Overview
| Bendigo Art Gallery 42 View Street, Bendigo VIC 3550 | |
| 01 Apr 26 - 31 Dec 27 | |
| FREE |
During Bendigo Art Gallery’s transformation, the front wall of our building site features iconic portraits from our collection of art, inspired by the Gallery’s founding motto, Ad delectationem Populi per Artem Pulchram: ‘For the delight of the people through beautiful art’.
An enduring form of art since antiquity, portraiture has served to commemorate notable individuals, to represent the stories of ordinary people from all walks of life, and to powerfully explore identity. Portraiture offers fascinating insights into changing societal values as well as artistic innovations throughout history.
Spanning 150 years of art, this selection of portraits showcases one of the great strengths of the Gallery’s collection and celebrates the humanity at the heart of all creative endeavour.
Artwork details and interpretive text
Images left to right:
Edward Hopley, A primrose from England, c1855,
Unknown artist, Mr and Mrs Robert Hill Kinnear and their daughter, Rosalie, 1851
Allan Ramsay, King George III 1761-1762
Lauren Starr, Midas’ Daughter II – Golden Still Life, 2022
Images left to right:
Robert Dowling, The Opera, 1865
Thomas Sheard, The Arab Blacksmith, c1900
Mary Cecil Allen, Legend (Portrait of a Lady), c1918
Patricia Piccinini, Psychotourism, 1996
Images left to right:
Anne Zahalka, Karo, Performer, 2009
Greg Semu, Grace Lillian Lee Body Sculpture - Acceptance, 2016
George W. Lambert, Girl with dog, 1912
Damien Shen, Still Life After Penn, 2016
Images left to right:
Jenny Watson, White Painting: Margaret, 1975
Amalie Colquhuon, The Bridesmaid, c1942
Tom Roberts, Portrait of a young woman, c1885
Images left to right:
Norma Bull, Portrait of a Man, c1925
Jan Nelson, Walking in tall grass (Tom), 2009
Emma Minnie Boyd, Afternoon Tea, 1888
Andrew Goodman, Untitled (afternoon Tea 2188), 2018
Pia Johnson, Holding Still, 2020
Images left to right:
Petrina Hicks, Emily the strange, 2011
Abdul Abdullah, A Little Push, 2023
Gordon Bennett, Coloured people #10, 2007
Images left to right:
Yvette Coppersmith, Soft Kiss, Margot and Rudolf, 2021
Sidney Nolan, Soldier on the Beach, 1962
Rhys Lee, Untitled (woman with golden arms), 2008
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