

1 portrait in the collection

Helen Edwards

In their own words

Recorded 2013

McLean Edwards, 2006

by Gary Grealy

Image

Robert Edwards, 2009

John Elliott

Commissioned with funds provided by Art Exhibitions Australia 2009

Henry Edwards, c. 1874

Bradley and Rulofson

Portrait, albumen photograph on cabinet card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

The Seekers reunite 50 years on, 2011

Helen Edwards

Portrait, synthetic polymer on linen

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

Joshua Ross

Joshua Ross (b. 1981) excelled at athletics as a child, but didn't take up sprinting in earnest until 2000, inspired by watching the Sydney Olympics on television.

1 portrait in the collection

Ross Watson

Ross Watson specialises in interpolating representations of lithe semi-naked men into copies of paintings by masters such as Vermeer, Ter Borsch, David and Bronzino.

2 portraits in the collection

Ross Wilson

Ross Wilson (b. 1947), musician and producer, started playing in bands as a schoolboy, fronting the Pink Finks and the Party Machine in the late 1960s.

3 portraits in the collection

Ross Honeysett

Ross Honeysett (b. 1953) is a professional photographer who began his career in London and Paris, shooting for fashion magazines Vogue, Tatler, Glamour and Elle.

2 portraits in the collection

Robert Ross

Portrait, oil on composition board

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

Ian Roberts (after Coypel 1709), 2003

Ross Watson

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

Eagle Ross (Ross Wilson), 2005

Tessa Jones

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

The Boss, Ross Wilson, 2009

Chris Budgeon

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on resin-coated paper

Collection: National Portriat Gallery
Gift of the artist 2011

Joshua Ross, 2006

Sahlan Hayes

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Now Listen...

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2005

Artist Tessa Jones recalls creating her portrait of Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock singer and music producer, Ross Wilson.

David Gulpilil's Hands, 2004

Ross Honeysett

Portrait, photographic print from film on paper

Gift of the artist 2021

Roslyn, 2016

Sally Ross

Portrait, oil on linen

Purchased 2017

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham)

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham), 2009

Ross Watson

Portrait, oil on board

Gift of the artist 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Noah Taylor, 1994 (printed 2010)

Ross Honeysett

Magazine article by David Sequeira, 2004

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010

Super League

The portrait of Ian Roberts by Ross Watson.

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

John Cochran after Henry Room

Portrait, engraving on paper

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

Portrait of Mr W.M. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia

Portrait of Mr W.M. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia, 1916

J H Barratt & Co Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent

Portrait, photographic image on glazed ceramic tile

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ian Ross 2001

The Memoirs of George Barrington, 1790

an unknown artist, J Bird & Simmonds

Portrait, octavo in fours, with an engraved frontispiece

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

Sir Garfield Barwick, 1972

Reg Campbell

Portrait, brush and ink, pen and ink, stencil cut-out with watercolour highlights on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ross G Barwick and family 2013
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

MacKenzie family silhouette, 1846

Samuel Metford

Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

Donors

$10,000 - $49,999

Honour board

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.

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

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

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

Bridget Elliot

Bridget Elliot (b. 1958), photographer, is acknowledged for her significant portraits of Australian composers and musical performers.

1 portrait in the collection

Roderick Shaw

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Roderick Shaw (1915-1992) is perhaps best known for his worker paintings of the social realist school, such as Cable Layers (in the Art Gallery of NSW).

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Edward Eyre Williams, 1872

Thomas Foster Chuck

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand

Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand, 1861

William-Wolfe Alais

Portrait, engraving on paper

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

Study for portrait of Nicholas Paspaley Jnr

Study for portrait of Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Andrew Bonneau

Portrait, pencil and white pastel on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Sidney Nolan, 1982

Albert Tucker

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on canvas board

Purchased with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2022

CO-AP

Based in Sydney, CO-AP endeavour to realise unique outcomes for each project, achieved through a strong and reliable collaborative process.

Emily Fairfax

Emily Ross (née Fairfax) (1832-1871) was the eldest child of newspaper publisher John Fairfax - who founded the Fairfax news dynasty in Sydney in 1841 - and his wife Sarah.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on board

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM GCSI CB MD FRS (1817-1911), botanist, explorer and medical doctor, visited Australia as a member of James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition of 1839 to 1843.

2 portraits in the collection

Emily Fairfax, 1870

William Macleod

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Robert Kermode

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

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, 1976 (printed 2005)

David Malin

Previous exhibition, 2000

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Monochromatic Self-Portrait, 2000 by Genevieve Preston

Headspace 1

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

General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1850 (published)

James Faed, W Wilding after John Watson Gordon

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

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

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

Untitled

by Isabelle De Kleine

Residency prize winner, MDPA 2015

Esther Erlich

Esther Erlich (b. 1955), a Melbourne-based painter, has been exhibiting since the early 1980s, often with the Libby Edwards Galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and the Barry Newton Gallery in Adelaide.

