© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Darling Portrait Prize 2024
Previous exhibition, 2024
The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG.
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.
Primed
Some Prime Ministers
Previous exhibition, 2019
Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.
Icons
Parliament House
Touring exhibition, 2019
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.
Carte-o-mania!
Previous exhibition, 2018
Drawn from the NPG’s burgeoning collection of cartes de visite, Carte-o-mania! celebrates the wit, style and substance of the pocket-sized portraits that were taken and collected like crazy in post-goldrush Australia.
So Fine
Contemporary women artists make Australian history
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.
Collection: Icons
Volume One
Previous exhibition, 2018
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.
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.
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.
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'.
Beyond the Self
Contemporary Portraiture from Asia
Previous exhibition, 2011
This exhibition examines the representation of the self in current South and Southeast Asian art practice through the work of artists from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand
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.
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.
My Favourite Australian
Previous exhibition, 2008
My Favourite Australian is a project developed in collaboration with ABC TV and the people of Australia.
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.