New Zealand Portrait Gallery

12/06/2026

Highlighting some more of this years Adam Portraiture Award finalists! This years exhibition brings together a dynamic mix of subjects and stories. Familiar New Zealand faces appear alongside intimate portrayals of friends, whānau and colleagues, as well as a number of striking self-portraits.

Also a reminder that voting for the People's Choice Award is now open! Come and visit us down on the Wellington Waterfront and cast your vote. This years People's Choice Winner will receive $2,500.

Images from left (all images are cropped):

Henrietta Harris, Chris, Twice, 2026. Oil on linen.
Andrew Hunt, Ella, 2026. Oil.
Toni Armstrong, George, 2025. Oil on board.
Barry Smith, Fledgling, 2026. Oil on canvas.
Yan Zhang, Silent Strength: A Portrait, 2025. Oil.
Chance Wilson, aroha atu, aroha mai, 2026. Oil on canvas panel.
Nyle Major, Jett and the Tirpitz, 2025. Oil on canvas.

12/06/2026

09/06/2026

Āpōpō (tomorrow) Thursday 11 June we open Life in Forms: Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury in the Melvin and Orya Day Gallery.

This exhibition is a focused survey of the work of trailblazing Ngāpuhi artist Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury (1928-1977). It charts the artist’s practice over four decades, from her early works in the 1940s to her final pieces in the 1970s. Showcasing sketches, paintings and incised wood panels, the exhibition examines Yearbury’s distinctive approach to depicting the energy and emotion of the human form, and her commitment to sharing Māori cultural narratives.

[Image: supplied by Te Uru Contemporary Gallery]

08/06/2026

NOW SHOWING! Come and check out the work of some of Aotearoa's finest painters in The Adam Portraiture Award 2026 exhibition.

Free Entry for New Zealanders.

This biennial competition gives contemporary portrait artists the opportunity to have their work shown on the national stage, and it plays an important role in recording the changing face of New Zealand.

From 429 entries, 43 artworks have made the cut for the final exhibition. You can cast a vote for your favourite to win the $2,500 People's Choice Award.

Exhibition closes 9 August.

New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata
Shed 11, Queens Wharf
Wellington Waterfront.

Image: Duncan Pepe Long, Solomon Tāmehana, 2026, oil on wood. Winner of the $30,000 Adam Portraiture Award.

08/06/2026

If you are around Tairāwhiti Gisbourne we recommend heading to Tairāwhiti Museum to check out their fantastic new exhibition 'Ancestry & Identity' curated by Peter Ireland.

02/06/2026

Join us for an audio‑described tour of this year’s Adam Portrait Award.

Saturday 20 June at 11am

Thank you to Audio Described Aotearoa to providing us with the transcripts for this live audio described session. This session is free but bookings are essential.

For more info or to book please follow the link - https://www.nzportraitgallery.org.nz/public-programmes/2026/ad-tour

What is Audio Description? Audio description increases accessibility for blind and low‑vision people by using words to describe visual information, like appearance, facial expression, and costumes. It is usually provided as a live or recorded narrated audio track that can accompany an experience.

Can't make it in person? The audio descriptions provided by Audio Described Aotearoa are available at anytime on our web page.

[Image: Stephen Lawrie, Fishermen - The painter and his sons, 2026. Oil on unstretched canvas. This black and white acrylic painting shows three men in the wheelhouse of a fishing boat, all looking out at the viewer. On the right of the painting is an older manwith white shoulder length hair and a neat white beard. He’s in a dark kersey and leans an arm on a surface beside the wooden wheel. To the left are two smiling younger men with similar features, both have faint stubble beards and wear raincoats over dark woollen jerseys. The one on the left has a cap. There’s a clear bag of little fish spilling out across the rounded table in front of them and three metal fish lures hanging by their hooks from the raised table edge. Above their heads are radios and tannoys, there’s a big screen behind the wheel that’s blank, and outside the windows behind them, grey could scud across the seascape and distant islands.]

31/05/2026

"Known for hits including Sophie and Fiji Baby, Rodney Fisher has turned his attention to another side of his creative life as a visual artist."

Rodney Fisher has turned his attention to another side of his creative life as a visual artist.

29/05/2026

“It still feels pretty surreal. When I was told, I had to go straight into teaching a class of 50 students, so I didn’t really have time to process it. I’ve attended four of the exhibition openings, and even the Highly Commended Award I received previously was a real thrill — but this time it was an incredible adrenaline rush.”

28/05/2026

Join us this Saturday for our Themed Monthly Life Drawing session. We’ll be taking inspiration from several Adam Portraiture Award 2026 finalists: Tony Guo, Emma Hercus and David Owain Jones. Their portraits show sitters absorbed in a good book, and our model will be bringing that same energy to the session.

We’ll be drawing from 2 to 4 pm. Please arrive a little early to set yourself up. Thankyou to Almighty for providing us with tasty inu (drinks) to keep us hydrated throughout the session.

This is a koha event. The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata is an independent gallery that relies on grants and private donations, so if you’re able to contribute, your support is appreciated.

Images all cropped.
Tony Guo, Xin reading a book, 2025. Oil on linen. (Xin Ji)
David Owain Jones, Esther reading, 2026. Oil on ACM panel. (Esther Deans)
Emma Hercus, Home, 2026. Acrylic and oil on wood panel. (Emma Hercus, Stewart Hercus, Ivy Hercus, Peter Hercus, Frederick Hercus)

27/05/2026

Join us this Saturday 30 May at 11am for a talk from 'only connect: Portraits by Joanna Margaret Paul and Janet Elaine Paul' curator Helen Kedgley.

Currently working as a freelance curator and Trustee, Helen Kedgley was Director of Pataka in Porirua City from 2012 until November 2015 and then Acting Director of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery in 2016. Prior to that she was Senior Curator and Arts Manager at Pataka, and has curated numerous exhibitions of contemporary art. In 2015 Helen was granted a Distinguished Alumni Award from Victoria University, Wellington. She is a Trustee of the NZ Portrait Gallery and the Wellington Sculpture Trust. She was a Member of the Board of Creative New Zealand from 2010 – 2014. A graduate of Victoria University, Massey University, the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts and the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, her international museum work includes the Science Museum, Oxford, England and The National Gallery of Zimbabwe. As a painter Helen has participated in numerous exhibitions in France, England, India and Zimbabwe.

'only connect: Portraits by Joanna Margaret Paul and Janet Elaine Paul' is showing until Sunday 7 June.

[Images:
1. Credit Mark Tantrum Photography
2. Install shots with works from 'Only Connect: Portraits by Joanna Margaret Paul and Janet Elaine Paul' pictured. Photographer: Catherine Adam.]