3 portraits in the collection

Pictorial profiles of hearth and home

Nearest & Dearest

Keep it in the family

Mrs Grey, c. 1845

Theresa Walker

Portrait, cast wax

Purchased 1999

Sir Ian McLennan KBE

Sir Ian McLennan KBE (1909-1998) was chairman of BHP from 1971 to 1977.

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.

Robert Kermode, c. 1840

Henry Mundy

Portrait, etching on paper

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

Self portrait, 1894

Livingston Hopkins

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

Stan Coster

Stan Coster (1930-1997) was one of Australian country music's greatest songwriters.

1 portrait 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

Sahlan Hayes

Born in the United Kingdom, Sahlan Hayes lived with his family in the USA, New Zealand and the United Kingdom before settling in Australia.

9 portraits in the collection

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

The Seekers

In their own words

Recorded 2013

Vlase Zanalis

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

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

Evonne Goolagong, 1973

Ern McQuillan OAM

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Olive Cotton

Olive Cotton (1911-2003) was one of Australia's pioneering modernist photographers.

2 portraits in the collection

Stan Coster, Manilla, NSW, 1994 (printed 2004)

John Elliott

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Y-erran-gou-la-ga, published 1807

Portrait, engraving, hand coloured on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Mike Brown

Mike Brown (1938-1997) artist, was a participant (with Ross Crothall and Colin Lanceley) in the 1962 Annandale Imitation Realists exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and Design, Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe

Punch, wife of Cullabaa, Broken Bay tribe, 1836

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

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

Joe and Brenda, 1990 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Purchased 2013

Henry Mundy

Daniel Orme after Robert Dighton

Artist Henry Mundy arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1831 and took up a position as teacher of drawing, French and music at Ellinthorp Hall, a school near Ross established ‘with a view to the improvement of Young Ladies’.

4 portraits in the collection

Portrait of Captain John Hunter, 1792

Portrait, stipple engraving on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra

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

David Moore

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

Tom Carroll

Tom Carroll (b.1961), former professional surfer, made the finals of the 1979 Pipe Masters on his first ever world tour, finishing 24th in the world that same year.

1 portrait in the collection

Gooseberry, widow of King Bungaree, 1836

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

Evonne Goolagong (Cawley) AC MBE

Portrait, enamel and synthetic polymer paint on conservation card

Evonne Goolagong Cawley AC MBE (b. 1951), Wiradjuri tennis champion, was the number one women's tennis player in the world in 1971 and 1976.

3 portraits in the collection

Two grounps of three people standing in a studio with walls and shelves filled with artworks

Arts Project Australia

Artists and Collectives

Arts Project Australia is a creative social enterprise based in Naarm/Melbourne that supports neurodiverse artists, promoting their work and advocating for inclusion within contemporary arts practice.

JS Study 1, 2014

Jasper Knight

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

Edith Ellen Williams, c. 1871

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Sir Hartley Williams, c. 1871

Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co

Portrait, albumen silver photograph, hand coloured on paper

Gift of Ross and Judy O'Connell 2016

Portrait of Mrs Sarah Fairfax, c. 1864

Edwin Dalton

Portrait, pastel on paper laid on canvas

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Honour board

Support your Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges and thanks all its supporters.

John Clarke

John Clarke (1948-2017), satirist and humourist, moved to Australia in the 1970s from New Zealand, where he had begun performing in university revues and was named Entertainer of the Year in 1976.

3 portraits in the collection

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

by Andrew Bonneau

Portrait, engraving on paper

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

Portrait of Bennilong, Native of New Holland

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

an unknown artist

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

Mal Meninga, 2018

by Peter Hudson

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Cressida Campbell AM

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

Cressida Campbell AM (b. 1960), artist, has worked for decades in a studio at her home in Bronte, Sydney.

2 portraits in the collection

All there in black and white

The National Portrait Gallery acquired a beguiling silhouette group portrait by Samuel Metford, an English artist who spent periods of his working life in America.

Margel and Tarquin, Canberra, c. 1945

Frank Hinder

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

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

Lloyd Rees at the Rock in 1975, 1984

Roderick Shaw

Portrait, oil and oil pastel on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

David McAllister AC

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

3 portraits in the collection

Nicholas Paspaley Jnr, 2018

Andrew Bonneau

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2022

Commissioned with funds provided by Ross Adler AC 2018

People are people

Sandra Bruce chats with seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon about photography, guitars and representing the human story.

2014-15 Acquisition Fund

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

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

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

Mal Meninga, 2018

Peter Hudson

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

Commissioned with funds provided by Maliganis Edwards Johnson and Alan Dodge AM 2018

Cressida Campbell, 2001

Greg Weight

Nicolas-Martin Petit after Barthélemy Roger

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

Cour-rou-bari-gal, 1807

Portrait, engraving, hand coloured on paper

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Frank Hurley OBE

Previous exhibition, 2006

Frank Hurley (1885-1962), photographer, first made his name on Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14.

