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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Behind the scenes

Del Kathryn Barton’s portrait of Maggie Beer

22 July 2024

Maggie Beer AO and Del Kathryn Barton
Maggie Beer AO and Del Kathryn Barton

It was a riot of colour in the Gallery as we welcomed Del Kathryn Barton’s portrait of Maggie Beer AO into the collection. A striking tribute to one of Australia’s most loved celebrity cooks by the two-time Archibald Prize winner, Barton’s portrait embeds her sitter in a tangle of vibrant colour and personal symbolism, including pomegranates, quinces and a beloved pheasant. In celebration of the commission, guests at the Gallery and online enjoyed an insightful in conversation between artist and sitter, where Beer revealed that ‘When I first saw the painting, I was very emotional and blown away and excited and confronted. Every time I looked I found something new in it. To me you were unzipping my life’. Barton says that ‘Maggie is someone that you meet and you just fall in love with straight away’.

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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