Search / warwick baker

Warwick Baker

Tough & Tender

The photographs in Tough and tender by Warwick Baker reveal intimate connections and moments of closeness.

Warwick Thornton

Warwick Thornton (b. 1970) is a Kaytetye man, writer, director and cinematographer.

2 portraits in the collection

Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax (1901-1987), grandson of Sarah and James Fairfax, was the only son of Sir James Fairfax, who had become a partner in the company in the 1880s.

1 portrait in the collection

Warwick Thornton, 2019 (printed 2022)

Susan Stitt ACS

Gift of the artist 2022

Paul Kelly, 2013

Warwick Thornton

Portrait, single channel moving image, colour, sound, 8 minutes 54 seconds

Commissioned with funds provided by Ian Darling 2013

Sir Warwick Fairfax, 1981

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Ben Baker

Magazine article by Christopher Baker, 2013

Born in Adelaide and raised in Darwin, Ben Baker currently resides in New York City and works internationally.

1 portrait in the collection

Hot Scots

James Holloway describes the first portraits you encounter when entering the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Purchased 2018

William Baker Ashton

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

William Baker Ashton (1800-1854) was the first governor of Adelaide Gaol.

1 portrait in the collection

Alec Baker, 2021

Robert Fielding

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Farmer, fisher, scholar and scribe, 2019

Andrew Baker

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Rupert Murdoch, 2005

Ben Baker

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Gaol, c. 1849

Henry H. Glover

Portrait, watercolour on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Entr'acte, 2023

Hayley Millar Baker

Portrait, single channel moving image, colour, silent, 11 minutes, 30 seconds looped

Purchased 2023

Mr Don Baker, 1996

Robin Wallace-Crabbe, Dianne Fogwell

Portrait, etching

Gift of the artist 2000. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Self-nature is subtle and mysterious - Tree Woman / Woman Tree

Self-nature is subtle and mysterious - Tree Woman / Woman Tree, 2023

Nell, Warwick Edgington, Annette Blair and Belinda Toll, Canberra Glassworks, Crawfords Casting, Eveleigh Works

Portrait, bronze, patinas, stainless steel, hand blown glass

Purchased with funds provided by the Portrait Dinner Series 2023

Self-nature is subtle and mysterious - Tree Woman / Woman Tree

Nell, Warwick Edgington (Studio Assistant) , Annette Blair and Belinda Toll, Canberra Glassworks (Glass) , Crawfords Casting (Bronze) , Eveleigh Works (Steel)

Portrait, engraving on paper (4 sheets)

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Sydney 1891 from Australasia Illustrated, 1891

an unknown artist

Purchased 2009

Friends

About Face article

Warwick Baker’s photos of his friends are intimate. They hold a stillness that allows their subjects to be at ease.

Tough & Tender

Previous exhibition, 2016

Art by Warwick Baker, Chris Burden, Larry Clark, Rozalind Drummond, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe and Collier Schorr explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity.

Blek Bala MJ, 2017

by Timothy Hillier

Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video

James Fairfax AO

Archived media releases 2016

James Oswald Fairfax AC (1933-2017) was the eldest son of Sir Warwick Fairfax.

1 portrait in the collection

Tough & Tender Media Release

14 July 2016

Photographs from internationally acclaimed artists Robert Mapplethorpe, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Collier Schorr and Chris Burden along with contemporary Australian artists, Rozalind Drummond and Warwick Baker will call the National Portrait Gallery home during our extraordinary winter exhibition Tough and Tender.

Lost Love, Yiyi is tired, and Waiting on the bridge, 2014

by Tiyan Melissa Kilie Baker

Winner, MDPA 2014

Rowan McNamara, 2008

by Mark Rogers

Marcie Elizabeth Fairfax

Portrait, pencil on paper

Marcie Elizabeth 'Betty' Fairfax (1907–1995) was a leading figure in fashionable circles in Sydney in the 1920s and 1930s.

1 portrait in the collection

Marcie Elizabeth Wilson, 1922

George Lambert

Gift of the Simpson family in memory of Caroline Simpson OAM 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The 70 year old jetty jumper, 2011

by Alex Frayne

Ada May Plante

Previous exhibition, 2014

Ada May Plante (1875–1950), artist, was born in New Zealand and came to Melbourne with her family in 1888.

