Portrait gallery paints a more eclectic picture, says new curator

''The gallery has layers - and these layers reflect layers of heightened national significance,'' Mr Trumble said.

Comparing it with portrait galleries in London and Washington, Mr Trumble said the depth of the collection gives a different insight into our national character.

''Our definition of attainment and distinction remains very broad and very inclusive and that I think is a delightful thing to discover here,'' he said.

Originally from Melbourne, Mr Trumble recently took over the reins at the gallery, having previously worked for a decade as the curator of paintings and sculptures at the Yale Centre for British Art.

Having visited the Smithsonian in Washington before his return to Australia, Mr Trumble says that while its Gallery of Honour featuring the country's presidents is well-known and significant, its presence takes away from the rest of the collection.

''It is in many ways their biggest problem. It consumes half their space on the ground floor, so that project also consumes them,'' he says.

In Australia, the Historic Memorials Committee is responsible for portraits of politicians and statesmen, and Mr Trumble says this is a gift.

''It doesn't mean that we don't collect these portraits but it means we're not bound to do so,'' he says.

''We do have the kind of freedom to create something quite different of our national portrait gallery.''

Mr Trumble compares the current collection at the gallery to having the character of an onion.

''I think we can all share a view that a prime minister is towards the core of that onion, but as you go out further into the community, the very ordinariness of Australian occupations convey something very extraordinary about the country,'' he says.

''You don't have to be a connoisseur to see that our collection contains some pictures and some objects that would struggle to find a place in the National Gallery of Australia.''

Mr Trumble says he has been enormously impressed by the cumulative qualities of the collection.

''I'm impressed by its adventurousness, its overall sense of historical and geographical rhythm. Its vigour and liveliness, its moments of affection, good humour and even sharpness of focus and of tone, including moments of darkness and of difficulty,'' he says.

''In other words and in so many of these respects, its very Australian-ness.''

This inclusiveness is an aspect that Mr Trumble plans to take forward.

He also plans to continue the gallery's tradition of commissioning artworks.

''I've never myself commissioned anything, and I'm aware that's a big part of our responsibility, and it fascinates me. We're a young institution, so many of the historical portraits that usually would belong here have been scooped up by processes of collecting that commenced in the 19th century,'' he said.

''That means that our focus on contemporary commissioning is much more important - new portraits are tomorrow's history.''