Latest News

Read the latest news from our e-newsletter ‘The Inside Look’

Special announcements

December 2023: Tribute to Sir Michael Hardie Boys

June 2023: Tribute to Dr. Keith Ovenden ONZM

September 2022: He Riri Awatea: Filming the New Zealand Wars and the Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II

March 2021: Tribute to Avenal McKinnon

Follow what’s been happening on our social media:

Adam Portraiture Award Finalist Victoria McNaughton. 'Connection' 2022.

"Ashleigh: mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter,
great-granddaughter. A tāniko pattern represents her dad (Thomas) and new baby Waiāio. I’d like to connect Ash&rs

"Avenal was introduced to portraiture early; she had her portrait painted by Rudi Gopas when she was six and then by R.N. Field when she turned 18. She began collecting while still a student at the Courtauld Institute in London and continued thr

Adam Portraiture Award Finalist Louise Dench with 'The Three Aviators' 2022

"Wearing their 21st century aviator sunnies, these three WWII trainee pilots with attitude pause for a quick click prior to (nervously) taking passenger
flights in ope

This Saturday in The Gallery and online via Zoom. Go to our website for the zoom link and for more details about our Saturday Sittings. https://www.nzportraitgallery.org.nz/events/2022/6/1/saturday-sittings-june
Kia ora.

Adam Portraiture Award Finalist Rebecca Hart, 'Portrait of my Father Sleeping' 2022.

"One summer evening my father, struggling with retirement and having spent the day wandering outside looking for things to burn in a fire and trying to keep

Earlier this week we welcomed 'Tribute: Portraits from the Collection of Avenal McKinnon' to the Gallery! The exhibition is open until September 11. Here we have provided the dates for you to be in to the Gallery by and to look forward to coming in!

Ra tuatahi of our new Front Gallery Show 'Tribute: Portraits from the Collection of Avenal McKinnon'
This exhibition, the Gallery’s first single-collector exhibition, pays tribute to the significant collection amassed by curator, art historian

The New Zealand Portrait Gallery is proud to present portraits from the collection of the Gallery's first professional director, the late Avenal McKinnon.
Her evocative collection of portraits will be on display in our Front Gallery from 16 June - 11

Adam Portraiture Award Finalist Stephen Martyn Welch 'one night, one mirror and a cpl of bourbons' 2020

"I feel a portrait needs a connection and an understanding of the sitter. I know EVERYTHING about this sitter because it's me. I remember e

Highly Commended: Nyle Major, 'Hughmorous Majorous', 2022
"The subject for this painting is my uncle, Hugh Major. He is a huge source of inspiration and a mentor on my artistic journey.
He’s an accomplished author and surrealism-inspired a

Finalist Hugh Major 'Judy' 2021
“Judy” is a tribute to both an eminent New Zealand
artist and a much-loved member of my wider family. I placed the subject at the center surrounded by her creations as a kind of identikit - the artworks de

Highly Commended: Raewyn Helms-Davis 'Kāhu and the Carver' 2021.

"Driving over the Tapu Hills to meet Peter at his
home in the Kauaeranga Valley near Thames, I am
accompanied by a kāhu, which flies alongside my car. The bird, I discover, is P

Kia ora! Now that The Adam is open and we would like to invite you to come and visit while these two extremely talented finalists Sam Balzer and Clark Roworth paint a live sitter in the Gallery.
This is an opportunity to observe the technique and tal

Highly Commended: Jessie Rawcliffe and her painting titled: Richard 2022.
"Usually, the figures in my work are there to draw the viewer in to experience an ephemeral moment or specific emotion rather than to reveal anything about the sitter them