National Portrait Gallery

Welcome to the National Portrait Gallery, located in the heart of the Parliamentary Triangle in Canberra. As we stand before this purpose-built structure, we are entering a space dedicated to the art of the face. …

To understand why we are here, we must look back to the mid-nineteenth century, specifically 1856, when the first institution of this kind was founded. The mission was straightforward yet impactful: to capture not only faces but…

Moving into the early sections of the gallery, we are confronted with the faces of early European exploration and the complex narratives of settlement. These portraits are often grand, following the European traditions of the…

As we move into the portraits from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we see a nation beginning to find its own voice. This was the era of Federation, a pivotal moment when the six colonies joined to form the…

Entering the contemporary galleries, the medium of portraiture undergoes a radical transformation. While oil paintings remain a staple, we now see a vibrant array of photography, sculpture, and digital media. …

Photography has become perhaps the most powerful tool for portraiture in the modern age, and the National Portrait Gallery holds an extensive collection of over 250,000 works, many of which are photographic. The immediacy and…

While two-dimensional images dominate the galleries, the collection also includes significant sculptural works. Sculpture adds a physical presence to portraiture that is unique; you can walk around a bust or a full-figure statue,…

As we conclude our tour of the National Portrait Gallery, I hope you have gained a deeper appreciation for the power of the face in history. This institution remains not just a museum but a bridge between the past and present, an…