Search / ruth park

Ruth Park (1917–2010) was born in New Zealand and lived there until 1942.

1 portrait in the collection

Ruth Park, 2000

Kilmeny Niland

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000

Ruth Cracknell

Ruth Cracknell AM (1925–2002), actor, became a household name through her character Maggie Beare in the ABC comedy Mother and Son, which ran from 1985 to 1994.

1 portrait in the collection

Ruth Maddison

Ruth Maddison began taking photographs in the mid-1970s and exhibited her Christmas Holiday with Bob’s Family – a series of hand-coloured, snapshot-style images mimicking scenes from a family photo album – at Ewing Gallery in Melbourne in 1979.

1 portrait in the collection

Sue Ford 1980-2006, 1980-2006 (printed 2013)

Ruth Maddison

Purchased 2013

Purchased 2000

Kilmeny Niland

Kilmeny Niland the daughter of Ruth Park and D'Arcy Niland. was a well-known illustrator of children's books.

1 portrait in the collection

Fostin outside his mum's, Kings Park, Melbourne, 2015

by Nicola Dracoulis

Lady Angel Dreamland Luna Park St Kilda

Cathy Staughton

Rob and Kayla, 2012

by Tom Psomotragos

Lady Jessie and Sir Donald Bradman, Kensington Park, Adelaide, South Australia

Lady Jessie and Sir Donald Bradman, Kensington Park, Adelaide, South Australia, 1992-1993 (printed 2019)

Robin Sellick

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

Portrait 55

Summer 2016-2017

Magazine

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

Will Kalimba

Elizabeth Looker

Parking

Plan your visit

Parking is available in our underground car park every day of the week. Fees apply.

Family portrait

Fiona Bowring

Neville and Jill Wran - as the Duke and Duchess of Sydney (with apologies to Piero della Francesca)

Jill Hickson Wran AM

Jill Hickson Wran AM (b. 1948) graduated from the University of Sydney and then worked for Qantas.

1 portrait in the collection

Martin Sharp, c. 1974

Greg Weight

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

William Beach

Bill Beach (1850-1935), sculler, came to New South Wales as a young boy with his English parents, who settled at Albion Park, NSW.

1 portrait in the collection

The Textiles Scientist, 2018

by Kate Atkinson

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2016

Mrs NR Mackintosh (Anne) by Ruth Hollick

Natural, artistic and unselfconscious

Angus Trumble gazes at the once bright star of photographer Ruth Hollick.

Martin Sharp, 1986

Garry Shead

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Linda Jackson

Linda Mary Jackson (b. 1950) is a fashion designer and artist. Having studied fashion design at Emily McPherson College and photography at Prahran Technical College, she travelled to New Guinea, through Asia and Europe, and worked for Parisian couture house Mia-Vicky.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Robert McFarlane

Portrait, tinted lithograph on paper

Purchased 2020

Supporters

$5,000 - $9,999

Honour board

William Beach, 1888

an unknown artist

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013

Bill Neidjie OAM

Bill Neidjie OAM (c. 1913-2002), a Gagadju man, was the traditional custodian of the Kakadu area of the Northern Territory and spent most of his childhood in this region.

1 portrait in the collection

Eccleston Du Faur, 1911

Violet Teague

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Gift of the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service 2020

Nora Heysen inside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen inside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney, 2000

Sage

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Bill Neidjie, 2000 (printed 2008)

Mark Lang

Gift of the artist 2008

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin (1962-2006) achieved international fame as the 'Crocodile Hunter'.

1 portrait in the collection

Martin Sharp

Martin Sharp (1942-2013), printmaker, painter, cartoonist, designer, songwriter and film-maker, is one of Australia's foremost pop artists.

7 portraits in the collection

Adam, Craigieburn, 2018

by Yask Desai

Rosemary Valadon

Rosemary Valadon (b. 1947) is a Sydney artist best known for large-scale oil paintings characterised by theatricality and opulence and informed with irony and feminism.

2 portraits in the collection

Leaving Melbourne (Battle wounds)

Tajette O'Halloran

Relaxed mornings

Visual Stories

Access support for a visiting the Gallery before the general 10:00am opening time.

Raelene Sharp

Archived media releases 2019

Raelene Sharp (b. 1957), artist, was born in Melbourne and began her career as a graphic artist in advertising.

