© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Russell Drysdale
Biography
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
Lady Maisie Drysdale
Biography
Lady Maisie Drysdale (1915–2001), children's librarian and artists' muse, developed an interest in art as a child, and attended both the University of Melbourne and George Bell's art school.
1 portrait in the collection
Peter Purves Smith
Biography
Peter Purves Smith (1912–1949), artist, went to Geelong Grammar with his lifelong friend Russell Drysdale.
2 portraits in the collection
Paul Haefliger
Biography
Paul Haefliger (1914-1982) trained in Sydney and then in London with Bernard Meninsky and Mark Gertler.
1 portrait in the collection
Rudy Komon
Biography
Rudy Komon (1908-1982) was an art dealer and gallery director. After working as a journalist in Czechoslovakia, where he served with the Czech resistance during the war, he emigrated to Sydney and opened an antique store.
3 portraits in the collection
Ray Crooke AM
Biography
Ray Crooke AM grew up in Melbourne, where after army service in WA, North Queensland and Borneo, he trained at Swinburne Tech from 1946 to 1948.
3 portraits in the collection
Dame Helen Blaxland DBE
Biography
Dame Helen Blaxland DBE (1907–1989), conservationist and fundraiser, studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Margaret Olley AC
Biography
Margaret Olley AC (1923-2011), painter, studied art at East Sydney Technical College and the Grande Chaumière in Paris.
6 portraits in the collection
John Passmore
Biography
John Passmore (1904-1984), painter, studied with Julian Ashton in Sydney between the ages of fourteen and twenty-nine, and took some instruction from George Lambert.
1 portrait in the collection
Elaine Haxton
Biography
Elaine Haxton (1909-1999), painter, graphic artist and theatre designer, grew up in Sydney.
1 portrait in the collection
Peter Elliott AM
Biography
Peter Elliott AM (1927–2014) was an obstetrician, gynaecologist and gynaecological oncologist as well as a significant art collector and patron.
6 portraits in the collection
Janet Dawson
Biography
Janet Dawson (b. 1935), painter, printer, teacher and stage designer, is known for her contribution to abstract art in Australia.
10 portraits in the collection
David Dridan OAM
Biography
David Dridan (b. 1932), artist, studied at the South Australian School of Art and later at East Sydney Technical College.
1 portrait in the collection
Chandler P. Coventry AM
Biography
Chandler Phillip Coventry AM (1924–1999), grazier, gallerist, art collector and arts patron, was born in Armidale, New South Wales to an established New England grazing family.
1 portrait in the collection