1 portrait in the collection

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2014

The Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award is an annual event to extend traditional notions of portraiture and foster emerging artists with an interest in contemporary technology.

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2024

Current exhibition

Launched at the National Portrait Gallery in 2022, the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize is a competition for primary and secondary students, with four separate age categories across Kindergarten to Year 12.

Bernie McGann

Bernie McGann (b.1938?), alto saxophonist, became the first Jazz musician to win the Australia Council $60,000 Don Banks Music Award (1998).

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax CMG

Sir Vincent Charles Fairfax CMG (1909-1993), pastoralist, was the son of JHF Fairfax.

1 portrait in the collection

Currents, 2016

by Natalie Ord

Archived media releases 2016

Help warm the Canberra community

4 July 2016

National Portrait Gallery and the St Vincent de Paul Society are asking Canberrans to pick up their knitting needles and crochet hooks to create warm winter scarves to assist people in need.

Elliott and Fry

Elliott & Fry, a photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, was founded in 1863 at 55-56 Baker Street, London by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry.

2 portraits in the collection

Ernest Walter Histed

Ernest Walter Histed was born in Brighton, UK, but made his reputation as a photographer in Chicago and later in Pittsburgh.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Vincent Fairfax, 1981

Archived media releases 2014

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2014

22 August 2014

Press releases for media.

Opening of the First Legislative Council of Victoria by Governor Charles Joseph LaTrobe at St Patrick's Hall, Bourke Street West, Melbourne November 13th 1851

John Pascoe Fawkner

John Pascoe Fawkner (1792-1869), sometimes called the 'Founder of Melbourne', was a pioneer and adventurer.

2 portraits in the collection

Willow Legge

Portrait, watercolour and gouache on paper

Willow Legge (b. 1934) is a British artist who studied sculpture at Chelsea School of Art from 1951 to 1956 under Willi Soukop and Bernard Meadows.

1 portrait in the collection

Theresa and James Laidley Mort, 1844

William Nicholas

Gift of the Mort family 2009

William Nicholas

William Nicholas was born near London and is believed to have trained with English printmaker A.M Huffam.

2 portraits in the collection

Shigeo Sawada

Shigeo Sawada (1890-1940) was the Managing Director of Okura and Co. Trading Ltd in Sydney from 1937 to his death.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Charles Blackman, 1979

Judy Cassab AO CBE

Gift of Warwick Evans 2021. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Henry H. Glover

Previous exhibition, 2013

English lithographer and watercolourist Henry Heath Glover (c. 1810-1858) emigrated to South Australia in 1848 with his two sons - one of whom, Henry Heath Glover Junior (1828-1904) was also an illustrator and printmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Kelly and The Portraits

Aspects of singer songwriter Paul Kelly’s performance persona are communicated by portraits selected from a range of artists and leading music photographers in this focus exhibition.

Charles Chauvel

Portrait, pen and ink, pencil on paper laid on cardboard

Charles Chauvel (1897-1959), actor and film-maker, worked on the sets of Snowy Baker films as a young man, and followed the great action hero to Hollywood in 1921.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, n.d.

Ada May Plante

Gift of Dr Penny Olsen, Peter Woollard and Artemis Georgiades 2015

2022 Annual Appeal

In 2022 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Mayatjara by Robert Fielding, a series of 24 photographs of Elders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara community.

Professor Paul Korner, 2011

Andrew Sullivan

NPG Wellington, Edinburgh and Canberra, 10th March 2021

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Ann Korner, Nicholas Korner, Anthony Korner and Harriet Bingham 2015

15 minutes of frame

Recorded virtual programs

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

2013-14 Acquisition Fund

Portrait, inkjet print on paper

This 1910 portrait of Elizabeth Sarah (Lillie) Roberts by Tom Roberts was brought into the Gallery's collection with the assistance of the Acquisition Fund in 2013.

Jack Brabham, 1967 (printed 2012)

Brian McInerney

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012

2012-13 Acquisition Fund

Previous exhibition, 2009

The Circle of Friends Acquisition Fund for 2012 was dedicated to purchasing a portrait of David Malouf by Rick Amor.

