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Christopher AllenColumnist

Christopher Allen has been The Australian’s national art critic since 2008. He is an art historian and educator, teaching classical Greek and Latin. He has written an edited several books including Art in Australia and believes that the history of art in this country is often underestimated.

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Daughters of the Sun: Christian Waller and Klytie Pate installation viewKlytie Pate Plaques plaster, earth pigments, glass (tesserae), wire National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Mystical motifs

Amid the tension between science and traditional religion in the 19th century, alternative forms of spirituality appeared.

Christopher Allen

Wassily KandinskyLandscape: Dünaberg near Murnau1913oil on canvas88.5 x 100 cmThe State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg Inv GE 9098Photo: © The State Hermitage Museum 2018, Vladimir Terebenin

Summer art delights

There’s plenty to feast on across Australia, and even greater choice abroad.

Christopher Allen

Installation view of 'William Kentridge: that which we do not remember' exhibition, on display 8 September 2018 - 3 February 2019, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. © William Kentridge Photo: Christopher Snee, AGNSW ***This image may only be used in conjunction with editorial coverage of the ‘William Kentridge: that which we do not remember' exhibition, on display 8 September 2018 - 3 February 2019, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. This image may not be cropped or overwritten. Prior approval in writing required for use as a cover. Caption details must accompany reproduction of the image. *** Image contact: Hannah.McKissock-Davis@ag.nsw.gov.au *** Local Caption *** ***This image may only be used in conjunction with editorial coverage of the ‘William Kentridge: that which we do not remember' exhibition, on display 8 September 2018 - 3 February 2019, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. This image may not be cropped or overwritten. Prior approval in writing required for use as a cover. Caption details must accompany reproduction of the image. *** Image contact: Hannah.McKissock-Davis@ag.nsw.gov.au

The Kentridge kaleidoscope

The most remarkable work in William Kentridge’s exhibition is a burlesque yet sinister and disturbing satire on the arbitrary violence of Stalin’s regime.

Christopher Allen

California Coolart in Los AngelesExhibition in the National Gallery of Australia CanberraJohn Baldessari (no title), from Throwing three balls in the air to get a straight line (Best of thirty-six attempts) 1973, Purchased 1981, © John BaldessariThis exhibition draws on the gallery’s substantial collection of international prints and photographs to highlight the way a ground-breaking generation of artists residing on America’s west coast responded to both the promise and the hard truth of life in contemporary America. John Baldessari (no title), from Throwing three balls in the air to get a straight line (Best of thirty-six attempts) 1973, Purchased 1981, © John Baldessari

California Cool

The artistic, the banal and the incongruous come together in this exhibition that showcases a bygone era.

Christopher Allen

John Vallance, the new State Librarian of the State Library of NSW at an opening event for the new Mitchell Library Galleries

Emerald city’s rare gem

New State Librarian Dr John Vallance has put some of the nation’s most important artworks and artefacts on display

Christopher Allen

Bust of HadrianHadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy, about 125–130 CEmarble1805,0703.95© Trustees of the British MuseumMedia credit line © Trustees of the British Museum, 2018. Object images from the British Museum for Rome: City and Empire exhbition at the National Museum of Australia, 21 September 2018 - 3 February 2019. For object description, refer to consent document, Rome Image Pack - NMA.

When in Canberra…

This exhibition offers fascinating glimpses into the complex world of Roman culture, from portraits to coins, tools to tombstones.

Christopher Allen

Paul Cézanne 'Fruit' 1879/80 oil on canvas, 46.2 x 55.3 cm Inv GE 9026 State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg photo: © The State Hermitage Museum 2018, Pavel Demidov and Konstantin Sinyavsky

Prescient views of a new world

Masters of Modern Art from The HermitageArt Gallery of NSW, Sydney. Until March 3.

Christopher Allen

Museum of Holy Defence in Tehran, Iran This is a corridor devoted specifically to the apotheosis of the martyrs: the floor slopes upwards, like a bridge, under a scarlet overhead installation that turns out to be composed of hundreds of thousands of dog-tags, representing the dead.

The stories of Persia

Two relatively new museums put the politics of war-ravaged Persia on display.

Christopher Allen

Henri’s armchair, Brett Whiteley, 1974-75. Art Gallery of NSW. Courtest of Elizabeth M. Evatt and Leura Toy & Railway Museum © Wendy Whiteley.

Harbour days and ways

This exhibition puts Lavender Bay on the map as an artistic quarter that we had not paid enough attention to.

Christopher Allen

**ONE TIME USE ONLY** MUST CREDIT ARTIST Ed & Nancy Kienholtz – television sets made of cans Picture: Supplied by the National Gallery of Australia

Meaning of ‘master’ lost

A master is someone who can teach us something; but what can we learn from these modern American artists?

Christopher Allen

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