This exhibition focuses on the unfinished portrait, which the New Zealand Portrait Gallery has numerous examples of within its collection.

Image: Leonard Mitchell, Mary-Annette Hay, 1945. NZPG Collection.

Face Time: Portraits of the 1980s is all about that ‘Big Eighties Energy’ that we have come to associate with the decade. The hair, clothes and faces, are recognisably of that time. Face Time also traverses some of the tectonic social, political and economic shifts that occurred during the decade.

Image: Michel Illingworth, A man and a woman, 1986. Private Collection.

Centred in Aotearoa, Autonomous Bodies tackles issues of beauty, power, and representation through works that convey authentic experiences, from the everyday to the divine, seeking to foreground diverse perspectives, including those of Māori, Pasifika, and LBGTQ+ artists.

Ayesha Green, Soil from Papa, 2018, Private Collection.

Friends’ Favourites is a celebration of the Friends incredible efforts over the past 25 years. The carefully selected works in this exhibition were chosen by the Friends Committee from the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Collection, highlighting a wide selection of works from our permanent collection.

Glenda Randerson, Barbara Anderson, Oriental Parade, Wellington, 1999. NZPG collection.

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is a competition that encourages emerging Māori artists to create portraits of their tūpuna (ancestors) in any medium.

Image: People’s Choice Award Winner, Eleanor Wright

We are proud to present in collaboration with the Kiingitanga an exhibition outlining The Kīngitanga movement and 161 years of Māori monarchy.

Pictured: Te Kiingi Tuheitia Tokotoko

Our Adam winners return!
In 2020, Aotearoa’s most prestigious and popular portraiture prize turned twenty-one. To celebrate the occasion, we are showing all 11 winning portraits.

Image: André Brönnimann, Sisters, 2015, oil on canvas. NZPG collection.

This collection of works by the eminent painter and war artist Peter McIntyre (1910 - 1995) and his daughter, photographer Sara McIntyre provides an engaging portrait of the small central north island village of Kākahi through a unique pairing of their works.

Image: Peter McIntyre, Maori Children, King Country, 1963. Private collection.

This exhibition asks: how are portraits utilised as tools of state and institutional power? and, how can portraiture be used in ways that undermine or subvert systems of power?

Image: Liz Maw, Elizabeth, 1999, Oil on board, Private collection