Icons Syndicate

Lists alphabetically

Honour board

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2009

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Sir Ian McLennan, c. 1978

Portrait, oil on board

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

Sir Ian Potter, 1973

Portrait, oil on composition board

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Lady Primrose Potter 2006
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Albert Namatjira, c. 1954-1958 (printed 2017)

Charles Chauvel

Portrait, inkjet print from a scanned colour transparency on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Alex Frayne

NPPP 2012 learning resource

An interview with the photographer.

John Pascoe Fawkner, c. 1867

Batchelder & Company Photo

Portrait, albumen photograph on carte de visite

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2008

Wayne Blair

Archived media releases 2016

Wayne Blair (b. 1971), director, actor and writer, became interested in acting and dance while a high school student in Rockhampton in the 1980s.

1 portrait in the collection

Charles (still from video) by Amiel Courtin-Wilson

The Winner of the Digital Portraiture Award 2016 is...

2 December 2016

The winner of the Digital Portraiture Award 2016 has been announced. Congratulations to Amiel Courtin-Wilson for his submission titled Charles.

The Rays, 1970
Raindance Corporation, Frank Gillette, Michael Shamberg, Paul Ryan

Post digital

Magazine article by Tegan Mcauley, 2015

Tegan McAuley looks at the evolution of video portraiture.

Nellie Melba, 1898

Ernest Walter Histed

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Paul Kelly and The Portraits media information

18 June 2013

Archived media releases 2013

Paul Kelly & The Portraits presents a multifaceted image of the performer over the course of his career.

The Fairfax Gift

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

This article examines the portraits gifted to the National Portrait Gallery by Fairfax Holdings in 2003.

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The Delltones, 1964 (printed 2019)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2019

2015-17 Acquisition Fund

Previous exhibition, 2020

From 2015 to 2017 the Acquisition Fund was focussed on Reg Richardson AM by Mitch Cairns, a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2014, and a great example of minimalist portraiture.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Glossy 2

Faces, Magazines, Now

Previous exhibition, 2005

Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.

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.

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.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

Previous exhibition, 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.

Past directors

History

Directors of the National Portrait Gallery from 1998 to today.

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.

2023 Annual Appeal

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

In 2023 the Annual Appeal was focussed on a work by one of Australia's best loved and most successful portrait painters, Judy Cassab AO CBE, depicting model, entrepreneur and deportment icon, June Dally-Watkins OAM.

Glossy too

The Glossy 2 exhibition highlights the integral role magazine photography plays in illustrating and shaping our contemporary culture.

A guy from Paris

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Sarah Engledow on a foundational gallery figure who was quick on the draw.

Annual Appeal

Listed by year

Honour board

Is the truth of portraiture vested exclusively in likeness?

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2006

Curator Michael Desmond introduces the exhibition Truth and Likeness, an investigation of the importance of likeness to portraiture.

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2010

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

Writing on the Wall, 2019 Dr Christian Thompson AO

To arrive at hope

NPPP 2020 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Leslie Ureña, 2020

Penelope Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2020 Prize.

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

The right note

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

The Multifarious Career of George Selth Coppin

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

George Selth Coppin (1819-1906) comedian, impresario and entrepreneur, was a driving force of the early Australian theatre.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

Judy Davis and Sam Neill in ‘My Brilliant Career’, 1979 David Kynoch

Moving still

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2022

Anne O’Hehir on the seductive power of the film still to reflect and shape ourselves and our cultural landscape.

History

About us

How the National Portrait Gallery and its unique collection came to be

The Dissecting Room

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2015

Joanna Gilmour accounts for Australia’s deliciously ghoulish nineteenth century criminal portraiture.

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

Trevor Jamieson, 2016 by Brett Canet-Gibson

The more things change...

NPPP 2017 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2019

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2017 Prize.

The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Stephen KGAK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, 2006 by Rick Amor

Prima facie

Sarah Engledow casts a judicious eye over portraits in the Victorian Bar’s Peter O’Callaghan QC Portrait Gallery.

Uncommon Australians

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling