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Florrie Forde (1875–1940), singer and music hall performer, was born in Melbourne and was sixteen when she sang publicly for the first time, in Sydney, in late 1891.

9 portraits in the collection

The Singer, 2012

by Richard Payne

Image

Great stylists: Caruso, Melba, Pavarotti, Bonynge and Sutherland

Dame Nellie Melba GBE

Dame Nellie Melba GBE (1861–1931), world-renowned soprano, was born Helen Porter Mitchell in Melbourne.

8 portraits in the collection

James Donovan

James T Donovan (1861–1922), journalist, Catholic historian and amateur singer, was born into an Irish Catholic family in Sydney and grew up in Womerah Avenue, Darlinghurst.

1 portrait in the collection

Athol Guy

The Seekers, folk music band, formed in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who sang and played bass in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

Bruce Woodley

The Seekers, folk music band, formed in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who sang and played bass in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

Keith Potger

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on cabinet card

The Seekers, folk music band, formed in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who sang and played bass in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

Dame Nellie Melba,

an unknown artist

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Margaret Fulton OAM

Margaret Fulton (1925-2019), a major figure in developing Australia's appreciation of food, was instrumental in teaching generations of people to cook.

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

Marcia Hines

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Marcia Hines (b. 1953) sang in church choirs while growing up in Boston, Massachusetts and had her first solo singing engagement at the age of seven.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Jenny Watson

Image

Nellie Melba, 1898

Ernest Walter Histed

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (1970–2017), a man of the Gumatj clan of north east Arnhem Land, was born blind but learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo as a child.

1 portrait in the collection

David Malangi Daymirringu

David Malangi Daymirringu (1927-1999), Manharrngu, bark painter, printer and designer, was born at Mulanga, near the mouth of the Glyde River, just before Christian missionaries arrived on the nearby island of Milingimbi.

1 portrait in the collection

John Waters

John Waters (b. 1948), actor, sang with London band the Riots before moving to Australia at the age of twenty.

1 portrait in the collection

Margaret Fulton, 1980 (printed 2002)

Lewis Morley

Gift of the artist 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Marjorie Lawrence

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Marjorie Lawrence CBE (1907-1979), dramatic soprano, studied singing from 1925 in Melbourne, moving to study with Cécile Gilly in Paris in 1928 after winning the Geelong Sun Aria competition.

2 portraits in the collection

Madame Melba, 1922

Harold Cazneaux

Purchased 2015

Of Burke, Wills ... and wills

It's Complicated

Infatuation and (ill-fated) exploration

Warumpi Band

The Warumpi Band burst onto the Australian music scene in 1984 with the release of their first album Big Name, No Blankets.

2 portraits in the collection

Lee Kernaghan near Broken Hill, 2005

Ian Jennings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

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

Jim Conway

Portrait, inkjet print on rag paper

Jim Conway, harmonica player, composer and music producer, grew up in Melbourne and attended Camberwell High School before beginning his career with the frenetic jug outfit, the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, in the 1970s.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait sketch of Nellie Melba, 1902

Hugh Ramsay

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of the Mitchell Family and the Fullerton Family 2000

David Malangi Daymirringu, 1986

Martin van der Wal

Purchased 2005

John Waters, 2013

George Fetting

Gift of the artist 2015

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, 2009

Guido Maestri

Portrait, oil on linen

Gift of the artist 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Lee Kernaghan OAM

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Lee Kernaghan (b.1964) is a country music singer and songwriter. Born in Victoria, son of travelling country music artist and impresario Ray Kernaghan, Lee Kernaghan grew up in the Riverina area of New South Wales.

1 portrait in the collection

Warumpi Band, Sydney Opera House, 1984 (printed 2021)

Juno Gemes

Purchased 2021

Henry "Seaman" Dan, 2009

Nathan Kelly

Purchased 2010

Jessica Mauboy

Portrait, synthetic polymer paint and charcoal on paper laid on board

Jessica Mauboy (b. 1989), Darwin-born singer, songwriter and actor, is a descendant of the KuKu Yalanji nation of Far North Queensland.

1 portrait in the collection

Jim Conway, 2006

Greg Warburton

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2009
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Dame Joan Sutherland, c. 1977

Robert Hannaford AM

Portrait, oil on board

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

Steve Irwin

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

1 portrait in the collection

Jacki Weaver AO

Jacki Weaver AO (b. 1947), actor, was a household name in Australia for 40 years before rising to international prominence.

1 portrait in the collection

Harold Blair AO

Harold Blair AO (1924–1976), singer and Indigenous advocate, spent his youth on the Purga Mission, and began singing in local concerts on the canefields in the Childers area.

