Portraits
Portraits are among the world’s favourite art genres. Whether depicting a friend, public figure or stranger, they distil something of their subject’s essence while reflecting society’s values back at itself. From the regal portraits of eighteenth century Europe to the technicolour celebrities of Pop Art, portraiture compels the question: who deserves to be recorded and why? Australia ponders this annually through the popular art competition, the Art Gallery of South Wales’s Archibald Prize, coming eye to eye with who we are and why.
In our collection of portraits, explore Archibald winners, the heads of Modernism, new approaches and insights into how artists see themselves.