2 portraits in the collection

Textiles Scientist Voted the People’s Favourite

27 March 2019

The black and white portrait of an elderly woman with sidelong glance and irreverent, contemplative smile has taken out the people’s choice award in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

Peter Hadfield OAM, from the series ‘People’s Park’, 2012

by Mirek Rzadkowski

Breakfast with bats, 2017

by Douglas Philip Gimesy

Steve Irwin, 2005

Robin Sellick

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2020

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

The long game

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

Clive Blazey

Clive Blazey (b. 1944) is the founder and managing director of the Digger's Club, Australia's largest gardening club, with about 40 000 members.

1 portrait in the collection

Reg Livermore AO

Reg Livermore AO (b. 1938), stage and television entertainer, began performing as a teenager, hiring local venues to mount his own pantomimes.

2 portraits in the collection

Patrick White and Manoly Lascaris, 1987

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

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery

Visual Stories

Access support for a general visit to the Gallery.

Charina Oeser

Charina Forge (now Oeser) studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in the early 1960s.

1 portrait in the collection

Dan Sultan, 2011

Martin Philbey

by Tiyan Melissa Kilie Baker

Purchased with funds provided by Ruth and Peter McMullin 2013

Lost Love, Yiyi is tired, and Waiting on the bridge, 2014

Winner, MDPA 2014

John Dunn

Portrait, oil on canvas laid on composition board

John Dunn (1802-1894), flour miller and philanthropist, eked out a mean living as a mill manager in England before migrating to South Australia with his wife and son in 1840.

1 portrait in the collection

A good innings

Devotion

Childhood sweethearts

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.

Russell Drysdale

Sir Russell Drysdale AC (1912-1981), painter, developed eye trouble in 1929, and had to leave boarding school for the first of many eye treatments which left him fearful of total blindness.

6 portraits in the collection

Francis Lymburner, c. 1946

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Francis Lymburner

Francis Lymburner (1916-1972) was a Queensland-born artist who was educated at Brisbane Grammar and took art classes at Brisbane Technical College.

2 portraits in the collection

Martin Sharp, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 2003

Who's Jo?

Find out about the curator of the exhibition.

Jacob Nash

Sir Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair Magazine

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

2 portraits in the collection

a Traveller (2nd Baron Lamington), 1892

Portrait, chromolithograph on paper

Purchased 2015

Lisa McCune

In their own words

Recorded 2022

Annie May Moore

Annie May Moore (1881-1931) was born in New Zealand and studied at the Elam School of Art and Design in Auckland.

5 portraits in the collection

Rose Byrne

Rose Byrne (b. 1979), actor, was raised in the Sydney suburbs of Balmain and Newtown, and joined the Australian Theatre for Young People at the age of eight.

1 portrait in the collection

Russell Drysdale, 1960

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie

Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington (1860–1940) had served four years in the House of Commons before being appointed governor of Queensland in October 1895.

1 portrait in the collection

Peter Thomson AO MBE CBE

Peter Thomson AO MBE CBE (1929-2018), professional golfer, began to play the game at the age of 12.

2 portraits in the collection

A life shared

Devotion

Wartime romance

Russell Drysdale, Woollahra, Sydney, 1964 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Portrait, cast plaster, patinated on wooden base

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.

Alfred Hill, 1936

Rayner Hoff

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000

Sean Godsell

Sean Godsell (b. 1960) a Melbourne-based architect, is known internationally for his distinctive residential architecture.

1 portrait in the collection

Russell Drysdale, Tallow Beach, New South Wales, 1969 (printed 2000)

David Moore

Portrait of Sean Godsell, 2009 by Earl Carter

Sean Godsell Architects

Based in Melbourne, Sean Godsell is known internationally for his distinctive residential architecture.

Jenny Kee AO

Photography and mortality

Jenny Kee AO (b. 1947) is a fashion designer and an Australian style icon.

1 portrait in the collection

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot)

Reveries

Previous exhibition, 2007

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

Portrait of Philip Nitschke, 1998 (re-worked 2009)

Amanda King

Portrait, oil crayon and collage of printed magazine cuttings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009

Carol Spencer AM

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Carol Spencer AM (b. 1943), known as Carlotta, is a cabaret performer, television personality and LGBTIQ+ advocate.

1 portrait in the collection

Hop, skip, shoot

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

Juan Ford

More about In the flesh artists

Juan Ford received a Master of Art, by research, from RMIT University in 2001. His many commissions include the National Gallery of Victoria’s interactive work You, me and the flock for Melbourne Now 2013/2014 and a project for Hotel de Immigrantes, a project in Manifesta 9, the European Biennale in 2012.

Betty Cuthbert AM MBE

Portrait, pencil on paper

Betty Cuthbert AM MBE (1938–2017), sprinting champion, was Australia's leading gold-medal winning track and field athlete.

5 portraits in the collection

Peter Thomson, c. 1960

Louis Kahan AO

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mary Thomson 2017

Sam Jinks

More about In the flesh artists

Born in Bendigo, Victoria, Sam Jinks’ work can be found in various public collections that include the Kiran Nader Museum of Art, Dehli, India and the Museo Escultura Figurativa Internacional Contemporaenea (MEFIC), Portugal.

Rayner Hoff, 1924

Harold Cazneaux

Portrait, black and bronze ink with white bodycolour highlight on buff board

Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

James Macarthur, c. 1836-1838

an unknown artist

Purchased 2019

Gaby Kennard

In their own words

Recorded 2021

Angela Valamanesh

Angela Valamanesh graduated from the South Australian School of Art with a Diploma of Design (ceramics) in 1977 and became a tenant potter at Adelaide's Jam Factory.

1 portrait in the collection

Francois Peron

Barthélemy Roger after Nicolas-Martin Petit

François Péron (1775-1810), naturalist and explorer, served as a soldier from 1792 to 1794, in which period he was imprisoned and lost the sight of one eye.

6 portraits in the collection

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal

Ourou-Maré, dit Bull-Dog par les Anglais, Jeune Guerrier de la Tribu des Gwé-Gal, 1807-1817

Portrait, engraving on paper

Purchased 2009

2023 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE

Dame Helen Blaxland DBE (1907–1989), conservationist and fundraiser, studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Rose Byrne, 2001 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Purchased 2005

David Alexander Stewart Campbell

David Alexander Stewart Campbell (1898-1970), wool buyer and journal editor, undertook a woolclassing course in Sydney, worked as a jackeroo, served in the AIF in Egypt and gained further experience with wool in England before he was inducted into the wool trade in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Olegas Truchanas, 1971

Ralph Hope-Johnstone

Purchased 2005

Sam Jinks

Conrad Westermayr after Jean Henri Cless

Sam Jinks developed a talent for drawing and constructing his ideas alongside his father, a Melbourne cabinetmaker.

2 portraits in the collection

François Péron, c. 1805

Portrait, engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

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

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

Juno Gemes

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Arthur Triggs

Arthur Triggs (1868-1936), pastoralist and collector, is sometimes referred to as the 'Kidman of the wool industry'.

1 portrait in the collection

Sidney Kidman and Arthur Triggs, c. 1914

Falk Studios

Purchased with funds provided by The Ian Potter Foundation 2007

Peter Thomson, 1970

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Antonia Blaxland

Antonia Blaxland (1929-1989), photographer, was the great-great granddaughter of Gregory Blaxland, leader of the successful Blue Mountains expedition in 1813.

1 portrait in the collection

Rayner Hoff

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

George Rayner Hoff (1894-1937), sculptor, was born in England and trained at the Royal College of Art, London.

2 portraits in the collection

Burnum Burnum and Guboo Ted Thomas, 1984

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2004

Carlotta, Kings Cross (Les Girls), 1970-1971

Rennie Ellis

Purchased 2006

Bert Flugelman

Herbert 'Bert' Flugelman, sculptor, painter and lecturer, came to Australia from his native Vienna in 1938, aged fifteen.

1 portrait in the collection

Dame Helen Blaxland, 1986

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

Frederick E. Du Faur

Johann Paul Georg Fischer

Frederick Eccleston du Faur (1832–1915), environmentalist, public servant and arts patron, came to Australia from his native London in 1853.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Augustus Leopold Küper, 1823

Portrait, watercolour over pencil on artist board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

Head studies: Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground'

Head studies: Preparatory study for 'Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground', 2001

eX de Medici

Portrait, pencil on paper

Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2001

Gary Ella, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

William Edward Harney

Portrait, mixed media on canvas

William Edward (Bill) Harney (1895–1962), bushman and raconteur, spent his childhood in Charters Towers and Cairns and started working as a stockman and boundary rider at the age of twelve.

2 portraits in the collection

Patrick Dodson, 2004

Zhou Xiaoping

Gift of the Lingiari Foundation 2015

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

Sir James Martin, c. 1880s

Henry Samuel Sadd after Freeman Brothers

Portrait, mezzotint on paper

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

James Oswald Fairfax, c. 1991

Bryan Westwood

Portrait Photography from the Collection

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

In the mirror: self portrait with Joy Hester

Depth of Field

Previous exhibition, 2004

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

Chicka Dixon, 1980

Juno Gemes

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

D.A.S. Campbell (David Alexander Stewart Campbell), 1963

Sir William Dargie CBE

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Dr Mary Newlinds and Sheena Simpson in memory of their father, D.A.S. Campbell, 2014

Crikey!

Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.

Louis Nowra

Portrait, stainless steel

Louis Nowra (b. 1950), writer, grew up in dire family circumstances on a housing commission estate in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, c. 1985

Bert Flugelman

Gift of the artist 2009. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

My Favourite Australian

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2009

The Australian public was invited in 2008 to vote for their favourite Australian. After the votes were tallied an exhibition of the top-ten Popular Australians and the top-twenty unsung heroes was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

Betty Cuthbert, 1955 (printed 2003)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

William Francis King, 'The Flying Pieman'

William King

Previous exhibition, 2007

William Francis King (1807-1873), aka 'The Flying Pieman', accomplished a series of bizarre athletic feats during the 1840s.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait Paintings by Matthew Perceval

From 1967 until 1981 Matthew Perceval lived and painted in France and during those years produced a large body of portrait paintings.

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

Imants Tillers

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and gouache on 64 canvas boards (nos. 108101-108164)

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

Wendy Sharpe, 2000

Greg Weight

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

Linde Ivimey

Contributing artists

Born: 1965, Sydney
Works: Sydney

Portrait of Leslie Walford, 1970s

Vaike Liibus

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Sally Hardy 2019

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

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

1 portrait in the collection

Jack Brabham, 1967 (printed 2012)

Brian McInerney

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom

Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom (1886–1970) manufacturer, philanthropist and zoo trustee, grew up with his eight siblings in Waterloo, Sydney, after the family left the failed family farm in Coonamble, New South Wales.

3 portraits in the collection

Ron Robertson-Swann OAM

Magazine article by Sarah Rhodes, 2019

Ron Robertson-Swann (b. 1941), sculptor, teacher and painter, studied at the National Art School (NAS) under Lyndon Dadswell in the late 1950s.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Observation point

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

George Perry

Previous exhibition, 2005

George William Perry (1824–1900) was born in London and arrived in Victoria via South Africa around 1852.

2 portraits in the collection

The World of Thea Proctor

The World of Thea Proctor is the Portrait Gallery's second major biographical exhibition - that is, the second exhibition to focus exclusively on the life and work of a single individual

Olegas Truchanas

Olegas Truchanas (1923-1972) was born in 1923 in Siauliai, Lithuania.

1 portrait in the collection

Rod Laver,

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Patrick Dodson

Magazine article by Diana Warnes, 2007

Patrick Dodson (b. 1948), Indigenous advocate and senator for Western Australia, is a Yawaru man who was born in Broome but spent most of his childhood and early schooling in the Northern Territory.

1 portrait in the collection

Oz and beyond

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

Rachel Roxburgh

Rachel Roxburgh (1915–1991), artist, conservationist and architectural historian, grew up in Sydney's eastern suburbs and studied art at East Sydney Technical College and the Adelaide Perry Art School in the 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

John Flaus

John Flaus (b. 1934) is an Australian broadcaster, actor, script editor and lecturer, known for Mary and Max (2009), Trust Frank (2020) and Tracks (2013).

1 portrait in the collection

The Saints, 1978 (printed 2018)

Gary Ede

Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2018

Eric Bana, 2006 (printed 2012)

Andrew Maccoll

Magazine article by Eva Respini, 2013

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2012

Grande dames

Eva Respini focuses on the ‘society portraits’ in MOMA’s Cindy Sherman retrospective.

Anthony Charles Carden

Anthony Charles Carden (1961–1995), activist and actor, became interested in performance while a school student at Knox Grammar, Wahroonga.

1 portrait in the collection

Margel Hinder AM

Previous exhibition, 2008

Margel Hinder AM (née Harris) (1906-1995), sculptor, trained in Buffalo and Boston in the 1920s.