2 portraits in the collection

Portraits for Posterity

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.

Sue Ford

Australian Athletes in Focus

Sue Ford (née Winslow, 1943–2009), photographer, filmmaker and photo-media artist, grew up in the beachside suburbs of Melbourne and became interested in photography while on holiday in Europe at age 17.

2 portraits in the collection

Flash

Previous exhibition, 2006

Introduction The National Portrait Gallery’s photographic exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus explores various interpretations of Australian sporting men and women.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Sir Ian McLennan, c. 1978

Bryan Westwood

Portrait, oil on board

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

Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1842

Frederick Bromley after Robert Frain

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2008

Self portrait, 1921

Thea Proctor

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

Purchased with funds provided by the Ross family in memory of Noel and Enid Eliot 2013

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition

William John Wills, 2nd in command of the Victorian Expedition, 1860-1861

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Keith Miller, early 1950s (printed 2008)

Max Dupain OBE

Portrait, watercolour, ink and gouache on paper

Purchased 2008

Ellyse Perry, 2016

Fiona McMonagle

Purchased 2017

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

Previous exhibition, 2006

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

Open Air

Portraits in the Landscape

Previous exhibition, 2008

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

Robert O'Hara Burke, Leader of the Victorian Expedition

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

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

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Purchased with funds provided by Ross A Field 2007

Lucy Escott, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Form and reality

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2008

A photographic portrait by Kerry Dundas captures the contemplative mind of visionary painter Godfrey Miller.

Home is where the art is

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

2021 Annual Appeal

Previous exhibition, 2017

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

Nicholas Harding

28 Portraits

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.

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

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

2020 Annual Appeal

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

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

Henry Squires, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Celebrity cutpurse

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2010

Grace Carroll discusses the portrait of the late-eighteenth century gentleman pickpocket George Barrington.

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.

Glamour vs grunge

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

Christopher Chapman examines the battle of glamour vs. grunge which played out in the fashion and advertising of the 1990s.

The long game

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2020

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

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Previous exhibition, 2015

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

Portrait of a patron

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2007

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

Rupert Bunny

Significant Australian Women 1913–2013

Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (1864–1947) was one of the most celebrated Australian expatriate artists of his generation, achieving a degree of success in Paris in the 1890s and early 1900s that was unmatched by his peers.

3 portraits in the collection

First Ladies

Previous exhibition, 2013

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

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

Previous exhibition, 2010

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

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

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.

Ready , set... shoot

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

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

2022 Annual Appeal

Magazine article by Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll, 2015

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.

William Charles Wentworth -The Australian Patriot

The Wentworths – Hidden in Plain Sight

Grace Carroll on the gendered world of the Wentworths.

Cover, first minute book of the Tasmanian Society of Natural History

Embrace your inner nerd

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

The southern winter has arrived. For people in the northern hemisphere (the majority of humanity) the idea of snow and ice, freezing mist and fog in June, potentially continuing through to August and beyond, encapsulates the topsy-turvidom of our southern continent.

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.

Face of South Sudan, 2012 by Melanie Faith Dove

NPPP 2013 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2013

Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2013 Prize.

Surface tension

Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.

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.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2016

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

Of jumpers and river gums, red

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

The highest honour

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Bringing eminent scientist Frank Fenner and artist Jude Rae together for the National Portrait Gallery commission was like matchmaking.

Portrait of Truganini, daughter of the Chief of Bruny Island, Van Diemens Land, c. 1835

Black and white history

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

English artist Benjamin Duterrau took up the cause of the Indigenous peoples of Tasmania with his detailed and sympathetic renderings.

Skyhooks (Red Symons, Bob Starkie, Shirley Strachan, Greg Macainsh, Freddie Strauks) in Parker’s studio, Fitzroy, 1975 David Parker

Cool cool world

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

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

Christmas Island

Magazine article by Pamela Gerrish Nunn, 2016

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.

Adam’s Prize Apples

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

Doodles of the Diva

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Three tiny sketches of Dame Nellie Melba in the NPG collection were created by the artist who was to go on to paint the most imposing representation of the singer: Rupert Bunny.

The play’s the thing

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

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

Aussies all

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

Splendid, many-splendoured

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2021

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

Give me five

Magazine article by Karen Quinlan AM, 2021

National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan AM nominates her quintet of favourites from the collection, with early twentieth-century ‘selfies’ filling the roster.

The Conciliation, 1840 by Benjamin Duterrau

The art of conciliation

Magazine article by Gareth Knapman, 2017

Gareth Knapman explores the politics and opportunism behind the portraits of Tasmania’s Black War.

My father-in-law watering his garden, 1986 by Davida Allen

Lovingly observed

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Sarah Engledow previews the beguiling summer exhibition, Idle hours.

History

About us

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

Mugshots

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

Getting bare

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

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

The 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.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

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

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay