National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

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National Gallery of Australia, Canberra The National Gallery is open today 10am–5pm
Admission is free with ticket Closed Christmas Day
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LISTEN | The Gleeson TapesDive into an epic snapshot of Australian art history in The Gleeson Tapes, a new podcast serie...
13/10/2026

LISTEN | The Gleeson Tapes
Dive into an epic snapshot of Australian art history in The Gleeson Tapes, a new podcast series from the National Gallery.

🎙️ Introduction: Prof. Lisa Slade and Dr. Jeremy Eaton unpack James Gleeson’s mission in the late 1970s to record the voices and stories behind the national collection.

🎙️ Grace Crowley: A poignant final testimony from a pioneering Australian modernist, recorded just months before her passing.

🎙️ Inge King: The globetrotting story behind the German-born sculptor's monumental abstract works still seen around the country.

Listen
https://nga.gov.au/podcasts/nga-art-talks/

Jacqueline Mitelman, Portrait of James Gleeson 1997, National Library of Australia © Jacqueline Mitelman 2008

Grace Crowley (far right) with Rah Fizelle (centre) and friends in Crowley’s roof garden, 227 George St, Sydney, c1935 Unknown photographer, Grace Crowley archive, National Art Archive, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gadigal Nura/Sydney, bequest of Grace Crowley 1979 ARC106.21.3 fig 38

Mark Strizic, Inge King, sculpturess, 1968, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1974

WINNER 🥇 After the Rain was awarded gold in the Graphics: editorial and books category at the Best Design Awards in Aote...
12/10/2026

WINNER 🥇 After the Rain was awarded gold in the Graphics: editorial and books category at the Best Design Awards in Aotearoa.

'The rain-inspired grid, tactile details and thoughtful use of artist voices create a publication that feels both highly designed and deeply respectful of its subject,' said the judges.

Congratulations to Tony Albert, Evi-O, the artists and the Gallery's publishing team!

https://bestawards.co.nz/graphic/editorial-and-books/evi-ostudio/after-the-rain/

09/10/2026

The Artist Studio with Trent Parke 📽️
Listen to the story behind Man Vomiting, 2007.

'That's the great thing about street photography. You walk around the corner and you never know what's going to be around the other side of that corner.'
–Trent Parke

Watch the full video on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcle5bc7zXY
Link in bio

‘The whole of art is nothing more than a secret homage to drawing.’Gustav KlimtVisit Figure drawing: 1901–2023, a compel...
09/10/2026

‘The whole of art is nothing more than a secret homage to drawing.’
Gustav Klimt

Visit Figure drawing: 1901–2023, a compelling journey through over a century of artistic engagement with the human form through this universal medium.

On until 21 Feb 2027
Level 1, Gallery 14
Free

https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/figure-drawing-1901-2023/

Installation view, Figure Drawing: 1901–2023, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/ Canberra, 2026, featuring (left to right): Ida Applebroog, Couple II "This is goodbye" (work comprising of six panels), 1983; Joy Hester, Lovers [II], 1956, © Joy Hester/Copyright Agency 2026

Throwback to Haegue Yang, Non-Periodic Dynamics (2020), a work that features local ecologies, chaos theory, and Bogong m...
08/10/2026

Throwback to Haegue Yang, Non-Periodic Dynamics (2020), a work that features local ecologies, chaos theory, and Bogong moths, which, as you might have seen, are currently migrating in the millions over a 1,000-kilometre stretch to cool mountain caves for a summer hibernation 🤓 Good luck, friends!

Haegue Yang, Non-Linear and Non-Periodic Dynamics (detail), 2020, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2023, © Haegue Yang

'The rarest of artists are the ones who see familiar things as no one has previously seen them, and who, in setting down...
07/10/2026

'The rarest of artists are the ones who see familiar things as no one has previously seen them, and who, in setting down their vision, reshape our world for us.'
– James Gleeson on Fred Williams

On view | Gallery 8

Fred Williams, You Yangs landscape II, 1963, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1974, © Estate of Fred Williams

04/10/2026

The Artist Studio with Trent Parke 📽️

The second episode of the National Gallery's The Artist Studio series visits Parke in Tarntanya/Adelaide as he looks back on his archive, reflects on the magic of the darkroom, and roams the streets and beaches in search of inspiration.

Watch the full video on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcle5bc7zXY

Always read the label 🤓Enjoy these labels from the back of Arthur Boyd's tapestries 🥰Arthur Boyd: Tapestries is closing ...
03/10/2026

Always read the label 🤓
Enjoy these labels from the back of Arthur Boyd's tapestries 🥰

Arthur Boyd: Tapestries is closing soon and is on until October 18, 2026.
Free entry
https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/arthur-boyd-tapestries/

Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre (tapestry workshop), St Francis when young dreaming of fine clothes and armour (detail), 1973, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre (tapestry workshop), St Francis when young dreaming of a hunchback (detail), 1972, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre (tapestry workshop), Lurdes Branquinho (draughtsman (intermediary)), St Francis holding St Clare's hair (detail), 1974, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre (tapestry workshop), Lurdes Serra (draughtsman (intermediary)), The Wolf of Gubbio with St Francis in a bent tree (detail), 1974, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

New collection display alert 🚨Figure drawing: 1901–2023 is a compelling journey through over a century of artistic engag...
02/10/2026

New collection display alert 🚨
Figure drawing: 1901–2023 is a compelling journey through over a century of artistic engagement with the human form through this universal medium.

This collection display reveals how sketching the figure has remained a vital means of expression, reflection and exploration over more than a century of artistic production. Figure drawing is presented not as a merely technical exercise but instead a dynamic form of thinking—one that allows artists to probe the complexities of identity, memory and emotion. Viewers are invited to consider how the act of drawing connects hand, eye and mind, and how artists have returned to the figure to navigate changing social, cultural and personal landscapes.

3 Oct 2026 – 21 Feb 2027
Level 1, Gallery 14
Free
https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/figure-drawing-1901-2023/

Joy Hester, Lovers [II], 1956, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1973, © Joy Hester/Copyright Agency

Gustav Klimt, Stehender frauenakt von vorne [Standing n**e from the front], 1901-1902, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2024

Eric Wilson, not titled [Self-portrait as bather posing ready to dive], 1937, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1977

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Friday 10am - 5pm
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