1 portrait in the collection

Self Portrait (Textanude) by Arlene TextaQueen

Animated

Self Portraits Online

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

John Landy, c. 1954

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

Paul Cox, 2015

Jacqueline Mitelman

Previous exhibition, 2018

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

Collection: Icons

Volume One

When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

Portrait of Professors Margaret Gardner and Glyn Davis

Portrait of Professors Margaret Gardner and Glyn Davis, 2017

Jacqueline Mitelman

Magazine article by Helen Ennis, 2007

Commissioned with funds provided by Jim and Barbara Higgins, Sir Roderick Carnegie AC, Rupert Myer AO and Annabel Myer, Louise and Martyn Myer Foundation, Peter and Ruth McMullin, Diana Carlton, Professor Derek Denton AC, Harold Mitchell AC, Peter Jopling AM KC, Andrew and Liz Mackenzie, Patricia Patten, Tamie Fraser AO, Bruce Parncutt and Robin Campbell, Lauraine Diggins, Steven Skala AO and Lousje Skala 2017

Reveries

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

Patrick White #1, 1980

William Yang

Purchased 1998

Discussion between Bob Hawke and Yunupingu, Burunga Festival, Northern Territory

Discussion between Bob Hawke and Yunupingu, Burunga Festival, Northern Territory, 1988 (printed 2015)

Sue Ford

Ashtead Potters Limited, Surrey, UK, Percy Metcalfe

Purchased 2015

Portrait jug of Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1925-1928

Portrait, glazed ceramic

Purchased 2006

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2014

22 August 2014

Archived media releases 2014

Press releases for media.

Sitter still

Magazine article by Emeritus Professor Jaynie Anderson AM, 2015

Jaynie Anderson reflects on her experience as sitter for Reshid Bey’s 1962 portrait.

George Selth Coppin, c. 1863

an unknown artist

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

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.

Icons

Parliament House

Touring exhibition, 2019

HM Queen Elizabeth II, 2001

Polly Borland

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Purchased 2002

Country man

Angus Trumble’s tribute to the late Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser.

The Burke and Wills Monument, 1869

Thomas Foster Chuck

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001

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

John Davis

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite

Gift of the family of FW Macpherson 2010

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

Previous exhibition, 2023

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.

Mark Strizic

A Journey in Photography

Previous exhibition, 2004

This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Previous exhibition, 2022

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

Missing Persons

Thomas Woolner in Australia

Desperately seeking Woolner medallions

Neilma B. Gantner

Previous exhibition, 2019

Neilma Baillieu Gantner (1922–2015), writer and philanthropist, was the second child of Melbourne retailer Sidney Myer and his wife Merlyn (née Baillieu).

1 portrait in the collection

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

Previous exhibition, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Very fine and very like

Previous exhibition, 2006

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

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.

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

Let’s dance

Magazine article by Emma Batchelor, 2022

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

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.

Making Portraits

Five Years of National Portrait Gallery Commissions

Previous exhibition, 2004

The considered matching of artist to subject has produced an amazing collection of unique and original works in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery

Unpacked

Magazine article by Rebecca Ray, 2022

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

Bob Hawke

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

9 portraits in the collection

Study of Louis Nowra, 2018

by Imants Tillers

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2007

Commissioned with funds provided by Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AO, John Kaldor AO and Naomi Milgrom AO 2018

The 1890s to the 1940s

Mo and beard timeline

Although the tough, weathered, hard-drinking bushmen of the kind mythologised by writers like Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson are popularly associated with the character of late nineteenth century Australia, it was also a time when alternative ideas about identity began to come into play.

Shifting pixels

In 2007 the National Portrait Gallery produced its first online exhibition featuring the animated self portraits created by some of Australia’s most innovative visual artists and animators.

Risk Assessment for groups of students

For your peace of mind

School visit information

Find out about our environment, security checks, potential hazards and more.

Listomania

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Sarah Engledow describes the fall-out once Brett Whiteley stuck Patrick White’s list of his loves and hates onto his great portrait of the writer.

Portrait of Kym Bonython/Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap

Somewhere to hang your cap

Magazine article by Beatrice Thompson, 2007

A pair of portraits by John Brack; Portrait of Kym Bonython and Portrait of Mr Bonython's speedway cap combine to create a quirky depiction of their subject.

Arianne McNaught

NPPP 2012 learning resource

An interview with the photographer.

Rock Island Bend. Franklin River, South West Tasmania, 1979 by Peter Dombrovskis

Written in Water

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

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

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.

Big shots

Magazine article by Djon Mundine OAM, 2017

Djon Mundine OAM brings poignant memory and context to Martin van der Wal’s 1986 portrait photographs of storied Aboriginal artists.

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

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

Depth of Field

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2004

The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.

Painters' paradise

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2007

Andrew Sayers feels the warmth in the paintings Matthew Perceval made while the sun shone in southern France.

Pre-Raphaelite Profile

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

In 2006 the National Portrait Gallery acquired a splendid portrait of Victoria's first governor, Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe by Thomas Woolner.

