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Gina Rinehart pressures NGA to remove portrait by Vincent Namatjira – now the whole net is searching for it

The work was previously shown in 'Vincent Namatjira: Australia in colour' at AGSA, with the current exhibition set to run until 21 July at NGA.

16 May 2024

Celina Lei

Visual Arts

The portrait, among two other works of Gina Rinehart, are reproduced in Vincent Namatjira’s monograph. Image: Supplied, courtesy Thames & Hudson.

On 15 May, news came out that Australian mining magnate and billinaoire Gina Rinehart has been pressuring the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) to remove a portrait of her by First Nations artist, Vincent Namatjira.

The work, Australia in Colour (2021) includes a caricature of Rinehart, among other people of fame and power, such as Queen Elizabeth II, Captain James Cook and former prime minister, Scott Morrison. It is currently exhibiting at the NGA in Namatjira’s solo survey of the same name, and previously shown at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) as part of the 2023 Tarnanthi Festival.

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Celina Lei

Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram @lleizy_