1 portrait in the collection

Stevie Wright

Stevie Wright (1947-2015), singer songwriter, came to Australia from England at the age of nine.

2 portraits in the collection

Lisa McCune

In their own words

Recorded 2022

Henry G. Dan AM

Henry Gibson Dan AM (1929–2020), universally known as Seaman Dan, was a Torres Strait Islander singer/songwriter who grew up on Thursday Island.

1 portrait in the collection

Harold Blair, 1948

Ernest Buckmaster

Portrait, oil on canvas

Purchased 2010

Dr G Yunupingu

Magazine article, 2017

Dr G Yunupingu (1970-2017), a man of the Gumatj clan of north-east Arnhem Land, learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and didgeridoo as a child.

Top of the pops to golden guitars

The Seekers, John Farnham and Lee Kernaghan

Ngarranggarni

The third row of paintings come from Ngarranggarni (Dreaming).

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE (1931-2020), horn soloist, conductor, teacher and author spent his early years in Melbourne, where he learned a variety of instruments including piano and violin.

1 portrait in the collection

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

Kylie Minogue AO OBE

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2010

Kylie Minogue AO OBE (b. 1968), the 'Princess of Pop', is Australia's most successful female recording artist of all time, selling more than 80 million albums worldwide, and the first woman to have a UK number one album across five consecutive decades.

5 portraits in the collection

Pamela See (Xue Mei-Ling)

Contributing artists

Born: 1979, Brisbane
Works: Brisbane

Tribute

Stevie Wright

Magazine article, 2016

Stevie Wright (1947-2015), singer-songwriter, came to Australia from England at the age of nine.

Bon Scott & Angus Young, Atlanta, Georgia

No shirt, no service

Bon Scott and Angus Young photographed by Rennie Ellis are part of a display celebrating summer and images of the shirtless male.

Michael Hutchence, 1997

Harry Borden

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

June Mendoza

Portrait, oil on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

Marcia Hines, c. 1981

Lewis Morley

How can we dance when our earth is turning?

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

Nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground

Protest!

Contemporary women artists make Australian history

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.

Marilyn Ball, Albatross, 2018 (detail) by Linde Ivimey

So Fine

Previous exhibition, 2018

This exhibition features new works from ten women artists reinterpreting and reimagining elements of Australian history, enriching the contemporary narrative around Australia’s history and biography, reflecting the tradition of storytelling in our country.

Ada Jemima Crossley

Portrait, carte de visite photograph

Ada Jemima Crossley (1874–1929), singer, was one of several Australian-born divas to achieve an international reputation in the late nineteenth century.

2 portraits in the collection

Hattie Shepparde, 1872

Bardwell's Royal Studio

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

Olivia Newton-John AC DBE

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Olivia Newton-John AC DBE (1948-2022) came to Australia as a five-year-old with her father, Brin Newton John, who had worked on the Enigma project at Bletchley, and her mother, Irene Born, who was the daughter of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Squires, c. 1861

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

Purchased 2009

Jacki Weaver, 2018

by John Tsiavis

Previous exhibition, 2009

Commissioned with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2018

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.

Jessica Mauboy, 2018

by David Rosetzky

Magazine article by Gregory McBean, 2005

Commissioned with funds provided by Sony Music Entertainment Australia 2018

Stevie

Gregory McBean writes about photographing recent ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, singer Stevie Wright.

Crikey!

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

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

True fella

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

Michael Desmond profiles the Australian songwriter and performer Neil Murray and his contribution to Australian music.

Masters of Fare

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Previous exhibition, 2004

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

Australian Visit

Previous exhibition, 2006

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 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.

Desert Island Discs

About Face article

I agonized over the choice of four songs to take with me to the ABC Studios for Alex Sloan’s Canberra 666 afternoon program, a sort of iteration of the old BBC Desert Island Discs.

Bewitching

Magazine article by Roger Neill, 2006

Roger Neill delves into the life of a lesser-known Australian diva, Frances Alda.

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.

All in the Family

Magazine article by Barbara Blackman AO, 2003

In 2000, Barbara Blackman donated a portrait of her close friends - poet Judith Wright, her husband Jack McKinney and their daughter Meredith - painted by Charles Blackman.

Vanity fair

Magazine article by Ashleigh Wadman, 2012

Ashleigh Wadman rediscovers the Australian characters represented with a kindly touch by the British portrait artist Leslie Ward for the society magazine Vanity Fair.

Marian Anderson, contralto, New York, June 30, 1955 Richard Avedon

The right note

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

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

Omai, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1775-76

First encounters

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2011

Representations of the inhabitants of the new world expose the complexities of the colonisers' intentions.

Through thick and thin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2017

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

Anangu landscape learning

About Face article

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.

Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits

Exhibition essay