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.

The personal and the historical

Magazine article by Barrie Cassidy, 2019

Where do we draw a line between the personal and the historical? Although she died in Melbourne in 1975, when I was not quite eleven years old, I have the vividest memories of my maternal grandmother Helen Borthwick.

The Honourable Bob Hawke savouring a strawberry milkshake, 2017 by Harold David

The intellectual larrikin

Barrie Cassidy pays textured tribute to the inimitable Bob Hawke.

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.

Four from the 30s

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

Australia's tradition of sculpted portraits stretches back to the early decades of the nineteenth century and continues to sustain a group of dedicated sculptors.

Poet of the Fleeting Moment

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Mark Strizic's work crosses a broad spectrum of photographic fields including urban, industrial, commercial, and architectural photography.

Support Crew

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2011

Portraits of philanthropists in the collection honour their contributions to Australia and acknowledge their support of the National Portrait Gallery.

Me Myself I

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2001

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

Naked ambition

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

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

Earth to earth

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

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

Reflections

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War exhibition co-curators Dr Anne Sanders and Dr Christopher Chapman reflect on the evolution of the Gallery’s Anzac Centenary exhibition.

Full time

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

Go Figure!

Magazine article by Claire Roberts, 2013

Claire Roberts interviews Swiss art collector Uli Sigg.

Trumble's way

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

At the end of a summer break one is tempted to say that there is nothing much to report. Isn’t one restful holiday very much like another?

The fat of the land

Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935) is inscribed in Australian legend as the ‘Cattle King’.

Nikhil Chopra

by Rattanamol Johal

Artist essays

Nikhil Chopra was born in 1974, in Calcutta. His first degree was in commerce, but in 1997 he took up fine art studies, eventually gaining a Masters in Fine Art from Ohio State University, United States.

Suave

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

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

Finest quality

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

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

Women make history

Magazine article by Jennifer Higgie, 2022

Jennifer Higgie uncovers the intriguing stories behind portraits of women by women in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown

Study in scarlet

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2018

Angus Trumble reflects on the force of nature that was Helena Rubinstein.

Penny Fowler AM, John Barrington AM, Heidi Victoria, Elizabeth Dibbs, Tom Mosby, Hayley Baillie, Hugo Michell, Elizabeth Pakchung, Valerie Tam

The Board

Governance & Board

The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.

Picture this...

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

This edited version of a speech by Andrew Sayers examines some of the antecedents of the National Portrait Gallery and set out the ideas behind the modern Gallery and its collection.

Twin chics

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2021

Joanna Gilmour on the exuberant union of fashion pioneers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, captured in luminescent splendour by artist Carla Fletcher.

Giving a dam

True south #1

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

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

Thinking about architecture and portraiture

Dr Christopher Chapman describes the experimental exhibition Portraits + Architecture

Portrait of Elizabeth Gould with a raptor, possibly a red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus), painted in her lifetime Artist unknown

Birds of a feather

Magazine article by Annette Twyman, 2021

Charting a path from cockatiel to finch, Annette Twyman explores her family portraits and stories.

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.

Studio portrait of Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War, 1914 by J Russell & Sons

All the way with K of K

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2016

Sarah Engledow bristles at the biographers’ neglect of Kitchener’s antipodean intervention.

Australia’s great internationalists

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

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

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.

Costantini's convictions

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

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

Robyn Sweaney

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Robyn's parents had two terriers, Wuff and Snuff. In spite of Snuff’s ominous name and a couple of close shaves – once, he jumped out of a moving car, and another time, on a long road trip, he was accidentally left behind at a petrol station – he outlived Wuff.

Staying home

True south #2

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2009

Joanna Gilmour brings a mindful Douglas Mawson’s perspective to bear on the concept of isolation.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Home and away

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.

Starry knight

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Aircraft designer, pilot and entrepreneur, Sir Lawrence Wackett rejoins friends and colleagues on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.

Fiona McMonagle

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Fiona aims to create a dangerous situation with a flood of water on the paper, forcing each work to the point where it can fail, and then rescuing it.

Nicholas Harding

Explore The Popular Pet Show

Over the years the young Nicholas Harding got his hands on various mice and guinea pigs, but they served mainly to illustrate the concept of mortality.

The Bare story

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2015

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

The silent partner

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

Less than six degrees of separation

Lecture, 28 May 2011

Dr Anne Sanders NPG Curatorial Researcher investigated the lives of the pioneering psychologists whose portraits are featured in Inner Worlds.

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.

Some prime ministers